17th Ryu-O Match Game 5
[Black "Watanabe Akira, Challenger"]
[White "Moriuchi Toshiyuki, Ryu-O"]
[Event "17th Ryu-O sen, Game 5"]
[Date "December 7th and 8th 2004"]
1.P7g-7f 00:01:00 00:00:00
2.P8c-8d 00:01:00 00:02:00
3.S7i-6h 00:02:00 00:02:00
4.P3c-3d 00:02:00 00:02:00
5.P6g-6f 00:02:00 00:02:00
6.P5c-5d 00:02:00 00:02:00
7.P5g-5f 00:04:00 00:02:00
8.S3a-4b 00:04:00 00:09:00
9.S3i-4h 00:11:00 00:09:00
10.S4b-5c 00:11:00 00:09:00
11.S4h-5g 00:23:00 00:09:00
12.P6c-6d 00:23:00 00:20:00
13.G6i-7h 00:26:00 00:20:00
14.R8b-3b 00:26:00 00:24:00
After two Yagura games, Moriuchi tries something different with
white: the Yodo-furibisha opening. This will not have been a big
surprise to Watanabe, because Moriuchi played this opening also
against Habu in the Kio tournament four days before this Ryu-O game.
Moriuchi won that game convincingly, which will have given him the
confidence to try it in this very important title match game as well.
15.P2g-2f 00:30:00 00:24:00
16.P4c-4d 00:30:00 00:26:00
17.P2f-2e 00:39:00 00:26:00
18.B2b-3c 00:39:00 00:26:00
19.K5i-6i 00:39:00 00:26:00
20.K5a-6b 00:39:00 00:29:00
21.P3g-3f 00:53:00 00:29:00
22.G4a-5b 00:53:00 01:33:00
23.S5g-4f 00:56:00 01:33:00
24.K6b-7b? 00:56:00 01:34:00
An important mistake that gives black a very good position. Correct
was 24.G4c, after which black has no strong attack. For example,
25.P3e B5a R3h Px3e Sx3e P*3d S4f. Moriuchi did not like this
position: "If it comes out like this, I should have played a normal
Furibisha from the start".
25.P3f-3e 01:45:00 01:34:00
26.B3c-5a 01:45:00 01:44:00
27.R2h-3h 01:56:00 01:44:00
28.P4d-4e? 01:56:00 01:48:00
The second mistake. Watanabe had counted on 28.Px3e, after which Sx3e
K8b P*3d S7b R3f P7d N3g led to a position with completely different
opinions. Moriuchi feared that he might be pushed off the board from
here, while Watanabe worried about the problems of opening up the
position with a closed bishop diagonal and how to properly castle his
king. It seems that this variation was better than the game.
29.S4f-5g 02:19:00 01:48:00
30.P3dx3e 02:19:00 01:54:00
31.P6f-6e 02:23:00 01:54:00
32.B5a-3c 02:23:00 02:14:00
33.B8hx3c+ 02:45:00 02:14:00
34.N2ax3c 02:45:00 02:52:00
35.P6ex6d 02:48:00 02:52:00
36.N3cx2e 02:48:00 02:57:00
37.P*2f 03:08:00 02:57:00
38.P3e-3f 03:08:00 04:34:00
The sealed move and one of those rare occasions where a position after
the first day already looks more or less decided. Black seems to have
an overwhelming advantage and Moriuchi's body language was already
quite bad when he was contemplating the sealed move. Quite unusual
for him, as it is normally very hard to read to tell from looking at
him how good or bad his position is.
39.P2fx2e 03:09:00 04:34:00
40.R3b-3d 03:09:00 05:03:00
41.B*2b 03:34:00 05:03:00
42.L1a-1b 03:34:00 05:13:00
43.B2b-1a+ 03:40:00 05:13:00
44.B*2g 03:40:00 05:23:00
45.+B1ax1b! 03:54:00 05:23:00
Fukuzaki, who followed the game from the press room, was especially
impressed with this move. It looks like the black position is badly
defended against a rook drop, but Watanabe has judged correctly that
46.Bx3h+ Gx3h R*4i can be answered by S5i and white has no way to get
to the king. For example Rx2i+ N*7e Sx6d B*8c K6b L*6c Gx6c Bx6a+ Kx6a
Nx6c+ and black wins.
46.B2gx3h+ 03:54:00 05:54:00
47.G4ix3h 03:54:00 05:54:00
48.S5cx6d 03:54:00 05:54:00
49.+B1bx2c 04:06:00 05:54:00
50.R3d-3a 04:06:00 05:55:00
51.+B2c-2b 04:12:00 05:55:00
52.R3a-5a 04:12:00 05:56:00
53.S6h-5i 04:34:00 05:56:00
54.P*2f 04:34:00 06:30:00
55.L*6h 04:48:00 06:30:00
56.P*6e 04:48:00 06:30:00
57.+B2b-4d 04:48:00 06:30:00
58.P2f-2g+ 04:48:00 06:32:00
59.+B4dx5d 04:54:00 06:32:00
60.G5b-6c 04:54:00 06:32:00
61.B*8c 04:55:00 06:32:00
This might have been a mistake, but an alternative is not given.
62.K7bx8c 04:55:00 06:42:00
Here Watanabe realized that there was a problem, but it is too late.
He thought that 62.K6b was the only move here.
63.+B5dx6c 04:55:00 06:42:00
64.P*5h? 04:55:00 06:51:00
Despite the overwhelming advantage that black seems to have, only this
is losing move. If white would have played 64.G7b, things are still
unclear. For example, 65.+Bx6d +Px3h S*6c P*5h +Bx6e G*7d N*7e K8b
Sx7b+ Sx7b and now G*6b would be winning if white did not have Px5i+
K7i R*6i K8h B*4d which picks up the gold on 6b. Also, 65.+Bx6d +Px3h
N*7e K9b S*6c G*8b +Bx6e B*7d Sx7d+ Px7d +Bx7d S*8c and the black attack
is stopped. This position was analyzed extensively, even after the
post-mortem was over, but a clear win for black was not found. Moriuchi
admitted after the game that he had already given up on the game here and
regretted not to have thought about his moves a little longer.
65.N*9e 05:07:00 06:51:00
66.K8c-9d 05:07:00 06:51:00
67.+B6cx8a 05:07:00 06:51:00
68.P5hx5i+ 05:07:00 06:51:00
69.K6i-7i 05:07:00 06:51:00
70.K9dx9e 05:07:00 07:01:00
71.N*8f 05:08:00 07:01:00
72.P8d-8e 05:08:00 07:03:00
73.+B8a-6c 05:09:00 07:03:00
74.B*5b 05:09:00 07:13:00
75.+B6cx6d 05:10:00 07:13:00
76.K9e-8d 05:10:00 07:13:00
77.+B6dx6e 05:10:00 07:13:00
Resigns 05:10:00 07:13:00
After 78.Px8f S*7e is a simple mate and there is no good attack or
defense for white. Suddenly, Watanabe is within one win of taking the
Ryu-O title from Moriuchi. Still, this is a situation he has been in
before, leading 2-1 in the Oza match against Habu last year. He then
lost both games, so he knows the difficulty of that final win. Let's
see how he fares with the white pieces in game 6.