14th Ryu-O Match Game 5
Black: Habu Yoshiharu, Challenger
White: Fujii Takeshi, Ryu-O
14th Ryu-O sen, Game 5, November 29th and 30th 2001
1.P7g-7f 00:00:00 00:00:00
2.P3c-3d 00:00:00 00:06:00
3.P2g-2f 00:03:00 00:06:00
4.P4c-4d 00:03:00 00:07:00
5.S3i-4h 00:05:00 00:07:00
6.R8b-4b 00:05:00 00:10:00
7.K5i-6h 00:11:00 00:10:00
8.P9c-9d 00:11:00 00:16:00
9.P9g-9f 00:14:00 00:16:00
10.S7a-7b 00:14:00 00:20:00
11.K6h-7h 00:16:00 00:20:00
12.S3a-3b 00:16:00 00:25:00
13.P5g-5f 00:26:00 00:25:00
14.S3b-4c 00:26:00 00:30:00
15.G4i-5h 00:37:00 00:30:00
16.K5a-6b 00:37:00 00:33:00
17.P3g-3f 00:44:00 00:33:00
18.K6b-7a 00:44:00 00:36:00
19.S7i-6h 00:55:00 00:36:00
20.K7a-8b 00:55:00 00:36:00
21.S6h-5g 00:56:00 00:36:00
Not really a surprise. Fujii and Habu have played each other 23 times
before. In games with a quick attack Habu has a 7-1 lead. In games with
a slow build-up Fujii leads 10-5. Despite the fact that Habu's quick
attack almost never leads to an advantage after the opening, it seems
to create the type of positions where he is the better player, allowing
him to come from behind more easily.
22.B2b-3c 00:56:00 00:36:00
23.P2f-2e 01:12:00 00:36:00
24.L1a-1b 01:12:00 00:58:00
25.G6i-6h 01:36:00 00:58:00
26.P1c-1d 01:36:00 01:13:00
27.P1g-1f 02:04:00 01:13:00
28.L1b-1c 02:04:00 01:36:00
In general, it is bad to use two moves to go to 1c where one move would
have sufficed. However, Fujii is thinking on a different level here. He
doesn't want to commit his left gold yet and also doesn't want to play
P6d to keep the possibility of a later R4d-R8d switch in the position.
Combined with the silver maneuver S4c-5d-6e this would make a dangerous
attack.
29.P4g-4f 02:48:00 01:36:00
30.S4c-5d 02:48:00 01:50:00
31.N2i-3g 02:49:00 01:50:00
32.G4a-3b 02:49:00 02:31:00
Finally, the gold is going to the left instead of the right.
33.S5g-6f 03:33:00 02:31:00
Habu also doesn't like the silver-rook attack and switches to a more
defensive position.
34.P6c-6d 03:33:00 02:33:00
35.P5f-5e 03:35:00 02:33:00
Closes the bishop diagonal, making it almost impossible to attack quickly.
36.S5d-6c 03:35:00 02:33:00
No more quick attack worries, so Fujii strengthens his castle.
37.S4h-5g 03:36:00 02:33:00
38.G3b-4c 03:36:00 02:41:00
39.P4f-4e!? 03:43:00 02:41:00
This is very hard to explain. It seemed that Habu had switched to a
waiting game, but suddenly he decides to attack after all. 39.S5f looks
like the natural move, but Habu didn't like 40.P1e Px1e R1b and white can
break through on the first file.
40.S6c-7d 03:43:00 03:59:00
Strange looking move, but high class stuff. Fujii wants to wait for the
move S5f and then attack with P3e. However, if he waits with 40.R4a
then there will be a hole on 3b for a future bishop drop. Also, if he
doesn't threaten something to make black play S5f, black will keep the
silver on 5g, where it is better positioned for defense.
41.S5g-5f 03:47:00 03:59:00
42.P3d-3e 03:47:00 04:12:00
43.R2h-2f 04:25:00 04:12:00
44.G4c-3d 04:25:00 04:31:00
45.P4ex4d 04:29:00 04:31:00
46.B3cx4d 04:29:00 04:44:00
47.P*4e 04:38:00 04:44:00
48.P3ex3f 04:38:00 04:47:00
49.P4ex4d 04:39:00 04:47:00
50.P3fx3g+ 04:39:00 04:47:00
An interesting exchange of material. White has only a knight for the
bishop, but the tokin makes it almost an exchange of two pieces for
one. Materially, white has enough compensation.
51.P5e-5d 04:50:00 04:47:00
52.P5cx5d 04:50:00 04:57:00
53.S6f-5g 04:59:00 04:57:00
54.N*8d 04:59:00 05:57:00
55.B*5c 06:26:00 05:57:00
56.R4b-4a 06:26:00 05:58:00
57.B5cx6d+ 06:26:00 05:58:00
58.G3d-3e 06:26:00 06:00:00
59.R2f-2i 06:26:00 06:00:00
60.P*4f 06:26:00 06:01:00
61.P4d-4c+ 06:28:00 06:01:00
62.R4ax4c 06:28:00 06:07:00
63.B8h-2b+? 06:49:00 06:07:00
"That was a strange move", Habu admitted after the game. Better was
63.+B5d, which seems to be giving black the advantage after 64.R4a
P*4h P4g+ Px4g P*4f Px4f P*4g B4d G3f B2b+ P4h+ Gx4h Gx4f +B2b-3b
Gx5g +Bx4a Gx6h Kx6h +Px4h K5g. However, this is quite a frightening
variation with all kinds of side variations and hard to play in an
actual game.
64.P4f-4g+ 06:49:00 06:37:00
65.+B2bx2a 06:49:00 06:37:00
66.R4c-6c 06:49:00 06:38:00
67.+B6dx5d 06:50:00 06:38:00
68.+P4gx5h 06:50:00 06:46:00
69.G6hx5h 06:50:00 06:46:00
70.P*4g 06:50:00 06:46:00
71.P*4i 07:00:00 06:46:00
72.+P3g-3h 07:00:00 07:00:00
73.R2i-2g 07:01:00 07:00:00
74.P*5c 07:01:00 07:00:00
75.+B5d-5e 07:16:00 07:00:00
76.G*5d 07:16:00 07:01:00
Fujii slowly drives back the black pieces and is getting the upper
hand here.
77.+B5e-7g 07:21:00 07:01:00
78.G3e-3f 07:21:00 07:01:00
79.R2g-1g 07:21:00 07:01:00
80.+P3h-3g 07:21:00 07:01:00
81.N*6f 07:23:00 07:01:00
Habu realizes that he is in trouble and starts to fight back.
82.+P3g-2g 07:23:00 07:12:00
83.N6fx5d! 07:23:00 07:12:00
Habu magic! It is so tempting to take the silver on 7d (which is closer
to the king and defending the rook) that almost every player would have
preferred that over a capture of the gold. However, Habu has judged that
his only way to win in this position is a slow but unstoppable attack,
putting pressure on Fujii's attack. Fujii's attack should be quicker,
but a small mistake can be devastating. Creating opportunities for the
opponent to make a mistake is the core of Habu's magical powers.
84.+P2gx1g 07:23:00 07:12:00
85.N5d-4b+ 07:23:00 07:12:00
86.R*3h 07:23:00 07:13:00
A good alternative was 86.R*2i. After 87.Lx1g Rx4i+ G*5i +R2i P*5b P*3g
P5a+ G7a +N5b P3h+ followed by P4h+ seems to be good for white. However,
86.R*3h wasn't bad either.
87.P*5i 07:27:00 07:13:00
88.+P1g-2h 07:27:00 07:13:00
89.+B2a-4c 07:31:00 07:13:00
90.+P2hx1i 07:31:00 07:28:00
91.+N4b-5b 07:31:00 07:28:00
92.L*5d? 07:31:00 07:29:00
This is a mistake. 92.Gx5b was better. Then after 93.+Bx5b 94.P*6a the
white position is quite strong. Fujii feared 95.P7e next, but after
96.Sx7e +Bx6c Sx6c R*3b N*6b the white position is surprisingly strong.
"There is no move with two golds and L*7f next doesn't give me much
confidence in this position" (Habu).
93.P*3i 07:35:00 07:29:00
94.R3h-1h+ 07:35:00 07:29:00
95.+N5bx5c 07:36:00 07:29:00
96.R6cx5c? 07:36:00 07:39:00
Here Fujii misses his final chance to keep his Ryu-O title. 96.Lx5f Sx5f
P*5g G5h-6h P4h+ +Nx6c S7dx6c +Bx6a +P5h is winning for white. If instead
of +Bx6a, black plays Px4h here, then +Rx4h attacks the bishop on 4c and
white has good chances to win.
97.+B4cx5c 07:36:00 07:39:00
The difference is that in the variation above, the bishop is now no longer
on 4c, so that +Rx4h is no longer an attack on this bishop.
98.L5dx5f 07:36:00 07:40:00
99.S5gx5f 07:36:00 07:40:00
100.P*5g 07:36:00 07:41:00
101.G5h-6h 07:36:00 07:41:00
102.N*6e 07:36:00 07:46:00
103.+B7g-6f 07:39:00 07:46:00
104.S*8e 07:39:00 07:49:00
105.S5fx6e 07:43:00 07:49:00
106.S7dx6e 07:43:00 07:49:00
107.+B6fx6e 07:43:00 07:49:00
108.N8dx7f 07:43:00 07:49:00
109.L*3h 07:43:00 07:49:00
Resigns 07:43:00 07:50:00
White has no moves after 109.Nx6h+ Kx6h and defending against moves like
S*7a or N*6d only extends the agony so Fujii resigned. After six years,
Habu takes another Ryu-O title (his fifth), and with this his 50th victory
in title match (third place in the record books after Oyama's 80 titles
and Nakahara's 64 titles). When looking at the result, Habu's victory
was overwhelming, but looking at each individual game tells a different
story. Last year Fujii most of the time managed to convert good positions
into wins, but this time was different. Again, he got Habu in trouble in
almost every game, but let this all slip away in the endgame. Fujii will
be very disappointed with the way he played the endgame in this match.