White: Habu, B in hand 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 +---------------------------+ |wL wN * wG wK * * wN wL |a | * wR wS * * * wG * * |b |wP * wP wP wP wP wS wP wP |c | * * * * * * wP * * |d | * wP * * * * * bP * |e | * * bP * * * * * * |f |bP bP bS bP bP bP bP * bP |g | * * bG * * * bS bR * |h |bL bN * * bK bG * bN bL |i +---------------------------+ Black: Shima, B in hand Diagram 1. Up to S-7b.Moves after Diagram 1
P-1f P-7d P-3f P-9d P-9f P-1d S-3g
S-7c S-4f S-6d P-3e Px3e Sx3e S-5e --->(Diagram 2)
White: Habu, B P in hand 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 +---------------------------+ |wL wN * wG wK * * wN wL |a | * wR * * * * wG * * |b | * * * wP wP wP wS wP * |c |wP * wP * * * * * wP |d | * wP * * wS * bS bP * |e |bP * bP * * * * * bP |f | * bP bS bP bP bP * * * |g | * * bG * * * * bR * |h |bL bN * * bK bG * bN bL |i +---------------------------+ Black: Shima, B P in hand Diagram 2. Up to S-5e.Both players made quite a standard series of moves so far, except for the Pawns on 9f and 1d. Stop here and think how you would play if you were Black. P-3d? You would be met by: S3c-4d, P-2d, Sx3e, P-2c+, P*2g, Rx2g, S*2f. You wouldn't like the position. It should be noted, however, that if White's King is on 4b, you can ignore the Silver drop on 2f and play +Px3b, with mate. White will be in bigger trouble in this case. Therefore, when White's King sits on 4b, White cannot play S-5e. This was another reason why they stopped playing K-4b.
There followed:
P-2d, Sx2d, Sx2d, Px2d
The next move after (b)Px2d is joseki. If you play Rx2d, a commonplace move, White will play P*2c. If you then pull your R back to 2h, your opponent will play S-4d. His idea for the next move is B*6d. So, a better move is called for.
These moves follow:
P-5f! Sx5f B*4f B*6d P*5d
P-5f is really something, isn't it? The last move, P*5d, was considered to be good at first, but later a better move was discovered: Bx6d. Then there would follow Px6d, B*6c, which is supposed to be more favorable for Black. I should sound more decisive, but either way leads to a very difficult position for any player. Anyway, Shima himself told later that after P-5f was played, he could not find a way to improve the position.
Moves afterwards:
Sx4g+ Bx6d Px6d Px5c+ B*4f R-2f B-5g+ G-6h
+B-3e R-5f P*5b
Habu played Sx4g+, a good judgement on his part. Shima managed to promote his Pawn onto 5c, which is usually quite a menacing move, but in this case, he had to pay the price of letting Habu's Bishop become very powerful. At the last move, P*5b, the position was definitely in Habu's favor.