Kato Hifumi(9 dan), the official watchperson, opened the sealed move which Habu made as the 38th move yesterday. It was S6b-5c. (Left = Moriuchi, Right = Habu).
This is the video just before the restart on the 2nd day of the 3rd game of 66th Meijin-sen. Both players reproduced the piece moves they made yesterday according to the record-keeper's voice. Left = Habu Right = Moriuchi.
On April 30 Yauchi won the third game of the first Mynavi Joshi Open
Final 3-win match
against Kai in 92 moves. Yauchi was a Gote player in
this game. Kai chose Shikenbisha following to her Sente's game of the 1st one. Yauchi adopted a quick attack in this game.
The diagram below is the resignation one when Gote took the Lance on 1f. The possible variations after that position would be as
followings;
N*4e +Rx4e Px4e Px1g+ K-3g B*1i K-2f +P-1f K-2e +P-1e(mate, replayable by clicking the arrow in the direction under the diagram)
Yesterday LPSA's one day tournament took place. LPSA is short for The Ladies Professional Shogi-players' Association of Japan. It was a knock-out tournament with the 8 participants. Nakai(Lady 6 dan) beat Joryu Oui Ishibashi in the final match to become the winner. You can replay the final game. You can watch the videos of the game through the official page.
This is the end of the 1st day. Habu was guided to enter a special room for writing a sealed move alone. Nobody except him is aware of the move until the start of the 2nd day. Habu put his signature on the envelopes containing the sealed move in the room.
Habu handed the envelopes to Tanigawa, the official watchman. Tanigawa handed them to Moriuchi to put his sigunature on them. After doing that, Moriuchi handed them to Habu. Habu confirmed Moriuchi's signature on the envelopes and handed them back to Tanigawa. One envelope is to be kept by the host of the tournament place and the other is to be kept by the official watchman until the start of the 2nd day. Moriuchi took the pieces out of the board in the cloth bag(Komabukuro). Higher ranked player is to do so in shogi. This is the same as after the game. Regardless which to win, higher ranked player is to take the pieces out of board into Komabukuro.
The second game of 66th Meijinsen between Meijin Moriuchi and Challenger Habu started at 9:00am at Sakai city in Osaka. Habu is Sente player. Moriuchi led the score in 1-0 before the game. The opening strategy is Itteson-Kakugawari(Bishop Exchange with Gote's one tempo delay). The position at the 18th move can be seen here. The video linked below is the start of the game. The left player is Meijin Moriuchi while the right player is Challneger Habu. The official Watchman is Tanigawa(9 dan, entitled to be 17th permanent Meijin) who sits over the table in Kimono. I think the game will continue until tomorrow evening,
On April 14 Kai won the second game of the first Mynavi Joshi Open Final 3-win match
against Joryu Meijin Yauchi in 164 moves. Yauchi was a Sente player in this game. Kai chose Gokigen Nakabisha. Yauchi traded Bishops at the seventh move which is called "Maruyama Vaccine". Kai led the position in the middlegame. Yauchi tried to turn around it in the endgame but finally Kai magaged to win the game.
The diagram below is the resignation one when Gote dropped her Bishop on 7g. The possible variations after that position would be as
followings;
K-8d P*8c Kx8c S*9b K-8d G*8c(mate, replayable by clicking the arrow in the direction under the diagram)
K-8d P*8c K-9c G:9b(mate)
K-9f B-8f+(mate)
In any case, Sente could not help avoiding forced mate.
This is the start of the game in the morning of April 14. Yauchi's first move was P-7f
Restart after lunch break. Yauchi made the 43rd move of B*1f
Yamakuzushi is a Japanese children game by using shogi board and pieces often before they learn shogi. Children can get familiar with shogi pieces through this game. Habu mentioned to this game in the interview linked below;
Habu: Yes, a friend in the same class who lived nearby taught me. It was just one of the many games we played. We started with "mawari shogi" and "yamakuzushi,"* then advanced to shogi proper. At first I was around the same strength as my classmates, but then I got stronger and started going to a shogi club so I could play against adults.
* Mawarishogi: The players race their golds around the shogi board from the outside to the center, throwing dice to decide the number of squares they move. Yamakuzushi: The pieces are spilled onto the shogi board from the box, forming a "mountain." The players have to move each piece from the mountain to the edge of the board with their forefinger without making a noise. A player who makes a noise must leave the game.
The remark of Yamakuzushi above is a little obscure. Yamakuzushi is to be played plural players. The "Noise" means the sound generated from the "mountain" only and does not include the sound generated by slipping a shogi piece on the board and by getting a piece out of bounds. When one player makes a "noise", then his/her turn is over and another player's turn comes. This circulation is to continue until the final piece is got out. Here is an example of Yamakuzushi. It is played by three players in the video. The video was taken on March 22 2008 on the opportunity of Kids School event hold in Tokyo by LPSA(The Ladies Professional Shogi -players' Association of Japan)
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