Takodori's Entrance to Shogi World

Boardlive today - 2nd game of 33rd Kio-sen between Kio Sato and Challenger Habu

Today is the day for the 2nd game of 33rd Kio-sen 3-win match between Kio Sato Yasumitsu and Challenger Habu Yoshiharu(2 crowns). The game started at 9:00 am in Japan. Sato became a Sente(black) player. The thinking time per player is 4 hours and less than 60 seconds per move after consuming it. I think it will end early this evening. You can replay and watch the game through the linked page below;

2nd game of 33rd Kio-sen 3-win match

Habu chose Gokigen Nakabisha. Sato's adopted Maruyama Vaccine of trading Bishops at the 7th move.

Position search got slightly easier to use in Kifu Database

Kifu Database has a position search function but it used to be difficult to use since the site is written in Japanese. Yesterday small enhancement was made there and it got slightly easier to use position search function although  it's still written in Japanese. When you use the database, setting the value of character encoding  to "Japanese(EUC-JP)" in your browser is recommended to have a clear display of Japanese character without garbling.

I'm explaining how to do that by using an real example.

Open any game in the database. Here is Habu Yoshiharu vs Kubo Toshiaki(2nd game of 33rd Kio Sen) which is a game with Gokigen Nakabisha Ultra Quick Attack opening.

Click the second link of [同局面検索] from the right.

Then, the new screen appears. Type the number of the moves of the position you would like to search in the field at the bottom of the moves(the field with "XXX" input in the example below). If you would like to search the games with the same position of 21st move as the Habu vs Kubo game, type "021" in the field and then push the button of 送信. Then you will have the list of the links to the games with the same position at the 21st move.

Atamakin Tsume Practice #11

"Atamakin" means Gold drop on the square ahead of the opponent's King supported by other piece of yours on the board. This gold drop is frequently used when checkmating the King in the endgame. It is necessary to be able to make an Atamakin for you to win a game. You can learn by solving Atamakin Tsume Practice problems to be posted here. Today is #11. It's a five move tsume.

You can see the answer by clicking the arrow in the right direction under the board in order to replay the answer line. (Popup diagram to be saved for printing) Click the exclamation marks which appear below the diagram for further comments on the problem. If you click the marks again, the comment windows go away.

Yauchi succeeded in defending the title of Joryu Meijini-sen

Yesterday Joryu Meijin Yauchi beat Saida(Joryu 4 dan)in 144 moves in the 3nd game of 34th Joryu Meijin-sen 3-win match. Yauchi succeeded in defending the title with three wins in a row. Yauchi became Gote(while) player this game. Saida chose Shikenbisha while she tried Nakabisha in the previous two games. Yauchi's counterattack on the edge file was strong enough to win the game.

The diagram above is the resignation one when Saida resigned the game at the 144th move. Sente's King would be mated in the following lines;

K-4g G*3f(mate)

K-4i G*4h(mate)

K-3i G*2h K-4i Gx3h(mate, replayeable by clicking the arrow in the right direction under the diagram)

B*5d K-6g B-2g+ N*8c(!) Gx8c G*8a +Bx8a +Nx8a Kx8a R*6a G*7a S*7b(!) Kx7b B*6c K-8b Rx7a+ Kx7a G*7b(mate, replayable by clicking  the arrow in the right direction under the diagram)

Congratulation on Yauchi.

Habu took the 4th game of 57th Osho-sen

Yesterday Habu won the fourth game of 57th Osho-sen 4-wins match with Challenger Kubo 8 dan in 113 moves. Habu was Sente player. The opening strategy of the game was Gote's Gokigen Nakabisha(central Rook). Habu traded Bishops at the seventh move which is called Maruyama Vaccine since Maruyama (9 dan) used to beat Gokigen Nakabihsa with this bishop trade. I think Gote's 28th move of G-4b is questionable since it allowed Sente's forking bishop drop on 3a soon later.

The diagram below is the resignation one. The possible variations after that position would be as followings;

Rx7i+ Gx7i Lx8g+ Kx8g +Rx7i B*7a K-9b R*9c Nx9c G*8b(mate)

B*7a Gx7a Kx7a B*4d G*6b G*5b S-6a B*5a Sx5b B5ax6b+ K-8b +B-7a K-9b G*8b K-9c Gx8a K-9b +B-8b(mate)

B*7a Gx7a Kx7a B*4d G*6b G*5b S-6a B*5a K-8b B5ax6b+ Sx6b Bx6b K-9b S*8b Kx8b G*7b K-9b +B-7a(hisshi = brinkmate)

B*7a Gx7a Kx7a B*4d G*6b G*5b S-6a B*5a K-8b B5ax6b+ Sx6b Bx6b K-9b S*8b +Px5g +B-7a Rx7i+ Gx7i +Rx7i Kx7i +Px6h Sx6h G*7h Kx7h Lx8g Kx8g B*6i L*7h P-8d G*9c Nx9c Sx9c+(mate, replayable by clicking the arrow in the right direction under the diagram)

There would be more variations, but Gote was hopeless in any cases.

Atamakin Tsume Practice #10

"Atamakin" means Gold drop on the square ahead of the opponent's King supported by other piece of yours on the board. This gold drop is frequently used when checkmating the King in the endgame. It is necessary to be able to make an Atamakin for you to win a game. You can learn by solving Atamakin Tsume Practice problems to be posted here. Today is #10. It's a seven move tsume. If you cannot solve it within 5 minutes, I recommend you to replay the answer line.

You can see the answer by clicking the arrow in the right direction under the board in order to replay the answer line. (Popup diagram to be saved for printing) Click the exclamation marks which appear below the diagram for further comments on the problem. If you click the marks again, the comment windows go away.

Bookmarked professional games exceed 500

Today the number of shogi games bookmarked in del.icio.us/KifubyOpeningStrategy exceeds 500. Each bookmark is tagged by players'name, opening strategy, and replay recommendation if it touched me when I bookmarked. Here are some example.

replay-strongly-recommended
replay-recommended
shikenbisha
habu-yoshiharu

Boardlive today - 3rd game of 34th Joryu-Meijini-sen

Joryu Meijin Yauchi vs Saida(Joryu 4 dan) is now on boardlive. You can watch and replay the game through the link below;

Yauchi(Gote) vs Saida

Yauchi took previous two games in a row. This is a 3-win match. It will end in a few hours from now. Yauchi chosen Ibihsa as usual. To which file Saida transferred was in question. Her choice was Shikenbisha in this game.

Atamakin Tsume Practice #9

"Atamakin" means Gold drop on the square ahead of the opponent's King supported by other piece of yours on the board. This gold drop is frequently used when checkmating the King in the endgame. It is necessary to be able to make an Atamakin for you to win a game. You can learn by solving Atamakin Tsume Practice problems to be posted here. Today is #9. It's a five move tsume.

You can see the answer by clicking the arrow in the right direction under the board in order to replay the answer line. (Popup diagram to be saved for printing) Click the exclamation marks which appear below the diagram for further comments on the problem. If you click the marks again, the comment windows go away.

Boardlive today - 4th game of 57th Osho-sen

Yesterday and today are the days for the 4th game of 57th Osho-sen 4-wins match between Osho Habu and Kubo(8 dan). Habu is Sente(black) player this game since Kubo was so last game. You can watch and replay the game through the link below(Java capable browser is needed).

4th game of 57th Osho-sen 4-wins match

Here are the explanations about the four buttons above the board there.

1st button --- to be refreshed every 30 seconds
2nd button --- to be refreshed every 1 minute
3rd button --- to be refreshed every 3 minutes
4th button --- to be refreshed manually

The color of the buttons shows you which one you are choosing now(The example above is choosing the 1st button). I recommend you to choose the 4th button when you replay the game from the start to the current position and push the 2nd button to watch the live games in the endgame in Byoyomi.

The opening strategy of this game was Gote's Gokigen nakabihsa. Habu traded Bishops at the 7th move which is called Maruyama Vaccine. Kubo re-transferred his Rook to the 2nd file(Mukaibisha).

Although the texts are written in Japanese, you can see many photos and videos frequently uploaded related to this match through the official blog linked below;

57th Osho-sen broadcasting blog