From: Takako Noda <mxc06231 <at> JA2 <dot> SO-NET <dot> OR <dot> JP>
Date: 18 mar 1997
Subject: Tsukata Special (11)

Tsukata Special (11)

   9    8    7    6    5    4    3    2    1
+--------------------------------------------+       White in hand:
| wL | wN |    | wG | wK |    | wS | wN | wL |  a   +------------------+
+--------------------------------------------+      |  P               |
|    |    | wS |    |    |    | wG | wB |    |  b   |                  |
+--------------------------------------------+      +------------------+
| wP |    | wP |    | wP | wP | wP | wP |    |  c
+--------------------------------------------
|    |    |    | wP |    |    |    |    | wP |  d
+--------------------------------------------+
|    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |  e
+--------------------------------------------+
| bP | wR | bP |    |    |    |    | bR | bP |  f
+--------------------------------------------+
|    |    | bN | bP | bP | bP | bP |    |    |  g
+--------------------------------------------+      Black in hand:
|    | bB | bG |    |    | bK | bS |    |    |  h   +------------------+
+--------------------------------------------+      |  2Ps             |
| bL |    | bS |    |    | bG |    | bN | bL |  i   |                  |
+--------------------------------------------+      +------------------
Diagram 11. Up to P-9f

As I studied more game records, I discovered an interesting pattern on
White's part. At the above phase, shown in the diagram 11, most of the
White players simply pulled their R back to 8b, or did so after making P-9d
first, thereby giving Black an advantage of saving one move of R-3f.
But why? Wasn't this what Black was hoping for?  Why play right into the
opponent's hands? The reasons I can think of are:
1) White simply wanted to avoid P*2d, even if he had to give Black a one-move
advantage.
2) White was no longer afraid of the hineri-bisha, since the Left-Kin Mino
formation( with S-4b & G-3b) got popular spreading the idea that it
demolishes the hineri-bisha.

But now, the hineri-bisha popularity is again on the rise, and those who
play White against it have to give a serious thought as to its countermeasures.

Let me give you a few examples how the hineri-bisha prevails these days.
The eighth round of the A-class Jun-i-sen played on Feb.,8, 1995 saw two
exactly the same hineri-bisha openings in Tanigawa(b)-Shima(w) and
Yonenaga(b)-Minami(w) games. They couldn't have known that the other pair
was playing exactly the same manner up to 42nd move, since their rooms were
separated. The play-off to decide the meijin challenger for that year
played by Nakahara(b)-Morishita(w), was also a hineri-bisha game. It was
quite rare that hineri-bisha should be used so frequently in the A-class
Jun-i-sen games, which usually stick to the double-ibisha openings.

The Tsukata Special has seemingly disappeared, but survived in disguise in
hineri-bisha. The hineri-bisha popularity can be traced back to those ideas
that shaped the Tsukata Special, which imbued fresh breath to aigakari and
hineri-bisha openings. I would like to say the Tsukata Special came to a
full circle after five years' life, rather than to an end.
(End of Tsukata-Special)

>From Translatress:
Now that April is approaching, the beginning of a school year in Japan,
the pace of my posting will be even more erratic and slower, but I'd like
to do one more chapter (or more), from ibisha-type strategies. I might be
off for some time, though, because I'm going to upgrade the OS shortly, and,
by gods(we have eight million gods in Japan), do I envision trouble,
trouble, trouble...   So, see you, guys, hopefully soon!