The front page column of Mainichi Newspaper which mentioned to Nakahara's retirement has been translated into English to publish on The Mainichi Daily News as below.
Shogi master announces the end of a legendary career - The Mainichi Daily News
"When I saw the move, my eyes, for some reason, filled with tears. 'What a lucky guy I am,' I thought," wrote the novelist Sakae Saito in an account of a shogi match he wrote for the Mainichi. It was 1979, the fourth game of the Meijin championship between Meijin Makoto Nakahara and Kioh Kunio Yonenaga.
The move, denoted in shogi as S-5g, has since become the stuff of legend, often talked about as a brilliant gambit made in the final stages of the match. "He went out of his way to make a move that allowed his opponent to take his silver general. But because of that, Nakahara's king could not be mated," Saito explained.
Nakahara, the 16th Honorary Meijin, is said to have been expressionless as he made the move, after staring at the board for about two minutes. However, he admitted 30 years later that "I played the move thinking that it may make history," at a press conference announcing his retirement from professional shogi.
Nakahara beat 15th Honorary Meijin Yasuharu Oyama in 1972 to become the youngest Meijin in history, winning nine consecutive Meijin championships and twice later. He was still recovering after suffering a brain hemorrhage last summer, but after making the decision to end his professional career, he declared, "I have enjoyed competing on the grand stage to the fullest. I have no regrets."
Yasuo Harada, a ninth dan (grade) player, describes Nakahara's style as "'Shizen-ryu' that wins the game before anyone knows it." "Shizen-ryu" or "natural style" was the perfect name for a style that appeared rational, effortless, and dignified -- but from Nakahara's point of view, aggressive.
"I wouldn't win if I played 'naturally,'" he said. To those of us who watched on the sidelines, his desperate maneuvers were strong enough to seem like they merely flowed naturally.
The S-5g has been hailed as the most significant move of Nakahara's illustrious career. The shogi gods who guided Nakahara at that moment are now probably plotting clever stratagems to be played by young shogi players. The torch -- one for a shogi hand that will bring tears to the eyes of those watching -- has been passed on to the next generation. ("Yoroku," a front-page column in the Mainichi Shimbun)
The legendary S-5g is annotated in the video by HIDETCHI. Here it is.
The game is also available to watch at 棋譜でーたべーす(Kifu database). If you are interested, please click either of the links below for replaying it depending on your preference of the viewers.
In this term, Teenager Habu beat four great players who experienced Meijin such as Oyama, Kato, Tanigawa and Nakahara to be the winner of the tournament. Lots of Japanese shogi fans were very impressed and felt that a new hero emerged in shogi world at that time. Here are the links to the games.
Habu vs Oyama - Kifu for Java | KiFLA
Tanigawa vs Habu - Kifu for Java | KiFLA
Habu vs Nakahara - Kifu for Java | KiFLA
Here is the playlist for "Famous Shogi Games".
HIDETCHI's playlist of Famous Shogi Games(YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.)
The 4th one is about the game of Habu vs Tanigawa played on October 29 & 30, 1996 as the 2nd game of 9th Ryuo-sen 4-win match. It is famous for Tanigawa's unpredictable N*7g as the 80th move in the endgame. Here is the link.
The game is also available to watch at 棋譜でーたべーす(Kifu database). If you are interested, please click either of the links below for replaying it depending on your preference of the viewers.
Here is the playlist for "Famous Shogi Games".
HIDETCHI's playlist of Famous Shogi Games(YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.)
The 3rd one is about the game of Nakahara vs Yonenaga played on April 26 & 27, 1979 as the 4th game of 37th Meijin-sen 4-win match. It is famous for Nakahara's S-5g as the 83rd move in the endagame. Here is the link.
The game is also available to watch at 棋譜でーたべーす(Kifu database). If you are interested, please click either of the links below for replaying it depending on your preference of the viewers.
Here is the playlist for "Famous Shogi Games".
HIDETCHI's playlist of Famous Shogi Games(YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.)
The 2nd one is about Hanamura vs Oyama played on September 10 1962. Here is the link.
The game is also available to watch at 棋譜でーたべーす(Kifu database). If you are interested, please click either of the links below for replaying it depending on your preference of the viewers.
Here is the playlist for "Famous Shogi Games".
Playlist:Famous Shogi Games
HIDETCHI's playlist of Famous Shogi Games(YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.)
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
| 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 |
| 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
| 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 |
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