59th Osho Match Game 2
[Black "Habu Yoshiharu, Osho"]
[White "Kubo Toshiaki, Challenger"]
[Event "59th Osho-sen, Game 2"]
[Date "January 28th and 29th 2010"]
1.P2g-2f 00:00:00 00:00:00
2.P3c-3d 00:00:00 00:00:00
3.P7g-7f 00:03:00 00:00:00
4.P5c-5d 00:03:00 00:02:00
5.P2f-2e 00:09:00 00:02:00
6.R8b-5b 00:09:00 00:03:00
Most players like to keep their opponents guessing about which opening strategy
they will pick, but Kubo is not one of them. It was widely expected that he would
play the Gokigen Nakabisha with white and this is what he played. The question
was what kind of counter strategy Habu would play.
7.S3i-4h 00:13:00 00:03:00
8.P5d-5e 00:13:00 00:04:00
9.K5i-6h 00:13:00 00:04:00
10.B2b-3c 00:13:00 00:07:00
11.P3g-3f 00:17:00 00:07:00
12.K5a-6b 00:17:00 00:07:00
13.S4h-3g 00:22:00 00:07:00
Habu plays the P3f-S3f attack, which is currently becoming the most popular
attacking strategy against the Gokigen Nakabisha. The point of this silver
attack is actually to test the waters. If white plays aggressively, black
can also attack aggressively. If white decides to go for a slow game, black
will also build his castle first, as happens in this game.
14.K6b-7b 00:22:00 00:11:00
15.S3g-4f 00:25:00 00:11:00
16.G4a-3b 00:25:00 00:11:00
17.K6h-7h 00:28:00 00:11:00
18.K7b-8b 00:28:00 00:12:00
19.S7i-6h 00:38:00 00:12:00
20.S3a-4b 00:38:00 00:30:00
21.G4i-5h 00:54:00 00:30:00
22.S7a-7b 00:54:00 00:53:00
23.S6h-7g 01:19:00 00:53:00
24.S4b-5c 01:19:00 00:55:00
25.S7g-6f 01:28:00 00:55:00
26.S5c-5d 01:28:00 01:13:00
27.N2i-3g 02:19:00 01:13:00
With both silvers out to attack the pawn on 5e and this knight to support an
attack in the center or on the rook side, Habu has set up a very simple but
effective opening strategy.
28.P6c-6d 02:19:00 01:47:00
Kubo is calling Habu out with this move. Black has no choice but to attack
here, because he cannot allow P6e, which would force black to retreat the
silver.
29.P2e-2d 02:28:00 01:47:00
30.P2cx2d 02:28:00 01:54:00
31.S4f-4e 02:29:00 01:54:00
32.P6d-6e 02:29:00 02:54:00
After 32.Sx4e Nx4e the bishop is attacked and black also threatens to drop
a silver on 4a, so Kubo played the aggressive counter attack 32.P6e.
33.S4ex5d 02:56:00 02:54:00
34.R5bx5d 02:56:00 02:57:00
Not 34.Px6f S*6c and white is in trouble.
35.S6fx6e 02:58:00 02:57:00
36.R5d-5a 02:58:00 02:57:00
Kubo seems to have set himself up for the kind of position he likes. Black
can attack, but it seems almost impossible to avoid sabaki (activation of the
major pieces) for white.
37.N3g-4e 03:45:00 02:57:00
38.B3c-4b 03:45:00 03:04:00
39.S*5c 03:52:00 03:04:00
40.B4bx5c 03:52:00 03:09:00
41.N4ex5c+ 04:30:00 03:09:00
42.R5ax5c 04:30:00 03:11:00
43.B*4a 04:31:00 03:11:00
44.G3b-3a 04:31:00 03:31:00
45.B4a-8e+ 04:32:00 03:31:00
Habu has given up the silver and knight for the bishop, which is usually
suspect, but in this case the bishop is promoted and controlling an important
part of the board.
46.R5c-5a 04:32:00 03:40:00
47.R2hx2d 05:05:00 03:40:00
48.P*6d 05:05:00 04:06:00
49.S6ex6d 05:18:00 04:06:00
50.S*7d 05:18:00 04:25:00
51.+B8e-8f 05:31:00 04:25:00
52.S*8e 05:31:00 04:26:00
53.+B8f-5i 06:02:00 04:26:00
Kubo made the difficult decision to use two silvers to chase away the promoted
bishop. At first glance, it seems like he succeeded, because the silver on 8e
can move to 6e with tempo, supporting the attack in the center.
54.S8ex7f 06:02:00 04:37:00
55.P*7g 06:02:00 04:37:00
56.S7f-6e 06:02:00 04:37:00
57.+B5i-2f 06:22:00 04:37:00
58.P5e-5f 06:22:00 05:28:00
59.B8h-7i! 06:22:00 05:28:00
This makes Kubo's strategy suspect. Instead of setting up a strong attack in
the center, white has helped black to activate the bishop on 8h. We will see
later that this bishop will play an important role in the black attack. Black
has gained the upper hand here.
60.P5fx5g+ 06:22:00 05:54:00
61.G5hx5g 06:22:00 05:54:00
62.P*5f 06:22:00 05:56:00
63.G5g-5h 06:22:00 05:56:00
64.N2a-3c 06:22:00 06:05:00
65.P*5b 06:27:00 06:05:00
66.R5ax5b 06:27:00 06:15:00
67.S6d-5c+ 06:28:00 06:15:00
68.R5b-1b 06:28:00 06:21:00
69.R2dx3d 06:37:00 06:21:00
70.G3a-3b 06:37:00 06:21:00
71.+S5c-6b 06:51:00 06:21:00
72.N*4d 06:51:00 06:21:00
73.+S6bx6a 06:52:00 06:21:00
74.S7bx6a 06:52:00 06:21:00
75.P*5b 06:54:00 06:21:00
76.S6a-6b 06:54:00 06:37:00
77.P*2d? 07:09:00 06:37:00
This move defends against G2c, but it gives white the opportunity to start an
attack of his own. Correct was the decisive 77.Rx4d Px4d +Bx4d and P*6a is now
answered by P5a+ Sx5a B3e and the combined force of the two bishops is very
hard to defend.
78.P*6f 07:09:00 06:40:00
79.P6gx6f 07:12:00 06:40:00
80.S6ex6f 07:12:00 06:40:00
81.P*6c 07:14:00 06:40:00
82.S6bx6c 07:14:00 06:41:00
83.P5b-5a+ 07:19:00 06:41:00
84.N3c-4e 07:19:00 07:04:00
Here Kubo felt that he was back in the game, because he "could see the king".
85.+P5a-6a? 07:22:00 07:04:00
For the second time, Habu plays a less than powerful move. Correct was 85.P*6d
Sx6d and only then +P6a. Then S6d-5e (to defend against Rx4d) +B3e N5g+ +B4e P9d
+P7a and black is winning.
86.P5f-5g+ 07:22:00 07:08:00
87.P*6d 07:25:00 07:08:00
88.+P5gx5h! 07:25:00 07:20:00
The difference. Because black has played +P6a first, white can ignore the pawn
drop on 6d. The endgame is now too close to call.
89.P6dx6c+ 07:27:00 07:20:00
90.P9c-9d 07:27:00 07:27:00
91.G6ix5h 07:32:00 07:27:00
92.P*5g 07:32:00 07:31:00
93.+P6c-7b! 07:54:00 07:31:00
Vintage Habu. He has the uncanny ability to forget what happened previously
(be it in a match or a game) and look for ways to win in every position. Here
a lot of players would have been kicking themselves for letting a good position
slip away and pile mistake upon mistake, but Habu just finds a new way to create
difficulties for his opponent. Of course, he didn't have much choice but to find
a nice move. The obvious 93.Rx4d Px4d +Bx4d fails to S*6i Kx6i +Px5h and black
is mated. Also 93.G*7b K9c +Px7c is unclear after K8d +Px7d Kx7d.
94.K8bx7b 07:54:00 07:31:00
95.S*7a 07:54:00 07:31:00
96.K7b-6c? 07:54:00 07:36:00
It is hard to criticize Kubo for this mistake. The correct move was 96.P8d, but
running with the king to the open area instead of opening an escape route on 8c
which is not really an escape because of the silver on 7d, makes 96.K6c look so
much better. However, when analyzing some variations, it becomes clear that
96.P8d was the best move (although it may not have been enough to win). For
example 97.G5i is answered by S*6g K8h G*7h K9h Gx7i and even if black plays
Rx4d Px4d +Bx4d, white wins after R*7h N*8h B*5f which threatens mate and
defends. Or 97.P*6g Px5h+ Px6f and white wins after S*6i K8h +P6h etc. The
correct move after 96.P8d is 97.+B3e!. For example, 98.Px5h+ +Bx4e K8c K8h
S*6h G*7h Sx7i= Gx7i B*5g P*6h and because +Px6h is not a mating threat, black
can win with +Bx8a. The conclusion after a quick post-mortem analysis was that
black is still winning, but even if this conclusion is correct, there are many
ways for black to make a mistake here, so white should have tried 96.P8d here.
97.+B2f-3e 07:54:00 07:36:00
98.S*5f 07:54:00 07:49:00
The other way to defend the knight on 4e is 98.G*5d, but this fails to 99.+P6b
K6d Bx5g Nx5g+ Gx5g and the white attack is stopped.
99.P*6g 07:57:00 07:49:00
100.P5gx5h+ 07:57:00 07:54:00
101.P6gx6f 07:57:00 07:54:00
102.S7d-7e 07:57:00 07:55:00
103.K7h-8h 07:58:00 07:55:00
104.P*3c 07:58:00 07:57:00
105.+P6a-6b 07:59:00 07:57:00
106.K6c-5c 07:59:00 07:58:00
107.S*5e 07:59:00 07:58:00
108.K5c-4b 07:59:00 07:58:00
109.+B3ex4d 07:59:00 07:58:00
110.P4cx4d 07:59:00 07:59:00
111.R3dx4d 07:59:00 07:59:00
112.G*4c 07:59:00 07:59:00
113.N*5d 07:59:00 07:59:00
114.K4b-3a 07:59:00 07:59:00
115.P2d-2c+ 07:59:00 07:59:00
116.G4cx4d 07:59:00 07:59:00
117.+P2cx1b 07:59:00 07:59:00
118.L1ax1b 07:59:00 07:59:00
119.G*4b 07:59:00 07:59:00
120.G3bx4b 07:59:00 07:59:00
121.N5dx4b+ 07:59:00 07:59:00
122.K3ax4b 07:59:00 07:59:00
123.R*5b 07:59:00 07:59:00
Resigns 07:59:00 07:59:00
Mate after 124.K3a G*3b or 124.K4c Sx4d K3d G*3e K2c G*2d. Another interesting
game and Habu will be a little relieved that his rather sloppy endgame play didn't
cost him. The match is tied and has now become a best-of-five series with Kubo
having the black pieces in the next game. Will he be able to put some pressure on
Habu again or will the Osho title holder take control of this match?