By request, I publish some games from the recent All-Russian Renju Tournament with my comments. I tried to select games that were interesting, but on the other hand, not very long and such that it would be convenient to comment in a language understandable for beginners.

I’ll tell you a few words about the opening regulations that were used at the tournament – Yamasyrv-5. In fact, this is a system with a refusal (the so-called reject-system) of two regulations – Yamaguchi and Coosyrv-5. The player who places the opening chooses according to which rules the game will be played. I will not dwell on the description of these opening regulations for a long time and suggest that you familiarize yourself with them at the link: Description of opening regulations

Let’s move on to the analysis of the parties:

1. Filinov – Glibin, 1st round game, Soosyrv-5 rules
Filinov-Glibin

The 12 diagonal opening is known as an opening in which it is easier to catch on ignorance of the theory, and this probably dictated the choice of the opening. White proposed this 4th move with three fifths. Alternate fifths were offered at points 9 and 22. White kept 5-5 as the lesser of two evils, although it is known as Black’s superior move. 8th move is not the best one (8-12 is better), as a result of which after 9th and 11th moves Black got a strong position, enough resources (4 pairs) and space to attack. From the 13th move, White has no more defenses. More stubborn was 16-22, 17-18, 18-20, but Black still has a forced win. Closing the three on the other side 14-25 loses after 15-35, 17-18, 19-31, 21-21. White chose a variation that was not very pleasant for him, failed to cope with the defense, and as a result, Black won.

2. Nikonova – Makarov, 1st round game, Yamaguchi rules

Nikonova-Makarov

In this game, according to the opening regulations, Yamaguchi offered the first diagonal opening with one fifth move. 1e is known as a good opening for White even with one alternative fifth move, where if White manages to successfully fight off Black, he will have a good chance of winning. 4th move is the main one, but the proposed 5th move is the second most powerful. Stronger 5-10. This is followed by a completely natural development, but Black makes a mistake on the 15th move and sets himself up for a foul and after the 16th move resigns. Move 15 would have been better done, for example, at point k7. In the game, however, after the 16th move made, Black cannot avoid defeat: no matter how hard Black tries, he will have to play at the k7 point (if Black tries to close the breaking three from the side, then White will play the four in the other direction and force Black to go to the point he needs ; if 17.g7, then 18.m7 and 19.k7, if 17.m7, then 18.g7 and 19.k7), after which a 3*3 foul appears in j6. With a couple of 8-16 White can put pressure on this foul. After a black stone appears in k7 17.k7, White puts pressure on the foul, as if surrounding Black’s foul point (they take advantage of the fact that Black cannot go there according to the rules), 18.f9 or 18.k5. Let’s analyze one of these moves in detail, let’s say 18.k5. White’s breaking three needs to be closed somehow, it is impossible to go inside, because there is a foul. If 19.f9, then 20.l4; if 19.l4, then 20.f9 and black can’t close the white four because of his foul, he loses either by betting 3*3 or allowing the white five on the next move. An unfortunate mistake on move 15 predetermined the outcome of the game.

3. Balabay – Myasoedov, 1st round game, Soosyrv-5 rules

Balabay-Myasoedov

A 3rd vertical debut was made on co-op-5. after the reverse (i.e. color change) of the second player, the main 4th move was made with one fifth. 3B is known as the white opening, although the strongest fifth is still rated by most players in favor of black. Up to move 8 is a canonical variant, move 9 is sometimes also played in 9-11. The 12th move was unsuccessful, but Black was not ready for it. The variation 13.k8 14.l8 15.f5, which claims to win, deserves special attention. Black secures a good enough position for himself and enough space for a successful attack. The move proposed in the game 13 is also not bad, but Black did not cope with it and after the 15th move White almost fought back 16-16. As a result, after the 20th move, Black got a bad position for himself, the 21st move was a mistake, White inevitably catches the foul 3×3 at k8 (25.f11 26.l11 27.k11 28.h10 29.f12 30.l7)

4. Katsev – Kurdina, 2nd round game, Yamaguchi rules

Katsev-Kurdina

5 diagonal is another opening with a reputation for white advantage, 4 is the main move, 5 is the third strongest and is considered rather weak (stronger fifths are 5.k9 and 5-9). The 6th and 7th moves are correct, but the 8th move is unsuccessful, and after the 10th move Black has a forced win, which was placed in the game. The retribution for a slight negligence in the opening turned out to be instantaneous.

5. Salnikov – Volkov, 4th round game, yamaguchi rules

6 diagonal debut was ordered with 4 fifths. Alternatives were made at points 6,11 and g9. The 5th move in the game is a general variant with 4 vertical openings (although in 6d the position is shifted one vertical to the right). Move 9 is one of the possible ones, 9-24 is also played, however, due to the shift in 6e, this variation may not be so good for Black. Move 10 is passive, allowing Black to get a good position and later on, after some struggle, to gain the initiative. Modern theory advises playing 10.k11 with white’s good prospects. White probably should have played something more active, like 16.m10 or 18-19. after 21 moves white got a very unpleasant position for himself 21-21 looks threatening. The 24th move is the only one that saves White from defeat. Further, Black could not find a win and decided to offer a draw on the 27th move. Indeed, if 27.k4, then White defends with 28j4, if 27-27, then White holds the position with 28.k4 29.m3 30.l3. At home analysis, it turned out that Black had a win with another 23 move, 23.k4! If 24.l5, then winning after 25.k3 or 25.m3; if 24.j5, then 25.n4! – it is very important to take this point so that White does not have time to go there and only then play the triple 27.l5.

6. Kryuchok – Barykin, 4th round game, yamaguchi rules

Hook-Barykin

5d with one fifth. Here the fifth is the strongest. In addition to 6-6, there is also a very famous variation 6-32, called the “Glukhovsky Gambit” (the variation is named after the author of the strongest 7th move 7-16). For a long time it was believed that this was a win for Black and the variation 6-32 was almost never played, but later a defense was discovered and now the fate of the variation is in question (it is believed that there is a struggle with Black’s advantage, but White holds the position). The move made in game 6 is more of a positional variation with some room for creativity. There are a few more good points for move 8, such as 8-10 and 8.h7. Then White tries to play actively, but by the 17th move he gets a very unpleasant position for himself. With move 19, Black ends the encirclement and proceeds to realize his advantage. If 28-30, Black still has a win after 29.l4 31-31 33-33 and 35.m11. The move made in game 28 is interesting, White forces Black to place his stone at 29.o9 and thus fouls the m11 point, after move 29 a foul 3×3 appears in the indicated point. However, Black uses this when building up his double threat, and after winning back 28-28 Black’s win becomes easier, although there is one trap here. It is very important to make the move 31-31! If 31-33, then 32-31! and White fouls the m11-square already in 4*4. Although after the only continuation 34.n11 36.l14 Black still has a win on the left.

7. Fedotov – Balabay, 7th round game, yamaguchi rules,

Fedotov-Balabai

7 diagonal was ordered with 6 fifths, alternatives were delivered in 6, 13, k9, k8, k7. This 5th move is considered approximately equal for playing for both colors. The variant of playing back three of a kind at 8 is not very good for White. Whites themselves help blacks surround themselves. Usually they play immediately 8-10, 9-8, 10.f11. In the game, however, the opponent’s rather passive play with 12 and 14 moves allowed Black to quickly build up a serious threat from the left. Move 22 is a trap, if 23.d4 or, for example, 23.c6, then 24.g7 and White has counterplay on the right on fours. After 23-23 there are no defenses, if 24.е7, then 25.d7

8. Danilin – Salnikova, 8th round game, yamaguchi rules

Danilin-Salnikova

4 vertical was delivered with 5 fifths, alternatives were delivered in 6,8,10 and j9. This 5th move is very interesting mainly because here any passive 6th move will lead White to defeat. I remember one important game very well, where I, when I was still a 4kyu player, played with an Estonian 4th dan (the difference was 7 ranks, in chess it’s like a weak second-rank player against an average CCM). The Estonian gave me a 4v with five-fifths, and I decided to test him for this option. After thinking over 6 and 8 moves for about 40 minutes, my opponent was eventually unable to hold the position and lost rather quickly (6. received an excellent breakaway and a powerful attack on the left from above). In the same game, Black lost control and inaccurately responded to White’s 8th move, which resulted in this interesting game. Instead of 9-9, it was necessary to win back the trio 9-12 first and only then 11-9, and White would have no chances. The 12th move is inaccurate, 12-15, 13-14, 14-13 would look stronger, White would get a good position with winning prospects. Instead, White played the further rally rather weakly and again exposed himself to the threat of defeat, instead of 14-14 it was better to play 14.h10. After the 18th move in the game, Black still had a win. Black made a mistake on move 27, he should have taken the important point 27-29 (or better, even a move earlier, 25-29), through which two threats on different flanks, one on the left, the other on the right, passed. Realizing that Black is huddled in a corner, White goes over to the attack on move 34. 35 and 37 – an attempt to keep White out of the other flank, to take away as much space as possible from them. After 42 moves, there are no more defenses. White very beautifully creates a foul 4×4 in the e7 point and catches it with 52 on the second move. Black failed to convert his opening advantage, while White showed composure and ingenuity, waiting for the right moment and catching a beautiful foul on his opponent.

Commented by Anton Golomarev