36th Kio Match Game 1
[Black "Kubo Toshiaki, Kio"]
[White "Watanabe Akira, Challenger"]
[Event "36th Kio-sen, Game 1"]
[Date "February 6th 2011"]
1.P7g-7f 00:00:00 00:00:00
2.P3c-3d 00:00:00 00:01:00
3.P7f-7e 00:02:00 00:01:00
The Furigoma resulted in four pawns, so Kio Kubo started this first game with the
black pieces. It has been 3 years and 7 months since Watanabe was the challenger
in a title match, which is quite a long time considering the iron grip he has on
the Ryu-O title. Kubo starts the match with the Quick Ishida opening, which is his
specialty.
4.P8c-8d 00:02:00 00:04:00
5.R2h-7h 00:02:00 00:04:00
6.P8d-8e 00:02:00 00:04:00
7.R7h-7f 00:03:00 00:04:00
This looks very risky, because white can make a promoted bishop after 8.Bx8h+ Sx8h
B*4e, but Sugai (4-dan) has been playing it with quite a lot of success lately, so
this is definitely not easy.
8.B2bx8h+ 00:03:00 00:09:00
9.S7ix8h 00:03:00 00:09:00
10.S3a-2b 00:03:00 00:09:00
Watanabe decides to stay out away from Kubo's opening preparation and opts for a
slightly less sharp opening. Only slightly, because Kubo isn't in the mood for a
slow build-up.
11.N8i-7g 00:03:00 00:09:00
12.S2b-3c 00:03:00 00:12:00
13.P7e-7d 00:06:00 00:12:00
This pawn sacrifice opens the diagonal to the rook, which becomes the main theme
of the game.
14.P7cx7d 00:06:00 00:12:00
15.B*4f 00:06:00 00:12:00
16.B*6d 00:06:00 00:18:00
17.B4fx6d 00:18:00 00:18:00
18.P6cx6d 00:18:00 00:18:00
19.B*6c 00:28:00 00:18:00
20.B*5b 00:28:00 00:26:00
21.B6c-4e+ 00:34:00 00:26:00
22.S7a-6b 00:34:00 00:29:00
23.+B4e-4f 00:39:00 00:29:00
24.S6b-7c 00:39:00 00:30:00
25.P6g-6f 00:39:00 00:30:00
26.B5b-6c 00:39:00 00:50:00
27.S3i-3h 00:54:00 00:50:00
28.B6c-5d 00:54:00 01:12:00
29.P6f-6e 00:58:00 01:12:00
30.P6dx6e 00:58:00 01:12:00
31.R7f-5f 01:09:00 01:12:00
Black has a promoted bishop and this rook is strongly threatening Rx5d Px5d Nx6e.
Because white cannot defend with 32.R6b because of 33.Nx8e S6d Rx5d Px5d B*9e
which is good for black, the general opinion in the press room was that Kubo had
the better position here. However, Watanabe doesn't succumb that easily.
32.S3c-4d! 01:09:00 01:14:00
Strong move. The reason will become clear a little later.
33.R5fx5d 01:34:00 01:14:00
34.P5cx5d 01:34:00 01:14:00
35.N7gx6e 01:34:00 01:14:00
36.P5d-5e 01:34:00 01:16:00
This is the point of 32.S4d. With 36.P5e white closes the important bishop diagonal
and at the same time puts pressure on the black king, which is still in the center
of the board.
37.+B4f-3f 01:40:00 01:16:00
38.G4a-5b 01:40:00 01:24:00
39.N6ex7c+ 01:53:00 01:24:00
40.N8ax7c 01:53:00 01:24:00
41.B*6d 01:55:00 01:24:00
42.G6a-7b 01:55:00 01:34:00
43.B6d-3a+ 02:09:00 01:34:00
44.N7c-6e 02:09:00 01:59:00
45.K5i-4h 02:25:00 01:59:00
46.P5e-5f 02:25:00 02:02:00
Watanabe felt that if the game would turn into a long battle, black would have
the advantage with the two promoted bishops. However, Kubo's reply was a surprise.
47.+B3f-4f! 02:39:00 02:02:00
Actually, Kubo wasn't too happy about his own position here as well, because he
didn't see how he could attack the white king. 47.+B4f allows a free promoted
pawn on 5g, but Kubo thought he had no choice but to try something out of the
ordinary. If black simply answers with 47.Px5f, then 48.N5g= forks the two golds.
48.P5fx5g+ 02:39:00 02:32:00
49.K4h-3i 02:39:00 02:32:00
The point of 47.+B4f is that black has used the check to put the king in the
castle. At the same time, the promoted bishop is back on the diagonal of the
rook, which is very unpleasant for white.
50.P*5e 02:39:00 02:32:00
51.P*5c 03:03:00 02:32:00
52.G5bx5c? 03:03:00 02:54:00
Watanabe is getting too pre-occupied with keeping the long diagonal closed. As Kubo
pointed out in the post-mortem analysis, 52.Sx5c was the correct move here. For
example, 53.+Bx5e P*6d P*5d S4b +Bx2a N*3e and white has the strong threat of +Px4g
followed by N5g=. Watanabe agreed that he should have played it that way, but he
also said that he didn't see N*3e, which is why he saw no merit in this variation.
53.S*4b 03:07:00 02:54:00
54.K5a-6b 03:07:00 02:54:00
55.S4bx5c= 03:08:00 02:54:00
56.S4dx5c 03:08:00 02:54:00
57.+B4fx5e 03:09:00 02:54:00
58.P*5b 03:09:00 02:54:00
59.P*5d 03:20:00 02:54:00
60.S5c-4d 03:20:00 02:56:00
61.+B5ex6e 03:21:00 02:56:00
62.R*6g 03:21:00 03:04:00
This fork on king and horse looks very good, because when the promoted bishop moves,
white suddenly has a very dangerous looking attack against the black king after
Rx6i+. However, Kubo has the perfect counter.
63.N*6f! 03:26:00 03:04:00
Indirectly defends the promoted bishop and threatens the fork on king and rook with
Nx7d next, so white has no time to pick up the gold on 6i.
64.+P5g-4h 03:26:00 03:13:00
After 64.K7a G6i-5h white has no chance to build an attack.
65.K3ix4h 03:27:00 03:13:00
66.S*5g 03:27:00 03:15:00
67.K4h-3i 03:27:00 03:15:00
68.S5gx6f+ 03:27:00 03:15:00
Watanabe has cleverly removed the knight on 6f and again is threatening the promoted
bishop and the gold on 6i.
69.P*6c! 03:35:00 03:15:00
Again the perfect reply.
70.K6b-7a 03:35:00 03:26:00
After 70.Gx6c +B6e-6d Gx6d +Bx6d white has no defense, but 70.K7a is also not good
enough for white.
71.+B6ex7d 03:38:00 03:26:00
72.P*7c 03:38:00 03:26:00
73.G*6b 03:39:00 03:26:00
74.G7bx6b 03:39:00 03:27:00
75.P6cx6b+ 03:39:00 03:27:00
76.R8bx6b 03:39:00 03:27:00
77.P*6c 03:44:00 03:27:00
78.P7cx7d 03:44:00 03:27:00
79.P6cx6b+ 03:44:00 03:27:00
80.K7ax6b 03:44:00 03:27:00
81.+B3a-6d 03:45:00 03:27:00
82.G*7b 03:45:00 03:34:00
83.G6i-5h 03:46:00 03:34:00
84.R6g-6i+ 03:46:00 03:34:00
85.R*8a 03:47:00 03:34:00
86.P*6a 03:47:00 03:35:00
87.G*8b 03:47:00 03:35:00
88.G7b-6c 03:47:00 03:36:00
89.G8b-7b 03:47:00 03:36:00
Resigns 03:47:00 03:36:00
A simple mate after 90.Kx7b R8b+ or 90.K5a Rx6a+, so Watanabe resigned here. A very
impressive start by Kubo in this match. Watanabe just finished off Habu in the Ryu-O
and he must have been very confident at the start of this match. A win in the first
game would have gone a long way to forgetting the abysmal record he has against Kubo
(lost 10 of the last 12 games). Instead, Kubo played an almost flawless game, already
putting a lot of pressure on Watanabe to win with the black pieces in game 2.