[TITLE 36th Kio-sen, Game 2]
[BLACK 1 - Watanabe Akira, Challenger]
[WHITE 0 - Kubo Toshiaki, Kio]
[February 26th 2011]
1. P-2f
2. P-3d
3. P-7f
4. P-5d
5. P-2e
6. R8b-5b
7. G4i-5h
[With this move, Watanabe invites Kubo to an all-out slugfest. Kubo can
decline the invitation by playing the quiet 8.K6b here, but then black
can exchange the pawns on the second file for free and there are very few professionals, who like to make that concession.]
8. P-5e
[Kubo accepts the invitation, albeit reluctantly because he spent 17
minutes on this move. According to Yamasaki (7-dan), taking his time
here was psychologically not a very smart thing to do, because it gave
the impression that Kubo didn't really want to play this opening variation.]
9. P-2d
10. Px2d
11. R2hx2d
12. P-5f
13. Px5f
14. B2bx8h+
15. S7ix8h
16. B*3c
17. R2dx2a+
18. B3cx8h+
[Only 18 moves played and the board is on fire. Of course, this is all
still opening theory.]
19. N*5e
20. K-6b
21. +R2ax1a
22. +B8hx9i
23. B*3c
24. S*4d
25. B3cx4d+
26. Px4d
27. L*6f
28. S7a-7b
29. S*8b
30. B*2g
31. S8bx9a+
32. L*5c
33. +S9ax8a
34. L5cx5e
35. Px5e
36. S7bx8a
37. +R1ax1c
[!? This is the move that Watanabe prepared. Previous games with this
position continued mostly with 37.L*6e after white has the choice
between defending with 38.N*5a or starting a counter attack with
38.+Bx6f Px6f L*5f. Watanabe said in the post-mortem analysis that he
had studied 37.+Rx1c, but that he couldn't see through all the
complications and therefore wanted to try it in an official game. The
move 37.+Rx1c is a lighter attack than L*6e and it also keeps the lance
in hand. On the other hand, because the black threat is not so strong
than it would be after 37.L*6e, white has a number of possible moves here.]
38. +B9ix6f
[?! Hard to judge if this move is a mistake or not. There are a number of
alternatives like 38.S2b, 38.+Bx8i and 38.Rx5e and they all lead to very
difficult positions. Kubo said after the game that he would have liked
to think about three days about his move here. In any case, after
38.+Bx6f it seems that black gets the upper hand which is almost
certainly decisive in a sharp endgame position like this. An interesting
observation by Yamasaki was that Watanabe probably also played 37.Rx1c+
to confuse Kubo with the number of possible replies, which is a little
out of character for Watanabe, who is known for his strong attacking play.]
39. Px6f
40. L*5f
41. L*5g
42. L5fx5g+
43. G5hx5g
44. P*5f
45. G5gx5f
46. S*6g
[A change of plan. Kubo had initially planned 46.N*6d, but here he saw
that 47.G6e Nx7f B*6g! is good for black. The bishop drop is not an easy
move to play, giving up an important piece in hand for what looks like a
defense-only move. However, if black can remove the knight from 7f, the
black king will be completely safe. Also, white has removed the 7th file
pawn from the board, so black now has the strong option of P*7d at any time.]
47. P*2h
48. S6gx5f
[? After this, the game ends quickly. The idea was to defend against L*6e,
but with the silver on 5f, the move Rx5e, which is what white is hoping
for, is not effective because black can strongly answer this with B*4f.
Kubo's best fighting chance was 48.S2b to chase the promoted rook away.
For example, 49.+R2d Sx5f+ Px2g L*6g G5h G*5g was a variation that was
played in the post-mortem analysis. White threatens Sx4g+ next, after
which the black king cannot be defended. If black defends with L*4h then
Gx5h Kx5h N*5g and Watanabe said he thought that black could survive the
white attack, but that it was a lot more dangerous than he originally
thought.]
49. Px2g
50. L*6g
51. G6i-5h
52. N*3e
53. B*3f
54. K-7a
55. N*7e
56. S5f-4e
57. B3f-1d
58. R5bx5e
59. P*5g
60. P*5f
61. N7ex8c
[! The time difference in this game is huge. Kubo has only 9 minutes left,
while Watanabe has almost two hours. Watanabe took 14 minutes to make
sure that the endgame is winning.]
62. K-8b
63. B*9a
64. Kx8c
65. L*8f
66. N*8e
67. B1dx4a+
[This threatens mate after Bx7c+ next, and white has no good defense.]
68. G6a-7b
69. L8fx8e
70. R5ex8e
71. L*8f
[Wins the rook and the game.]
72. R8ex8f
73. Px8f
74. Px5g+
75. G5hx5g
76. L*5d
77. +B4ax6c
78. L5dx5g
79. K-4i
[Resigns      02:24:00  03:59:00

If white takes the bishop with 80.Gx6c, he is threatening mate with
G*5h, but then 81.R*8b Sx8b N*7e K7d +Rx6c followed by G*8e is mate and
after two minutes of thought, Kubo resigned. Watanabe was surprised how
well his new move had worked and he won this game with hardly breaking a
sweat. Kubo was unhappy that he was unable to put up a fight, but it is
unlikely that he will be trapped like this again. We are all square at
1-1 and Kubo has the black pieces in the third game.

-- 
Reijer Grimbergen
School of Computer Science, Tokyo University of Technology
1404-1 Katakura, Hachioji, Tokyo, 192-0982 Japan
Tel: +81-(0)42-637-2591  FAX: +81-(0)42-637-2112 ]