C-2 Division 9th Match

While an intense battle rages at the top, the fight to avoid demotion points in the bottom ten slots is just as fierce.

As fate would have it, players clashing on both ends of the spectrum assembled today at the Kansai Shogi Association’s Onjyoudan no Ma to decide their fate side-by-side.

Decorated veteran and face of Kansai Shogi for decades, Tatsuo Zaou already has two demotion points to his name. His struggles to obtain victory stars have continued and a loss today would bring retirement that much closer to reality.

His opponent is one of Kanto’s brightest rising stars and candidate for promotion this season, Satoru Hatomachi 5-dan. Hatomachi is a skilled player who currently has momentum on his side.

Zaou has made no attempt to hide how painful it is for him to maintain proper posture in recent years and today was no different, grimacing several times during the match.

The Shogi evolved into an aerial battle, Zaou’s specialty.

Their match proceeded at an unusually high pace with both formations being well defined before the afternoon lunch break. Zaou sat for several minutes once the players returned before signaling his intent to surrender.

When I inquired as to why the match ended so quickly during the review session, Hatomachi hesitantly offered this explanation.

“…… I’ve studied that sequence before, so ……”

“’At right? So, ’at’s a standard now.”

The match finished at 2:19 p.m.

“I played predictably, didn’ have no pizzazz,” said Zaou once the review session concluded. With this victory, Hatomachi increases his winning streak to nine matches and is within reach of promotion.

Yaichi Kuzuryu-ryuo’s match took place the next board over, and it also advanced at an unusually high speed.

Kuzuryu’s low placement leaves no room for error. One loss would all but end his chances to promote.

Although under immense pressure as the sole titleholder in C-2, his 11 consecutive victories in league matches show no sign of it.

He has garnered a great deal of attention as of late, introducing new twists like the   6 Five Knight and Single Knight Jump to his strategy of choice: the Bishop Exchange.

With Kuzuryu on offense, today’s match also became a Bishop Exchange.

His opponent was Kanto’s stalwart veteran, Keiji Souza 7-dan.

34 years’ experience as a member of C-2, he has the unusual distinction of never once receiving a demotion point during his professional career.

Gruffer Shogi fans have dubbed him the Ultimate Bouncer for his unusually strong showings against young and rising players. When asked about his nickname, Souza had this to say: “It’s an honor.”

He took it in stride with a positive outlook.

“Talented young players promote before you know it, so I may never have another chance to play against them. That’s why I make sure not to waste the chances I get.”

Souza even took a victory from the current Meijin when he belonged to C-2. The Ultimate Bouncer nickname truly isn’t just for show.

“I won’t have many opportunities to play against the youngest Ryuo in history. I’m even more excited to play against him than I was back when I fought the Meijin,” stated Souza just before the match got underway. This is their first encounter.

Kuzuryu advanced his Knight unusually early, on the 17th move.

Upon seeing Single Knight Jump, the fuel behind Kuzuryu’s recent surge, on the board, Souza spent a great deal of time considering his options before he decided to buffer his defenses and hold off the attack rather than meet it head on.

However, Kuzuryu denied him the opportunity.

19th move. Kuzuryu sacrificed a Pawn to force combat.

Gasps of surprise erupted throughout the Player’s Room once that move came to pass.

“No way?! With a Sitting King?”

“Think he’ll be okay like this?”

“Forgot to set a wall, did he?”

Initiating battle with the King still in starting position is so shockingly ingenious that even the young professionals and Sub League members analyzing the match couldn’t hide their disbelief. Standards dictate one move be spent setting up the King’s defense, so omitting it altogether is quite a leap of faith.

Though Souza wasn’t expecting it, he concluded that the formation was in his favor.

“Come!” he said with vigor as he took Kuzuryu’s Pawn.

His King well-defended, Souza reasoned that he could outlast a frontal assault should worse come to worse …… It was a decision he would come to regret.

“Not only was the Offense King sitting, the Golds were still in place. On top of that, a Silver Wall. That’s a picture-perfect example of a bad formation. My own Master would have disowned me if I played that way during my training days.”

Indeed, no one would have believed the Ryuo, the man on top of the Shogi world, was the one behind the board if his name had not been revealed to the audience. His formation ignored Shogi theory to the point most would believe an amateur was using it.

“However, the deeper I read …… I realized I couldn’t break it.”

Sota Kunugi 3-dan, working as match recorder, had this to say after the match.

“There’s a saying that goes Avoid the Sitting King, but the King’s defenses should be looked at relatively. Thinking the stronger the better is outdated.”

It seems that to the first elementary school aged 3-dan ever, defense doesn’t have the absolute value that modern Shogi theory states.

Kuzuryu pushed forward with the attack as if to prove this new way of thinking holds water and stripped the Defending King of its defenses in the blink of an eye. As opposed to Souza’s once-protected King now naked on the board, Kuzuryu’s starting formation was mostly intact.

The rush was on.

The 59th move. Kuzuryu was quick to advance his Rook across the board.

It landed like a straightforward knockout punch in a boxing match, Kuzuryu’s right fist connecting with Souza’s soft chin. His surrender was just a matter of time.

The players combined for 67 moves.

Of Souza’s six hours of waiting time, he used a mere one hour and seventeen minutes. The Ultimate Bouncer was overwhelmed before he could figure out where to use it.

Many in the Player’s Room who chided Kuzuryu’s strategy were now staring blankly at the monitor in disbelief at the results.

“He’s too strong,” was all Hatomachi could say upon returning to the Player’s Room following his own match. He left the association and boarded the train back to Kanto without taking a seat.

There was no trace of joy or relief in his eyes upon his exit.

Kousuke Kiyotaki stopped by the association and happened to spot Keiji Souza with a cigarette in the second-floor smoking room, a corner of the floor walled off with glass, and walked over to say hello.

“Kousuke ……”

“Talkin’ to your opponent’s Master in the middle of a match got ya feelin’ uneasy? I’m not tryin’ to figure out yar next move for him or anythin’.”

Kousuke and Keiji.

Though the two belonged to Kansai and Kanto respectively, they maintained a close relationship after becoming professionals in the same year. Whenever one was in town for a match, the other would invite him out for drinks or to play a few rounds of mahjong.

In fact, Kousuke had come to the association today for that very reason. However, Souza’s next words were the last thing he expected to hear.

“No. The match is already over.”

“It what?! It’s only four in the afternoon!”

Kousuke was on the verge of taking a dig at his old buddy, “Get checkmated in one like me?” However, the look on Keiji’s face stopped him cold.

Only then did he notice.

The cigarette was lit, but Keiji had never once put it up to his lips.

It was pinned between his fingers with the trail of wispy white smoke rising from the tip like an incense stick–––.

“…… The thing is, I’ve always been confident that I would survive. That was true when the current Meijin’s generation arrived on the scene, the one after that, and the next one, too. Don’t get me wrong, I never thought I would rise to the top. But I never thought I was going to be killed off …… It didn’t matter what bizarre strategy or new technique my opponents threw at me, I could figure them out. As they say, Shogi is a conversation, and I was a full participant.”

Kousuke found this strange.

Keiji hardly ever said a word following a match.

“But today, Kousuke. My opponent today …… It’s hard for me to say it because he’s your apprentice and all, but ……”

A hint of fear made his voice tremble as he trailed off.

“He’s not a human being like us. That’s an alien or a robot, I tell you.”

“……!!”

Kousuke was taken aback.

Keiji Souza was no dominant force. He was certainly no carnivore at the top of the food chain on the savannah that was the Shogi world.

However, the Keiji he knew was strong enough to contend with those ravenous beasts. That strength came from an ironclad will to survive.

And now, that unyielding spirit had been completely shattered.

“But, then again …… It might be better that it was your apprentice in the end, Kousuke. Had he been anyone else’s, I’d probably want to go right up to them and give them a piece of my mind: How could you have done something so stupid! …… Raising the monster that will devour us all.”

The cigarette had become little more than a stick of ash by the time Keiji extinguished it in the ashtray.

“…… Keiji, ya wouldn’t be–––.”

“Kousuke.”

“Hm?”

“It was a great run. Thanks for being part of it.”

When that year’s placement matches came to a close …

Keiji Souza received his first ever demotion point and immediately announced his decision to become a Free Class Shogi player.