Takodori's Entrance to Shogi World

Habu has held Ouza title for 17 terms in a row - 56th Ouza-sen

On September 30, the 3rd game of 56th Ouza-sen 3-win match between Ouza Habu and Challenger Kimura Kazuki(8 dan) took place at Ryugon in Niigata prefecture. Habu was Sente player. Habu won the game in 171 moves. With this victory, Habu defended Ouza-title and he has held it for 17 terms in a row. Congratulation on the great achievement.

The diagram below is the resignation one when Sente took Gote's kNight on 8g. Gote cannot make any check while his King is in hisshi(brinkmate). The variation after the diagram would be as followings; 

Px1e Rx1b+(mate,replayable by clicking the arrow in the right direction)

Rx4i+(mate)

Board & Photo live of 3rd game of 56th Ouza-sen

Today is the day for the 3rd game of 56th Oui-sen between Ouza Habu and Challenger Kimura. Habu is Sente in this game. The game started at 9:00am in Japan. The venue of the play is at Ryugon in Niigata prefecture. You can watch and replay the game through the following pages;

Kifu for Flash | Kifu for Java

Frequently-updated-photo of both players every 30 seconds(Upper = Ouza Habu)

Frequently-updated-photo of Habu & Kimura

Toppage of Ouza-sen broadcasting site(in Japanese)

The thinking time per player is 5 hours and less than 60 seconds per move after consuming it. It will end in the evening today.

Fukaura defended his Oui-Title in 4-3

On September 25 and 26, the 7th game of 49th Oui-sen 4-win match between Oui Fukaura and Challenger Yoshiharu Habu took place at Kagetsuen in Kanagawa prefecture. Habu was Sente player as a result of Furigoma and Fukaura won the game in 100 moves. With this victory, Fukaura defended his Oui-title in 4-3. Congratulaiton!!

The diagram below is the resignation one when Gote's King escaped to 9d. There were no mate for Gote's King. Here are some possible variations after the diagram. 

+Bx8b S*4f K-6f G*6e(mate)

P*5h S*4f K-4h N*5f K-5i G*6h(mate)

+Bx6d N*6e +Bx6e G*4f K-6f S*5g(mate, replayable by clicking the arrow in the right direction)

+Bx6d N*6e K-6f S*5g G*4f +Bx4f Gx4f(mate)

+Bx6d N*6e K-5f G-4e K-4g G*3f(mate)

There would be more variations, but in any case, Sente would be hopeless.

Board & Photo live of 7th game of 49th Oui-sen

Today and tomorrow are the days for the 7th game of 49th Oui-sen between Oui Fukaura and Challenger Habu. The score was tied in 3-3 before the game. The winner of this game will become the next Oui title holder. The game started at 9:00am in Japan. As a result of Furigoma, Habu is Sente player. The venue of the play is at  Hotel Kagetsuen(in Japanese) in Kanagawa prefecture. You can watch and replay the game through the following pages;

Javascript board | Kifu for Flash

Photo of Fukaura | Photo of Habu | Photo of Board | Photo of press room(These are to be updated approximately every 30 seconds)

The thinking time per player is 8 hours and less than 60 seconds per move after consuming it. It will end tomorrow evening. And the first day will be posed at 6:00pm when the sealed move is made.The game will be restarted at 9:00am tomorrow.

Habu beat Kimura again - 2nd game of 56th Ouza-sen 3 win match

On September 17, the 2nd game of 56th Ouza-sen 3-win match between Ouza Habu and Challenger Kimura Kazuki(8 dan) took place at Nakanobo Zui-en in Hyogo prefecture. Kimura was Sente player. Habu won the game in 122 moves. Gote's 50th move of Nx6e was a new move. Gote lost materials for a while, but finally the winne  was Habu.

The diagram below is the resignation one when Gote's King escped to 3a Sente's King is in Hisshi(brinkmate) and Sente cannot mate Gote's King although he can continue checking it for a while. The variation after the diagram would be as followings; 

G*3b Kx3b Bx2c+ Kx2c B*4a N*3b S-1b= Kx1b G*1c K-2a B-5b+ G*8h(mate,replayable by clicking the arrow in the right direction)

G*3b Kx3b Bx2c+ Kx2c B*4a N*3b G*2b Kx1c Px1d Kx2b P-1c+ K-3a B-5b+ G*8h(mate)

G*3b Kx3b Bx2c+ Kx2c G*2b Kx1c Px1d K-2b B*1c K-3b Bx2d+ G*8h(mate)

G*3b Kx3b Bx2c+ Kx2c B*1b K-3b B-2a+ K-4a G*6b G*8h(mate)

There would be more variation, but in any case, Sente was hopeless. The third game will be held on September 30.

Board & Photo live of 2nd game of 56th Ouza-sen

Today is the day for the 2nd game of 56th Oui-sen between Ouza Habu and Challenger Kimura. Kimura is Sente in this game. The game started at 9:00am in Japan. The venue of the play is at  Nakanobo Zui-en in Hyogo prefecture. You can watch and replay the game through the following pages;

Kifu for Flash | Kifu for Java

Frequently-updated-photo of both players(Upper = Ouza Habu)

Frequently-updated-photo of Habu & Kimura

Toppage of Ouza-sen broadcasting site(in Japanese)

The thinking time per player is 5 hours and less than 60 seconds per move after consuming it. It will end in the evening today.

Habu took the 1st game - 56th Ouza-sen 3-win match

On September 5, the 1st game of 56th Ouza-sen 3-win match between Ouza Habu and Challenger Kimura Kazuki(8 dan) took place at Grand Prince Hotel Akasaka in Tokyo. Habu was Sente player as a result of Furigoma and won the game in 89 moves. The 77th move of Sente's Bishop drop on 4d was reportedly a very good move to defend Gote's attack completely.

The diagram below is the resignation one when Sente dropped a Silver on 6d. There were no immediate mate for Gote's King but Gote had no effective way of defense and offense. The variation after the diagram would be as followings; 

P*6f Bx6f P*6e B-3c+ K-6b Sx5c+(!) Kx5c +B3c-4d K-6c P*6d Kx6d S-5e(!) Sx5e G*5d(mate)

P*6f Bx6f P*6e B-3c+ K-6b Sx5c+(!) Kx5c +B3c-4d K-6c P*6d Kx6d S-5e(!) K-6c +Bx5d K-6b S*6c K-5a G*5b Rx5b +Bx5b(mate, replayable by clicking the arrow in the right direction)

P*6f Bx6f P*6e B-3c+ G*4b Sx5c+(!) Gx3c +Px3c N*5b +Sx5b Rx5b +Bx5b Kx5b R*3b K-5c Rx4b+ K-6c P*6d Kx6d G*5e Sx5e Sx5e Kx5e +Rx4e K-6d G*5d(mate)

P*6f Bx6f P*6e B-3c+ G*4b Sx5c+(!) Gx3c +Px3c N*5b +Sx5b Rx5b +Bx5b Kx5b R*3b K-6c P*6d Kx6d G*5e Sx5e Sx5e Kx5e R-5b+ Kx4f +R-5f K-3g N*4i K-2f S*3e K-2e G*2d(mate)

There would be more variation, but in any case, Gote was hopeless. The second game will be held on September 17.

Board & Photo live of 6th game of 49th Oui-sen

Today and tomorrow are the days for the 6th game of 49th Oui-sen between Oui Fukaura and Challenger Habu. The score was led by Fukaura in 3-2 before the game. The game started at 9:00am in Japan. The venue of the play is at Jinya(in Japanese) in Kanagawa prefecture. You can watch and replay the game through the following pages;

Javascript board(Official) | Kifu for Flash(Unofficial Mirror)　

Frequently-updated-photos of both players and board(Left = Oui Fukaurra)

Fukaura is Sente player in thie game. The thinking time per player is 8 hours and less than 60 seconds per move after consuming it. It will end tomorrow evening. And the first day will be posed at 6:00pm when the sealed move is made.

Board & Photo live of 1st game of 56th Ouza-sen

Today is the day for the 1st game of 56th Oui-sen between Ouza Habu and Challenger Kimura. As a result of Furigoma, Habu became Sente player. The game started at 9:00am in Japan. The venue of the play is at Grand Prince Hotel Akasaka in Tokyo. You can watch and replay the game through the following pages;

Kifu for Flash | Kifu for Java

Frequently-updated-photo of both players(Upper = Ouza Habu)

Frequently-updated-photo of Habu & Kimura

Toppage of Ouza-sen broadcasting site(in Japanese)

The thinking time per player is 5 hours and less than 60 seconds per move after consuming it. It will end in the evening today.

Habu won the 5th game - 49th Oui-sen 4-win match

On August 26 and 27, the 5th game of 49th Oui-sen 4-win match between Oui Fukaura and Challenger Yoshiharu Habu took place at Isuien in Tokushima prefecture. Habu was Sente player and won the game in 97 moves. After the game, Fukaura still leads the score in 3-2. They say Fukaura's 58th move of P-3f was a new move in this formation. But Habu's response to it seemed perfect and the game went one-sided.

The diagram below is the resignation one when Sente moved Gold to 6f. The mating line after that is simple;

K-6d S*5e(mate, replayable by clicking the arrow to the right direction)

The sixth game will be held on September 9 and 10.