60th Oza Match Game 4 (Replay)

[Black "Habu Yoshiharu, Challenger"]
[White "Watanabe Akira, Oza"]
[Event "60th Oza-sen, Replay Game 4"]
[Date "October 3rd 2012"]
1.P7g-7f     03:59:00  00:00:00
2.P8c-8d     03:59:00  04:00:00
3.S7i-6h     03:59:00  04:00:00
4.P3c-3d     03:59:00  04:00:00
5.P6g-6f     03:59:00  04:00:00
6.S7a-6b     03:59:00  04:00:00
7.P5g-5f     03:59:00  04:00:00
8.P5c-5d     03:59:00  04:00:00
9.S3i-4h     03:59:00  04:00:00
10.S3a-4b    03:59:00  04:00:00
11.G4i-5h    03:59:00  04:00:00
12.G4a-3b    03:59:00  04:00:00
13.G6i-7h    03:59:00  04:00:00
14.K5a-4a    03:59:00  04:00:00
15.K5i-6i    03:59:00  04:00:00
16.G6a-5b    03:59:00  04:00:00
17.S6h-7g    03:59:00  04:00:00
18.S4b-3c    03:59:00  04:00:00
19.B8h-7i    03:59:00  04:00:00
20.B2b-3a    03:59:00  04:00:00
21.P3g-3f    03:59:00  04:00:00
22.P4c-4d    03:59:00  04:00:00
23.G5h-6g    03:59:00  04:00:00
24.P7c-7d    03:59:00  04:00:00
25.S4h-3g    03:59:00  04:00:00
26.B3a-6d    03:59:00  04:00:00
27.B7i-6h    03:59:00  04:00:00
28.G5b-4c    03:59:00  04:00:00
29.K6i-7i    03:59:00  04:00:00
30.K4a-3a    03:59:00  04:00:00
31.K7i-8h    03:59:00  04:00:00
32.K3a-2b    03:59:00  04:00:00
33.S3g-4f    03:59:00  04:00:00
34.S6b-5c    03:59:00  04:00:00
35.N2i-3g    03:59:00  04:00:00
36.P9c-9d    03:59:00  04:00:00
37.P1g-1f    03:59:00  04:00:00
38.P1c-1d    03:59:00  04:00:00
39.P2g-2f    03:59:00  04:00:00
40.S3c-2d    03:59:00  04:02:00
41.R2h-3h    04:00:00  04:02:00
42.P8d-8e    04:00:00  04:07:00
43.L1i-1h    04:00:00  04:07:00
44.S5c-4b    04:00:00  04:07:00
45.P9g-9f    04:00:00  04:07:00
46.N2a-3c    04:00:00  04:07:00
47.P6f-6e    04:07:00  04:07:00
48.B6d-7c    04:07:00  04:07:00
49.S7g-6f    04:07:00  04:07:00
50.P4d-4e    04:07:00  04:07:00
51.N3gx4e    04:07:00  04:07:00
52.N3cx4e    04:07:00  04:07:00
53.S4fx4e    04:07:00  04:07:00
54.N*5c      04:07:00  04:07:00
55.S4ex3d    04:08:00  04:07:00

A Yagura opening for the third time in this match. Habu sacrifices a silver for 
attack, but the position remains unclear for a very long time.

56.G4cx3d    04:08:00  04:07:00
57.P5f-5e    04:08:00  04:07:00
58.G3d-4d    04:08:00  04:07:00
59.P3f-3e    04:08:00  04:07:00
60.G4dx5e    04:08:00  04:07:00
61.P3e-3d    04:08:00  04:07:00
62.S*4c      04:08:00  04:07:00
63.P1f-1e    04:08:00  04:07:00
64.P1dx1e    04:08:00  04:08:00
65.P*1d      04:09:00  04:08:00
66.P*3g      04:09:00  04:10:00
67.R3h-2h    04:09:00  04:10:00
68.S4cx3d    04:09:00  04:10:00
69.P*3e      04:10:00  04:10:00
70.S2dx3e    04:10:00  04:13:00
71.L1hx1e    04:11:00  04:13:00
72.P*1b      04:11:00  04:13:00
73.R2h-1h    04:11:00  04:13:00
74.S3e-2d    04:11:00  04:18:00
75.N*2e      04:18:00  04:18:00
76.P*4f      04:18:00  04:18:00
77.P4gx4f    04:24:00  04:18:00
78.P3g-3h+   04:24:00  04:18:00
79.P4f-4e    04:25:00  04:18:00
80.P*3e      04:25:00  04:23:00
81.S6fx5e    04:26:00  04:23:00
82.B7cx5e    04:26:00  04:23:00
83.B6h-7g    04:26:00  04:23:00
84.B5ex7g+   04:26:00  04:24:00
85.G6gx7g    04:26:00  04:24:00
86.B*2g      04:26:00  04:33:00
87.P*3c!     04:27:00  04:33:00

Diagram 1

Black ignores the attack on the rook and goes straight for the focal point pawn 
drop.

88.G3bx3c    04:27:00  04:35:00

White cannot take the rook here, because after 88.Bx1h+ Px3b+ Kx3b G*4d S*3c 
Gx5c Sx5c B*7a R5b Nx3c+ Sx3c S*6a is good for black.

89.P1d-1c+   04:29:00  04:35:00
90.K2b-3b    04:29:00  04:35:00

Not 90.Px1c because of 91.Lx1c+ Lx1c Nx1c+ Sx1c B*1a and black wins. After 
90.K3b, black has successfully broken through, and Watanabe was unhappy because 
counter attacking moves like P8f or Nx6e never materialize. However, Habu also 
wasn't so sure about his position because the white king can run to the other 
side of the board and it is not use to catch it. The position still seems 
unclear here.

91.B*2a      04:39:00  04:35:00
92.K3b-4a    04:39:00  04:35:00
93.N2ex3c+   04:39:00  04:35:00
94.S2dx3c    04:39:00  04:35:00
95.+P1c-2b   04:41:00  04:35:00
96.S3cx2b    04:41:00  04:37:00
97.L1ex1b+   04:42:00  04:37:00
98.S2b-3c    04:42:00  04:39:00
99.B2ax5d+   04:49:00  04:39:00
100.B2gx1h+  04:49:00  04:39:00
101.G*3b     04:49:00  04:39:00
102.K4a-5a   04:49:00  04:39:00
103.+B5d-5e  04:49:00  04:39:00
104.+B1h-2h  04:49:00  04:46:00
105.+B5ex8b  04:53:00  04:46:00
106.+B2hx8b  04:53:00  04:46:00
107.P*5d     04:53:00  04:46:00
108.K5a-6b   04:53:00  04:52:00
109.P5dx5c+  04:53:00  04:52:00
110.S4bx5c   04:53:00  04:52:00
111.N*6f     04:53:00  04:52:00
112.K6b-7c   04:53:00  04:53:00
113.G3bx3c   04:53:00  04:53:00
114.S*6i     04:53:00  04:53:00
115.G3cx3d   04:55:00  04:53:00
116.R*4h     04:55:00  04:53:00
117.R*5b     04:56:00  04:53:00

Diagram 2

118.+B8b-8c? 04:56:00  04:58:00

Only here Watanabe makes the decisive mistake. As Habu pointed out after the 
game, white should have played 118.Sx7h+ Gx7h G*6b R5a+ B*5f here which aims 
at another sennichite after G*7i Bx7h+ Gx7h G*6g G*6g etc. The post-mortem 
analysis seemed to indicate that black can avoid this sennichite variation 
and still survive the white attack, but the variations were very complicated 
and it would have been very hard for black to find the correct defense in the 
middle of the night with very little time remaining.

119.R5bx5c+  04:57:00  04:58:00
120.K7c-8d   04:57:00  04:58:00
121.S*5i     04:59:00  04:58:00
122.S6ix7h+  04:59:00  04:59:00
123.G7gx7h   04:59:00  04:59:00
124.R4h-4f+  04:59:00  04:59:00
125.S*7g     04:59:00  04:59:00
126.B*5f     04:59:00  04:59:00
127.S*6g     04:59:00  04:59:00

Now black has managed to build a strong silver Yagura castle. This gives him 
the time to get the gold on 3d to join the attack, which decides the game.

128.B5fx4e   04:59:00  04:59:00
129.G3d-4d   04:59:00  04:59:00
130.B4e-3f   04:59:00  04:59:00
131.G4d-5d   04:59:00  04:59:00
132.+P3h-4h  04:59:00  04:59:00
133.G5dx6c   04:59:00  04:59:00
134.B3fx6c   04:59:00  04:59:00
135.+R5cx6c  04:59:00  04:59:00
136.G*7c     04:59:00  04:59:00
137.B*5a     04:59:00  04:59:00
138.G*7b     04:59:00  04:59:00
139.S*7e     04:59:00  04:59:00
140.P7dx7e   04:59:00  04:59:00
141.G*7d     04:59:00  04:59:00
142.+B8cx7d  04:59:00  04:59:00
143.+R6cx7d  04:59:00  04:59:00
144.K8d-9c   04:59:00  04:59:00
145.B5ax7c+  04:59:00  04:59:00
146.G7bx7c   04:59:00  04:59:00
147.B*8d     04:59:00  04:59:00
Resigns      04:59:00  04:59:00

Final Diagram

Mate after 147.Gx8d +Rx8d Kx8d G*7d etc. or 147.K8b Bx7c+ Nx7c G*8c etc. or 
147.K9b G*9c Nx9c Bx9c+ etc. so Watanabe resigned here. At 2:02 in the morning 
the fourth game of this Oza match is finally decided. Habu wins the game and 
the match, taking back the Oza title he lost to Watanabe last year. This takes 
his total title tally to 83, and also his number of Oza crowns to 20. Winning 
the same title 20 times ties another Oyama record (Meijin titles in Oyama's case), 
so this is also a new entry in the record books for Habu. For Watanabe this loss 
is a new experience: he lost a title defense match for the first time in his 
career. With the Ryu-O match against Maruyama coming up, it will be interesting 
to see how he deals with such a setback.