Kubo dazzles again
The success of the Furibisha players continues as young Kubo did the impossible by beating Goda twice in a week to win the challenger tournament in the Kio-sen. In both games Goda had good chances. Especially in the first game, he missed a win in byoyomi. It was quite a difficult one, but Goda chose the wrong mating threat which was beautifully countered with a "drop where your opponent wants to drop" knight sacrifice.
In the second game, Kubo got the upper hand in the middle game, but Goda got back in and had a chance to make it very difficult near the end of the game. He missed his opportunity and that meant that Kubo is the challenger of Kio Habu. Of course, it is his first challenge and it will be interesting to see how he will do against Habu, especially after Habu lost against Fujii, the other main Furibisha specialist.
Trouble brewing for Shima, Tanaka
In the A Junisen dark clouds are starting to gather over Shima and Tanaka. Shima played a great game against Sato Yasumitsu that I hope will be published soon as it was a textbook example of an exciting endgame. Both kings were in a lot of danger and neither player could read out all the possible variations. In the end it was Sato's tiny middle game lead that just seemed to make the difference between winning and losing.
Shima is now at the bottom of the league with 2-5, while Sato keeps the pressure on Tanigawa with a 5-2 score. Shima was joined at the bottom by Tanaka, who lost against Moriuchi.
Tanaka thought he had a good position in the middle game and opened the game by sacrificing a bishop for a silver. If he had sacrificed an extra pawn to open another line before that, it might have worked. As it was, Moriuchi's position was difficult, but playable.
Moriuchi defended well and then won in the counter attack. At 4-3 he does not have much hope to challenge for the Meijin title, but he will be very happy with a win after three consecutive losses.
Tough battles in Junisen C
In C1 the 9th round was played and leader Namekata suffered a shocking defeat against Katsumata. Namekata's opening preparation in the R8e Yokofudori seemed to have worked perfectly, but a small mistake in the complicated middle game turned the game completely around. Katsumata won from there in great style.
Namekata almost immediately left after the game, clearly very upset with himself. For Katsumata it was a big victory as he now has a 6-2 score. This means that he will lose the relegation marker he got last year and also gives him an outside chance to promote from the piranha pool.
Horiguchi Kazushiza seems to have no problems in this class, as he beat Ouchi to get to 7-1 and is now the only player with only one loss. Getting out of C1 in his first year seems quite possible, even though Hatakeyama and Ogura are not the easiest opponents in his final two games. He is followed by Sato Shuji, Namekata, Nakata Hiroki, Nishimura, Sugimoto and Katsumata, so he can not afford to drop a game.
Saita takes Ladies Meijin opener
Challenger Saita had a good start in the Ladies Meijin match against Nakai. "Miss Shikenbisha" showed that good results with the Furibisha opening are not only achieved by the men by winning the first game of this best-of-five match.
Saita played the opening very well and got a good position, but a mistake in the middle game made it all very complex. In the end it became a byoyomi endgame where anything could happen and the coin fell on Saita's side. Saita is a former Ladies Osho, but has never won the Meijin title. Maybe this time...
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