Shogi Openings Static Rook

Front Cover..
Shogi Openings
Static Rook
Articles from Shogi magazine.
November 2021
99iXx1x 99iXx1x │ 99iXx1x 99iXx1x

Table of Contents
[3] Introduction
[8] Shogi Openings
[24] Static Rook Openings – General Principles
[31] Static Rook Openings
[34] Centre Game
[75] Fortress (Yagura)
[153] Reclining Silver with Bishops Off
[192] Kimura's Joseki – Detailed Analysis
[211] Spearing the Sparrow (Suzumezashi)
[228] Vertical Rook on Pawn
[272] Wrong Diagonal Bishop
[285] Climbing Silver – Part I
[304] Climbing Silver – Part II
[319] Climbing Silver – Part III
[341] Climbing Silver – Part IV
[362] Climbing Silver – Part V
[384] Bear-in-the-hole (Anaguma)
[437] Glossary of Shogi Terms
[444] Computer Shogi
[457] Shogi Equipment
[461] Bibliography and other Shogi resources
Introduction.
This document is an edited compilation of a series of

articles about Static Rook openings from Shogi
magazine.1 Authors and translators include Hanamura
Motoji, Ouchi Nobuyuki, Kiriyama Kiyosumi (8-dan),
John Fairbairn.
I am grateful to the copyright owners for granting

permisssion to make this compilation available to a
wider audience.
The rationale for creating the document in the first place

was that I wished to gather together in one convenient
place, otherwise scattered material in order that I could
easily carry the material around with me when
travelling.
My editing has been as 'light' as possible:
In order to achieve a consistent and 'sensible' layout in

this document, I have made some changes in the
numbering and position of the diagrams in the original
texts – within each section, diagrams are numbered:
Figure 1, Figure 2, etc. In some cases, I have introduced
additional diagrams (in particular where alternatives to
the main line are explored) – these are labeled: Figure
1 Material adapted from Shogi magazine issues 10, 12-17, 25, 27-29, 31, 46. Originally
published by George Hodges from 1976-1987, Shogi magazine is now available as a
zipped download. Details from: https://tinyurl.com/ShogiPriceList.
1a, Figure 1b, etc. I have also introduced a little more
Japanese terminology than in the originals, though not I
hope to excess (see p.i437 for a glossary of Japanese
terms).
I have numbered moves individually, in the Japanese

style in order to facilitate playing through the sequences
with a Shogi program such as Shogidokoro (p.i444).
Playing through sequences of moves using Shogidokoro
enabled me to detect some errors in the diagrams in the
original texts (see next paragraph but one).
Numbered alternatives to the main line are often left

numbered, but may be brought out of the body of the
text for clarity. Numbers are 'greyed-out' to distinguish
them from the numbering of the main line. Where
alternative sequences of moves are left in situ, they are
sometimes flagged with a (Sente), or a (Gote), or if
numbered, numbering is also 'grayed out'.
I have (silently) made some textual changes in order to

clarify the meaning while at the same time trying to
retain the sense of the original text. I have also corrected
the very few textual errors I discovered, and corrected a
few mistakes in the accompanying diagrams (these are
usually explained in an accompanying footnote).
I have added some general information about Shogi –
Computer Shogi, Glossary, Bibliography, equipment
suppliers, etc.
A significant resource used to create this document has

been the Shogi diagram generator at:
http://wormz.free.fr/kifugen/
The late George Hodges published Shogi magazine from

1978-1986. A complete run of the 70 issues of the
magazine is now available as a zipped download.
Details from:
https://tinyurl.com/ShogiPriceList
This is a very valuable archive of Shogi material in

English. A CD may also be available from Angela
Hodges (p. Error: Reference source not found).
John Fairbairns original brochure, Shogi – How to play;

his book Shogi for Beginners, and Tony Hoskings The
Art of Shogi were also consulted while compiling this
material. Shogi for Beginners is still in print, and is a
must for the library of any Shogi enthusiast. This also
applies to Tony Hoskings The Art of Shogi. Shogi World
magazine was also consulted.
Not used for this document, but also of great interest to

aspiring Shogi players is Tony Hoskings 'other' book – 4
Great Games – a survey of Shogi, Chess, Go and
Xiang-chi – highly recommended!
Full details of all sources can be found in the

bibliography (see p. 461).
I have used Open Office to prepare the document in

PDF format as this is likely to afford the greatest
portability across devices. The document should be
easily readable on Windows PCs, Android tablets, Apple
laptops iPads, and e-book readers such as the Amazon
Kindle. Whichever PDF reader you elect to use, 2 it will
almost certainly have a 'View Bookmarks' facility which
will display a Table of Contents at the side of the
display window, allowing easy navigation through the
document. The 'hand-crafted' (partial) Table(s) of
Contents are provided for the benefit of anyone who
chooses to print the document,3 but they are 'active', and
clicking on a page number from within a PDF reader
will navigate you to the desired page.
If you read this document and find any errors, typos, or

other howlers, please let me know at:
rjhare@outlook.com
2 I use Sumatra – it is small and fast. Available from the PortableApps web site.
3 Try printing 4-up, double sided to save paper...
Finally, the image on the cover page is a Giga-e (Comic)
image from the series of woodblock prints 'Parodies of
Shogi, Japanese Chess' (Koma kurabe shôgi no
tawamure) by Kuniyoshi Utagawa (1798-1861).
Publisher: Gusokuya Kahei; Censor: Fukatsu Ihei.
Roger Hare
Shogi Openings.
Shogi magazine, No. 10.
4
The entire fabric of every game of Shogi is determined
by the initial moves and so we all make (or should)
strenuous efforts to learn 'openings'. This word however,
is not normally used with precision, and anyway has
connotations substantially different from those of Chess,
so that it would be as well to establish a conventional
nomenclature here and now. At the same time it will be
useful for all players to have a reference list of the
openings similar to the list of castles already presented
in this magazine.5
This is a complex subject at first, and previous English

literature has bred vast confusion. For that reason we
may have to be somewhat pedantic – apologies if we are
– but when the simplicity of the classification becomes
apparent, learning about the openings should not be
such a daunting task.
Let us get rid of the main barrier to understanding

straightaway. Most of you probably know this already,
but 'opening' in Shogi refers to the initial arrangement of
pieces by one side, irrespective of what the other player
is doing. In Shogi, therefore, each game has two
openings. There is a word Joseki to cover the early
stages in general but it is relatively little used.
4 This unsigned introductory survey is from Shogi magazine, No. 10.
5 See 'Introduction to Shogi' for a short list of castles, and 'Shogi Castles and Castling'
for a survey of 100+ castles. Both available at: https:/tinyurl.com/RogersShogiArchive
All openings (in the Shogi sense) are classified as Static
Rook or Ranging Rook openings, in much the same way
as we talk of King Pawn or Queen Pawn openings in
Chess. The term 'Static Rook side' or 'Ranging Rook
side' are often used to refer to Black (Sente) or White
(Gote) – which colour of course depends on the
particular game.
A Static Rook (Ibisha) opening is an opening where that

player's Rook remains on its original file, and generally
on its original square. Fig.i1 shows a typical example:
Figure 1 – Static Rook (Ibisha) opening
A Ranging Rook, on the other hand, is a Rook moved

along the 2nd rank, and this gives its name to the
Ranging Rook (Furibisha) openings, logically enough.
It is perhaps strange that the position of the Rook should
determine the name of the opening when there is a
proverb that tells us that the Bishop is more important
than the Rook in the early stages, but at least it is clear.
Now both the Static and the Ranging Rook openings are
further divided into what are called 'strategies' – what
Chess players call 'attacks' or 'defences'. These are dealt
with next, starting with the Ranging Rook.
In general the Ranging Rook openings are adopted by

Gote, so it has become commonplace to talk about them
from Gote's side of the board. This will explain why the
first of our examples of this type of opening, the 3rd-file
Rook (Sangaribisha), is so named – see Fig.i2:
Figure 2 – 3rd-file Rook (Sangaribisha)
Sente could also play the 3rd-file Rook if he wanted but

his Rook would acually be on 7h. This is despite the fact
that we usually talk about files the same way for both
players (ie: the 1st file is the 1st file whoever's side you
look from). Ranks, of course are always counted from
the side nearest the player, so that Sente's second rank is
Gote's eighth, and vice versa.
Fig.i3 shows next the 4th-file Rook (Shikenbisha), the

term again being explained as above. In all of these
examples, by the way, it is the position of the Rook only
that counts. The other pieces could be anywhere.
Figure 3 – 4th-file Rook (Shikenbisha)
Now look at Fig.i4. Here again you see a Rook on the

4th file, but it is on Sente's side. This is not the 4th-file
Rook opening, though it is a Ranging Rook,but because
it is normally used by Sente it is called (get ready for the
confusion!) the Right-side 4th-file Rook (Migi
Shikenbisha). To play the normal 4th-file Rook, Sente's
Rook would have to be on 6h. By the same token Gote's
Rook would have to be on 6b to play the Right-side 4th-
file Rook.
Figure 4 – 4th-file Right-side Rook (Shikenbisha)
As a point of interest the oldest record of a Shogi game

still extant (it is over 300 years old) features the Right-
side 4th-file Rook, and this opening appears in very
many of the early games, but it is rarely played in even
games nowadays. Nevertheless, it is Sente's stock-in-
trade for handicap games when he receives at least a
Rook start.
Other forms of the Ranging Rook are perhaps more

common, and one you are likely to know of already is
the Central Rook opening (Nakabisha). This simply
means the case when the Rook is moved to the centre
file but a particularly well known line of this opening is
called the Horn Silver (Tsunogin) in which, if the Rook
is at 5a, Silvers are posted on the 'horns' at 6b and 4b. If
the Rook is at 5b, the Silvers will be at 6c and 4c.
Continuing on the Ranging Rook, imagine that Sente is
playing this opening and he moves his Rook to 3h – this
gives us the Sleeve Rook (Sodebisha), so-called because
the 3rd and 1st files are regarded as the 'sleeves' of the
2nd (kimono) file.
Finally, if Sente adopts a Static Rook opening Gote can

play the Opposing Rooks opening (Mukaibisha) by
transferring his own Rook right across to 2b.
That almost completes the main spectrum of Ranging

Rook openings. Now we shall consider what interesting
ploys the Static Rook side has at his disposal, starting
with one we have all heard of – the Bogin attack.
Firstly, what is the Bogin? It means Pole-Silver (ie:

Climbing Silver) and refers to a Silver attack
characterised by the position of Sente's Silver and Pawn
on the 2nd file in Fig.i5. The Silver, which has, as it
were, climbed up the pole of the 2nd file, will continue
climbing to 1e or 3e. The idea behind this attack is to
aim at the head of Gote's Bishop (2c).
Figure 5 – Bogin or Climbing Silver (Pole Silver)
There is also a Pole Gold (Climbing Gold) attack we

shall look at later.
Next the Yagura defence. This is an arrangement of the

Static Rook side's pieces incorporating some form of the
Yagura castle. Quite often both players adopt it together
and then the whole opening is known as the Aiyagura
(Double Yagura or Mutual Yagura). We can forgo an
illustration of this.
The Floating Rook: If a Rook is moved from 2nd to the

4th rank in either the Static or Ranging Rook openings it
is called a Floating Rook (Ukibisha). Fig.i6 shows one
example resulting from a Static Rook.
Figure 6 – Static Rook → Floating Rook
The Floating Rook opening may further transpose into

the Twisting Rook (Hineribisha). Hineru (twist) is a
word used to denote Rook's movement across the 4th
rank. Moving across the 2nd rank is referred to by the
verb furu. In practice the Hineribishu refers specifically
to the position with the Rook on the 8th file as in
Fig.i7.
Figure 7 – Twisting Rook (Hineribisha)

Fig.i8 has a name of its own also – Tate fu tori or
'Vertical Pawn capture' attack (also known as the
'Horizontal Pawn capture'! – the adjective refers to the
Rook's movements, so 'Zig-zag Pawn capture' seems a
more appropriate translation).
Figure 8 – Side Pawn capture (Tate fu tori)

It is also possible to play a Floating Rook after a
Ranging Rook move and the most famous example of
this is Ishida's opening – see Fig.i9. The essential moves
here are R7f~ N7g~ B9g. This dates from 1650
when it was invented by a blind master of Shogi, Ishida
Kengyo. The Ishida opening is a favourite of players
who like wild attacks.
Figure 9 – Ishida's opening

That brief excursion back into the Ranging Rook
openings brings us naturally on to the next of the Static
Rook variations, which is the Ishida-kuzushi – the
'Ishida counter-attack'. This is a means of combating
Ishida's opening and it consists of two essential parts.
One is the 'Double-Silver pattern' (Nimai gin kata) of
Fig.i10. The next part involves bringing out the the
Gold, 8c~ 8d in order to attack the 8g square in
conjunction with P9c. This movement is the Climbing
Gold (bokin), or Pole Gold.
Figure 10 – Ishida counter-attack (Ishida-kuzushi)

which leads to the Climbing Gold (Bokin) or Pole Gold
Another Static Rook opening which has a strange name
is the 'Sitting Silver' (Koshikake gin). Basically, it refers
to a Silver in front of a Pawn on the 5th file. On any
other file a Silver in front of a Pawn is called a 'Pawn-
crossing Silver' (Fugoshi gin). The arrangement at the
top of Fig.i11 illustrates this. A 'Pawn-guarded Silver'
(Fu uchi gin) arrangement is shown in the lower part of
Fig.i11. The relative merits of these two Silver patterns
are often important in opening strategy.
Figure 11 – 'Pawn-crossing Silver' (Fugoshi gin) and

'Pawn-guarded Silver' (Fu uchi gin)
The Koshikake gin is often adopted by both players in
which case it becomes the Ai-koshikake gin and there is
also a variation in which Bishops are exchanged early
on (Kakugawari koshikake gin). Fig.i12 shows a typical
example of the Ai-koshikake gin and the other
distinctive features of this opening can also be seen: the
Floating Rooks and the defence of the King with the
other Silver and both Golds.
Figure 12 – The Ai-koshikake gin

This does not exhaust all the possible openings but it
covers many of the main lines. A reference table of the
openings covered is shown at the end of this section.
A term that has not been used so far, but which needs
some explanation is Joseki. It may be thought of as
'standard line(s)'. The term refers to standard patterns or
sequences of moves which have evolved for most (if not
all) all Shogi openings. The term may also refer to the
entire arrangement of ones pieces or to only part of it,
such as the castle.
Historical note: Standard lines (Joseki) of the openings

go back a very long way. The most spectacular advances
in opening technique/theory can be attributed to the 4th
lifetime Meijin, Ohashi Sokai, at the end of the 17th
century, but the Central, 4th-file, 3rd-file, Opposing and
Sleeve Rook openings had all made their appearance as
early as 1600. At this time too another attack which has
not been mentioned so far was played – the 'Wrong-
diagonal Bishop (Sujichigai-Kaku). This is shown in
Fig.i13, where Sente is playing it. This opening is
distinguished by the exchange of Bishops and then
Sente's drop of his in-hand Bishop at 4e, aiming at
Bx6c+.
Figure 13 – Wrong-diagonal Bishop (Sujichigai-Kaku)
Reference Table of Openings.
Static Rook Ranging Rook

Bogin attack 3rd-file Rook
Yagura defence 4th-file Rook
Aiyagura Right side 4th-file Rook
Floating Rook Opposing Rooks
Twisting Rook Sleeve Rook
Zigzag Pawn capture Ishida opening
Double Silver pattern Central Rook opening
Ishida counter-attack Silver on the horns
Koshikake gin Single Silver on the horn
Ai-koshikaki gin
Fugoshi gin
Aigakari
Wrong-diagonal Bishop
Static Rook Openings – General Principles.
(Shogi No. 25 – John Fairbairn)
A general outline of the first two moves in Double Static
Rook games to provide a background against which to
classify the Static Rook openings. Later we will see
detailed descriptions of some of these lines.
Sente first move.

The first priority is to develop your major pieces: the
Rook and the Bishop. P7f or P2f are therefore
normally the only two conceivable moves. R5h or
similar Rook moves are possible, but give away the
strategy too soon for the liking of most players. They
transpose in any case to the conventional openings.
Generals moved to the 2nd rank merely block the Rook

and King, either of which may need to move a certain
way in response to the opponent's strategy (for instance,
G7h would let Gote play a Ranging Rook and then
Sente's King could not move smoothly into the Boat
Castle, as would normally be required by the Static
Rook side).
Other Pawn moves do nothing positive but edge moves

such as P9e are occasionally seen. The intention is to
try to delay declaring one's strategy as long as possible.
Gote first move.
The same remarks apply to Gote's first move.
This gives us four combinations of first move that are
normally the only ones to consider. Each can transpose
to another line.
A: 1iP7f 2iP3d │ C: 1iP2f 2iP8d

B: 1iP7f 2iP8d │ D: 1iP2f 2iP3d
The possible second moves can now be considered for

each of these combinations in turn.
Pattern A: 1iP7f 2iP3d
Sente second move.

The possible moves are:
(a) 3iP2f The most powerful but generally forces

Sente to play Static Rook.
(b) 3iP6f Preparation to play Ranging Rook. In
olden times this was considered negative, but
not now.
(c) 3iP5f For advanced players only. It leads to
wild lines with the Bishops off (eg: 4iBx8h+;
5iRx8h, 6iB*5g).
(d) 3iP7e Preparation for R7h (IshidaThird File
Rook). This is regarded as too risky for novices
to attempt.
Gote second move.
Gote's responses to: (a) 3iP2f are considered to be:
(i) 4iP8d After this a Centre game opening can be

expected with 5iP2e, 6iP8e; 7iG7h, 8iG3b;
9iP2d, 10iPx2d; 11iRx2d, 12iP*2c; (This
manouevre is very important). Now Sente can
play Rx3d (the Side Pawn opening) or R2h
or R2f (but note that Gote did not have to
play 12iP*2c; he could have played 12iP8f).
(ii) 4iP4d The most common move since Edo
times. Eight or nine times out of ten a Ranging
Rook follows (only advanced players should try
later to switch to Static Rook with P8d), as in
5iP2e, 6iB3g; 7iS4h, 8iR2b; (Opposing Rook).
(iii) 4iG3b Then 5iP2e, 6iB3c; (6iB3c prevents
exchange of the Rook Pawn). If now 7iBx3c+,
8iGx3c; 9iS8h, 10iR2b; we get the famous
Sakata's variation of the Opposing Rook).
(iv) 4 P5d This will probably lead to a Centre
Vanguard Pawn opening with 5iP2e, 6iP5e; and
then a likely line is 7iP2d, 8iPx2d; 9iRx2d,
10iG3b; 11iRxd, (Side Pawn opening).
(i) and (ii) are recommended for novices.

Gote's response to: (b) 3iP6f is usually 4 S6b; then
Sente plays Ranging Rook.
Gote's responses to (c) and (d) are not discussed here as
they are for advanced players.
Pattern B: 1iP7f 2iP8d
Sente second move.

(a) 3iP2f Usually signals a Static Rook by

Sente, but there is a line called the Feinting
Ranging Rook, this being the feint.
(b) 3iS6h (or 3iS7h) Also betokens a Static
Rook (Fortress).
(c) 3iP5f Centre Vanguard Pawn attack or Centre
Square opening, but transposes easily.
(d) 3iP6f Regarded as an odd move when Gote's
Bishop's diagonal is still closed, but can be
played if Sente insists on choosing Ranging
Rook.
(e) Rook Ranging Rook again. (d) and (e) usually
transpose to the same line as Pattern A, (b)
or (d)
Gote second move.
Gote's responses to (a) 3iP2f and (b) 3iS6h only are
considered here:
Gote's responses to (a) 3iP2f are:
(i) 4iP3d This transposes at once to Pattern A.

(ii) 4iP8e Then comes 5iP2e (this is correct before
B7g as Gote cannot now play 6iP8f; 7iPx8f,
8iRx8f; 9iP2d, 10iPx2d; 11iP*2c and the
Bishop is captured), 6iG3b (or 6iP3d
transposing to Pattern A); 7iB7g, 8iP3d; 9iS8h
(or 6h or 7h), 10iBx7g+; 11iSx7g, 12iS2b;
13iG7h, 14iS3c. After this the opening will turn
into a Reclining Silver or Centre Game
opening.
Gote's response to (b) 3iS6h (or S7h) is:
Unless Sente wants to transpose to a Ranging Rook with

4iP3d; 5iP6f, the opening now becomes a Fortress
Opening with 4iP3d; 5iS7g. This early Silver
manoeuvre is the hallmark of the Fortress (if Gote plays
4iP8e; Sente still plays 5iS7g.
Pattern C: 1iP2f 2iP8d
Sente second move.

(a) 3iP7f Transposes to Pattern B.

(b) 3iP7e
Gote second move.

Gote’s response to (b) 3iP7e is 4iP8e. Sente then plays
5iG7h or 5iP7f but not 5iP2d, or else he falls into the
well known opening trap: 5iP2d, 6iPx2d; 7iRx2d, 8iP8f;
9iPx8f, 10iP*8g; 11iP*2c, 12iPx8h+; 13iSx8h, 14iB*3e;
15iR2h, 16iBx5g+; 17iPx2b+, 18iPx2b+; 19iP*2c,
20iR1b; 21iB*2b, 22iP*2d.
Pattern D: 1iP2f 2iP3d
Sente second move.

(a) 3iP7f Transposes to Pattern A.

(b) 3iP2e
Gote second move.
Gote’s response to (b) 3iP2e is 4 B3c. Then after Sente's
5 P7f Gote has five moves:
(I) 6iP4d Ranging Rook.

(ii) 6iS2b Usually leads to Ranging Rook.
(iii) 6iS3b Usually leads to Ranging Rook.
(iv) 6iS4b Usually leads to Ranging Rook.
(v) 6iG3b Transposes to Pattern A.
Static Rook Openings.
(Shogi No. 25 – John Fairbairn)
By Static Rook opening we mean openings where both
sides play Static Rook. There are five main classes as
described below.
In the opinion of Japanese professionals Static Rook

openings are the most difficult because they can turn
into strategically lost games more readily than other
openings.
Class I – Wing Attack openings.
1 P2f 2 P8d
3 P2e 4 P8e
5 G7h 6 G3b
Followed by exchange
of Rook Pawns.
Centre Game Rook on Pawn

(pagei34) (pagei228)
Old Centre Reclining Silver

Game with Bishops off
(pagei153)
Class II – Bishops Wild openings.
1 P7f 2 P8d
3 P2f 4 P8e
5 P2e 6 G3b
7 B7g * 8 B7g
The Rook Pawns are not
exchanged but Bishops are.
Climbing Reclining Silver Right-side Wrong

Silver with Bishops off King diagonal
(pagei153) Bishop
(pagei272)
The Climbing Silver, Reclining Silver and Wrong-

diagonal Bishop also share the subsequent moves:
8iP3d; 9iS8h, 10iBx7g+; 11iSx7g, 12iS2b.
Class III – Fortress Opening.
1iP7f 2iP8d │5iS7f

3iS6h 4iP3d │
Neither Rook Pawns nor Bishops are exchanged, and

(usually) both sides adopt the Fortress Castle.
Class IV – Side Pawn.
1iP7f 2iP3d │7iP2d 8iPx2d

3iP2f 4iP8d │9iRx2d 10iP*2c
5iP2e 6iP8e │
If Rook takes 3d Pawn = Side Pawn Opening.

If Rook does not take 3d Pawn, transposes to Class I.
Class V – Other.
1iP7f 2iP3d │3iP2f 4iP5d
This is regarded as old-fashioned. Typical opening of

this class is the Centre Square opening. There is also the
new (1980) Kakinuma joseki.
In the first three classes Gote plays P8d as his first

move. This allows Sente to choose the subsequent
opening lines.
In Class IV Gote begins with P3d, to stop the Bishops

Wild lines and the Fortress lines. But its drawback is
that it creates a great defect, the Side Pawn on 3d. These
lines result in wild fighting.
Class V historically has much in common with Class I

and in Japanese shares the name aigakari.
Centre Game.
(Shogi No. 27, 28 – John Fairbairn)
This is a class of Static Rook openings characterised by
the exchange of Rook Pawns. They branch into two
main types, the Rook-on-Pawn openings and the Centre
Game openings. The more modern lines of the Centre
Game openings feature a Reclining Silver (a Silver in
front of its Pawn on 5f) and they tend to be called
Reclining Silver openings with Rook Pawns off
(contrasting with the Reclining Silver openings with
Bishops off).
The basic pattern also features a Reclining Silver. After

that is explained, a different order of moves is
considered and some variations are given. There is also
a brief look at the historical development, introducing
the once famous Stagecoach joseki.6
6 There is a small selection of complete games in Shogi magazine No. 28 – this

opening is rarely played these days (1980).
Basic Pattern.
1iP2f 2iP8d │ 5iG7h

3iP2e 4iP8e │
up to 5iG7h
If 5iP2d: 6iPx2d; 7iRx2d, 8iP8f; 9iPx8f (If 9iP*2c:

10iPx8g+; 11iPx2b, 12iSx2b; and Sente has no follow-
up but has lost a Pawn.), 10iP*8g.
5i… 6iG3b │ 9iRx2d 10iP*2c
7iP2d 8iPx2d │ 11iR2f
up to 11iR2f
11iR2h is possible though more old-fashioned.

11i… 12iS6b │ 13iP9f 14iP1d
up to 14iP1d
If 14iP6d: 15iP*2d, 16iPx2d; 17iRx2d, 18iP*2c;

19iRx6d, losing a Pawn. With a Pawn on 1d Gote can
play 16iP6d next because he can answer Rx2d with
S6c. If then P*2c: B1c aiming at the Rook.
15iS3h 16iP6d │ 23iP7f 24iP3d
17iP4f 18iP8f │ 25iS4g 26iS6c
19iPx8f 20iRx8f │ 27iS5f
21iP*8g 22iR8d │
up to 27iS5f
If 27iS3f, Gote should not play 28iS5d otherwise

29iS2e aiming at the head of Gote's Bishop is too
difficult to defend against. The correct move is 28iP6e,
to use the sideways action of the Rook. If 29iS4e then:
30iG5b. Or, if 29iS2e: 30iBx8h+; 31iSx8h, 32iS2b. If
instead of 29iS4e, Sente plays 29iBx2b+, 30iSx2b;
31iB*7e, the response will be: 32iR8b (not 32iR5b;
33iS4e, 34iR5e; 35iP5f); 33iBx5c+, 34iG6b;
35i+Bflees, 36iSB*4b;
27i… 28iS5d │ 29iP1f
up to 29iP1f
Essential once the Reclining Silver is in position. If

29iP3f: 30iBx8h+; 31iSx8h, 32iB*1e.
29i... 30iP9d │ 33iP3f 34iP7d
31iK6h 32iK4b │ 35iG4h
up to 35iG4h
Choosing the option of guarding the Knight on 3g (for

good cohesion), but 35iG5h is possible.
35i… 36iG5b
up to 36iG5b
36iG6b would probably lead to the Clanging Silvers

(see below pagei69).
37iN3g 38iN7c
up to 38iN7c
The original idea, but now thought to be bad on account

of the typical continuation: 39iP3e, 40iPx3e; 41iP1e,
42iPx1e; 43iS4e, 44iSx4e; 45iNx4e, 46iP4d; 47iP*3c,
48iNx3c; 49iBx4d, 50iNx4e; 51iPx4e, 52iBx4d;
53iPx4d. For the now preferred 38iP6e see pagei53
below.
As exemplified here, the Reclining Silver with Rook

Pawns off goes straight from the opening to the
endgame. Since there is no middle game it is a good
opening for those who like to lean opening lines as
traps.
Here's the whole Centre Game basic line, for

convenience:
1iP2f 2iP8d │ 21iP*8g 22iR8d

3iP2e 4iP8e │ 23iP7f 24iP3d
5iG7h 6iG3b │ 25iS4g 26iS6c
7iP2d 8iPx2d │ 27iS5f 28iS5d
9iRx2d 10iP*2 │ 29iP1f 30iP9d
11iR2f 12iS6b │ 31iK6h 32iK4b
13iP9f 14iP1d │ 33iP3f 34iP7d
15iS3h 16iP6d │ 35iG4h 36iG5b
17iP4f 18iP8f │ 37iN3g 38iN7c
19iPx8f 20iRx8f │
---o0o---
Basic Pattern – changed order of moves.
There is a lot of variation possible in the order of moves
of this opening. The one given here is a very different
sequence that ends up with exactly the same final
position as the Basic Pattern except for the last move. A
little more explanation of the basic moves is included.
1iP7f 2iP3d │ 9iP2d 10iPx3d
3iP2f 4iP8d │ 11iRx2d 12iP8f
5iP2e 6iP8e │ 13iPx8f 14iRx8f
7iG7h 8iG3b │ 15iR2f
up to 15iR2f
15iRx3d is possible, then 16iBx8h+; 17iSx8h, 18iRx7f;

and furious fighting develops. But that is a different
opening.
15i… 16iP*2c │17iP*8g 18iR8d
up to 18iR8d
Producing what is called the Double Floating Rook

arrangement.
19iS4h 20iS6b │23iP9f 24iP9d
21iP1f 22iP1d │25iP4f
up to 25iP4f
25iP5f is an older idea, then 26iP5d; 27iK6i, 28iK4a;

29iG5h, 30iG5b; 31iP3f, 32iP7d; 33iS5g, 34iS5c; was
usual. Pushing the 6th file Pawns (for Sente and Gote
respectively) instead of the centre Pawn was christened
the New Centre Game (shin-aigakari) and the older line
with P5f and P5d was then dubbed the Old Centre
Game (ko-aigakari).
25i… 26iP6d │29iS5f 30iS5d
27iS4g 28iS6c │31iG4h 32iG5b
up to 32iG5b
32iG6b is possible but Gote has to be more defensive

than Sente so the more solid 32iG5b is preferred.
33iP3f 34iP7d │35iK6h
up to 35iK6h
In all Centre Game openings the King tends to be safer

here than on 6i, but 6i was played initially.
35i… 36iK4b │37iN3g
up to 37iN3g
Intending an early fight.

37i… 38iP6e
up to 38iP6e
The move preferred now over 38iN7c. Its purpose is to

prevent B*6f if the Bishops are exchanged. It also
makes use of the Rook.
For convenience, here's the whole of the Basic Pattern
with a changed order of moves:

5iP2e 6iP8e │25iP4f 26iP6d
7iG7h 8iG3b │27iS4g 28iS6c
9iP2d 10iPx3d │29iS5f 30iS5d
11iRx2d 12iP8f │31iG4h 32iG5d
13iPx8f 14iRx8f │33iP3f 34iP7d
`
15iR2f 16iP*2c │35iK6h 36iK4b
17iP*8g 18iR8d │37iN3g 38iP6e
19iS4h 20iS6b │
The follow-up.
Continuing from 38iP6e just above, the commonest type

of continuation has been:
39iP3e
up to 39iP3e
Also possible is the quiet 39iG4g or 39iBx2b+,

39iSx2b; 39iS8h.
39i… 40iPx3e │41iS4e
up to 41iS4e
Unreasonable. But 41iP*2d, 42iPx2d; 43iRx2d,

44iP*2c; 45iRx3d is possible.
41i… 42iSx4e │43iNx4e 44iP7e
up to 44iP7e
Good. It stops P*2d or S*3d.

45iP*3c
up to 45iP*3c
From now on Gote needs great care during the attack on

3c or else he will be despatched quickly.
45i… 46iNx3c │53iS*3c 54iGx3c
47iNx3c+ 48iBx3c │55iNx3c+ 56iKx3c
49iBx3c+ 50iGx3c │57iB*4a
51iN*4e 52iG3b │
up to 57iB*4a
If 57iB*5e: 58iS*4d; 59iBx9a+, 60iN*6d; (this

variation works because there is no Knight on 7c).
57i… 58iK4b │61iP*3c M
59iBx2c+ 60iS*3b │
up to 61iP*3c
If 61i+B2d: 62iS*2c and the attack peters out. If

61i+B4e: 62iN*3f .
61i… 62iSx2c │65iP3b+ N
63iRx2c+ 64iP*2b │
up to 65iP3b+
If 65iG*3b: 66iK5a; 67iGx2b, 68iN*3f; and Gote will

win the race to mate.
65i… 66iSx3b │69iS*3a 70iK4a
67i+Rx2b 68iB*5e │
up to 70iK4a
Here is the continuation, complete:
39iP3e 40iPx3e │55iNx3c+ 56iKx3c

41iS4e 42iSx4e │57iB*4a 58iK4b
43iNx4e 44iP7e │59iBx2c+ 60iS*3b
45iP*3c 46iNx3c │61iP*3c 62iSx2c
47iNx3c+ 48iBx3c │63iRx2c+ 64iP*2b
49iBx3c+ 50iGx3c │65iP3b+ N 66iSx3b
51iN*4e 52iG3b │67i+Rx2b 68iB*5e
53iS*3c 54iGx3c │69iS*3a 70iK4a
The old lines.

As mentioned earlier, the Centre Game opening
originally did not have Reclining Silvers but featured a
Pawn push on the centre file.
Another difference was that originally Floating Rooks

were not used but instead the Rooks were brought back
to 2h and 8b.
Fig.i1 shows what was called the 'Old versus New'

variation around 1955, (though it dates from 1949)
where Gote is playing the old style Retreating Rook and
Pawn push up the centre, Whereas Sente is playing the
new style Floating Rook and Silver up the 4th file.
Figure 1 – Floating Rook vs. Retreating Rook7
Had Sente also played the old style he would have

played P5f and the Silvers would have sat on 4f and
6d.
Eventually Gote saw the error of his ways and he too

adopted the new style, but the transition was slow and
chronologically not a logical series of steps.
7 Incorrect number of pieces in original – corrected with 'best guess'.

For instance, this position was popular around 1946-47:
Figure 28
and the usual moves then were:
1iP4f 2iBx8h+ │5iS7g 6iS3c

3iSx8h 4iS2b │7iS6f see Fig.i2a
producing an arrangement for Sente known as the Twin

Reclining Silvers.
8 Incorrect number of pieces in original – corrected with best guess

Figure 2a – up to 7iS6f
The three commonest continuations were:9
Continuation I.
7i… 8iG6c │15iS6f 16iK3a

9iB*3g 10iR6b │17iB5i 18iK2b
11iS6f-5e 12iSx5e │19iB7g see Fig.iI
13iSx5e 14iP5d │
Fig I – up to 19iB7g
9 In the original, there were a few 'impossible' moves in the three continuations – eg:
9iB3g – changed to 9iB*3g (Continuation I); 20iP5e – changed to 20iPx5e
(Continuation II); 11iB4f – changed to 11iB*4f (Continuation III).
Continuation II.
7i… 8iG6c │17iSx5e 18iP5d

9iG4g 10iK5b │19iS*6d 20iPx5e
11iK5h 12iN7c │21iSx6c+ 22iKx6c
13iN3g 14iP6e │23iB*4a see Fig II:
15iS6f-5e 16iSx5e │
Fig II – up to 23iB*4a
Continuation III.
7i… 8iS4d * │13iP1f 14iPx1f

9iP4e 10iS3c │ see Fig.iIII:
11iB*4f 12iS6c │
Fig III – up to 14iPx1f
* Gote also plays two Reclining Silvers.
Even the Floating Rook was not a new idea. Though in

the early days only one Floating Rook or none was used
but the standard Double Floating Rook of today, made
popular by Itaya (8-dan), actually first saw light of day
in the late Taisho era (early 1920's) when the Centre
Game opening came to prominence. The Floating
Rook's popularity in the first place, in this opening, is
attributed to Kobori (8-dan).
The first game with Double Floating Rook was between

Itaya (Sente) and Maruta and the position shown in
Fig.i3 was reached after S4e:
Figure 3 – up to S4e
This move produced what is called the 'Clanging Silver'
(gatchiri gin). Play continued Sx4e; Px4e, P6e;
Bx2b+, Gx2b; P7e, Px7e; P*7d, Rx7d;
B*8b, – see Fig.i3a:
Figure 3a – up to B*8b
Despite these modernistic ideas for Rooks and Silvers, it
was still possible to see a game like that shown in Fig.i4
in 1948. It was between Tsukuda and Masuda and
introduced a set pattern that was quickly dubbed the
'Stagecoach' (ekibisha) joseki after the last scene of the
John Wayne film in which the opponents in a gunfight
walk slowly towards each other, knowing that one must
die. The two lonely Kings in this opening are the
gunfighters ominously stalking each other. The opening
is now on Boot Hill.
Figure 4
The next few moves from here as both tried to get
control of the centre were:
1iR2f 2iBx8h+ │13iS6f 14iP*8h

3iSx8h 4iS2b │15iGx8h 16iP*6d
5iS7g 6iS3c │17iPx6d 18iGx6d
7iP6f 8iP4d │19iG7h 20iP*6e
9iPx6e 10iPx4e │21iS7g 22iG5e
11iR2h 12iS4d │ see Fig.i4a:
Figure 4a – up to 22iG5e
But that was still a considerable change from the
original (old vs. old!) Centre Game of pre-WWII days.
The most typical position was that of Fig.i5:
Figure 5
Two main lines can be separated out here, the most

recent being the one which has been referred to several
times already.
From Fig.i5 that would continue:
1iS4f 2iP4d │11iRx2d 12iG2c

3iP5e 4iS3a-4b │13iR2h 14iP*2d
5iP3e 6iS4c │15iPx5d 16iSx5d
7iPx3d 8iSx3d │17iS5e 18iSx5e
9iP*2d 10iPx2d │19iBx5e see Fig.i5a:
Figure 5a – up to 19iBx5e
Because both sides have a Silver and three Pawns in

hand this particular line was called the Silver and three
Pawns joseki.
But going even further back in time, it was common to
continue from Fig.i5 with 1iG5h, followed by the Snow
Roof castle. An example of this very old style of play
can be found in Game 3 of Shogi magazine No. 28.
Fortress (Yagura).
(Shogi Magazine No 29, 30 – John Fairbairn)
The moves of the Fortress opening usually lead to the
adoption of the Fortress castle, hence its name. But
adopting the Fortress castle does not necessarily mean
that you are playing the Fortress opening. For that you
must play all the moves in the basic pattern below. Since
the moves played by one Static Rook side are the best,
the other Static Rook side will also play them, so that
this opening is usually called ai-yagura (Double
Fortress) in Japanese, but since games where ony one
side has the Fortress are rare, it is pedantic to insist on
the word Double. In fact playing the Fortress alone can
be very bad because the opponent simply plays the
Fortress Demoliton attack (yagura-kuzushi).10
10There is a selection of Fortress games in Shogi magazine No. 30.

Basic Pattern – Mimic Pattern – Static Rook vs.
Static Rook.
1iP7f 2iP8d │13iP5f 14iK4a

3iS6h 4iP3d │15iK6i 16iG5b
5iS7g 6iS6b │17iG5h 18iS3c
7iP2f 8iS4b │19iB7i 20iB3a
9iS4h 10iG3b │21iP6f 22iP4d
11iG7h 12iP5d │see Fig.i1:
Figure 1 – up to 22iP4d – edge attack, centre game
From the Basic Pattern, play continues more or less in

mimic fashion, the variations stemming from wherever
one side forces a break in the symmetry. But two main
themes can be discerned: the edge attack lines, which
are fashionable at present (1981), and centre games
which follow the now old-fashioned theory that one
should strive for control of the centre, particularly 5e.
One characteristic of all the lines, however, is that for a

long time neither side gets any pieces in hand. This is
the only Static Rook opening where that is so. Below
the Basic Pattern is repeated with a full explanation and
then several variations are given for the subsequent play.
Following these there is a brief look at some of the older
lines and an even shorter look at how to demolish the
Fortress.
Explanation of the Basic Pattern.

The Fortress is a Static Rook vs. Static Rook game.
Therefore the castles chosen must be strong against
frontal attack. This generally means adopting the Crab
Castle first, then moving into one of the Fortress
enclosures (not necessarily the same for each side). One
of the main problems in the Fortress is what to do with
the Bishop and in particular how to extract it from the
castle and develop it usefully.
The middle game will start either with a Pawn push in

the centre or an edge attack, and the role of the Bishop
must conform. An edge attack by one side will usually
lead to an edge attack by the other, but a major decision
has to be made whether to defend against the other's
attack and to build up one's own attack slowly, or try for
an even faster attack making use of the exchanges that
will follow from the first attack. Note that until then
there will be no captured pieces in the Fortress opening.
Some variation in the order of moves is permissible:
1iP7f 2iP8d
up to 2iP8d
2iP3d could lead to the Fortress but it would be odd.

3iS6h
up to 3iS6h
Or 3iS7h. 3IP2f leads to a Wing Attack opening.

3i… 4iP3d │5iS7g
up to 5iS7g
5iS7g is a most characteristic move of the Fortress.

5i… 6iS6b
up to 6iS6b
6iS6b – Gote's attacker.

7iP2f 8iS4b
up to 8iS4b
8iS4b – essential now to meet P2e with S3c. If

8iP8e, 9iS4h next (blocking the Rook) for Sente would
be bad: 10iP8f; 11iPx8f, 12iRx8f; 13iG7h (if 13iG7h
then Bx8h+ : 'In the opening the Bishop is stronger
than the Rook'), 14iBx7g+; 15iNx7g, 16iS*8g; : a
common trap. 8IP8e must be answered by 9iG7h. For a
similar reason Sente must not play S4h on move 7.
9iS4h
up to 9iS4h
In the Fortress always move the Silver first.

9i… 10iG3b │11iG7h
up to 11iG7h
11iG7h – an important move for achieving shape in the

Fortress.
11i… 12iP5d
up to 12iP5d
12iP5d – the most common move today (1981); also

possible is 12iP6d; 13iP4f. This was popular around the
1960's. Either side can break the symmetry here pushing
on the 5th file is aggressive; on the 6th (Gote) or 4th
(Sente) is defensive. P5f is popular now (1981)
because it frees the Bishop in one move and lets it join
the edge attack on 1c.
13iP5f 14iK4a │15iK6i
up to 15iK6i
Not 15iK6h for that blocks the Bishop.

15i… 16iG5b │17iG5h
up to 17iG5h
Completing the Crab castle.

17i… 18iS3c
up to 18iS3c
18iS3c is played after 17iG5h as Gote then knows Sente

will not play R5h. If Gote plays P3c before 17iG5h,
then Sente can choose the Fortress variation of the
Central Rook with P4f~ S4g~ R5h (see note at end
of game).
19iB7i
up to 19iB7i
The 'Retreating Bishop' (hikikaku).

19i… 20iB3a │21iP6f
up to 21iP6f
21iP6f is necessary to make the Fortress, but the

exchange 21iP3f, 22iP7d; can be interposed here.
21i… 22iP4d
up to 22iP4d
The main branching point of this opening comes after

this move.
Here is the basic line complete up to move 22:

11iG7h 12iP5d │
Variations after the Basic Pattern.
Variation 1 – Fortress with Climbing Silver (edge

attack). The first 22 moves are as in the Basic Pattern
above (pagei76):

11iG7h 12iP5d │
up to 22iP4d – Variation 1 start point

23iP1f
up to 23iP1f
23iP1f is a modern idea. It aims also at an edge attack

called Spearing the Sparrow (see pagei211) with
P1e~ P3f~ N3g~ L1g~ R1h. In older games
23iP1f was the main move, followed by 24iP7d; 25iB4f,
26iB6d. The Complete Fortress is another possibility
but this is not seen much now (1981) as it tends to lead
to a draw by repetition of moves (sennichite), and when
it is used it is often for that very reason (not to get a
half-point but to reverse colours). See variation 3
(pagei114).
23i… 24iP1d
up to 24iP1d
Gote can defend as here, or counter-attack: see Variation

2 (pagei107).
25iP3f
up to 25iP3f
25iP3f allows development of both the Knight and the

Silver.
25i... 26iP7d
up to 26iP7d
26iP7d is the safest response.

27iP2e 28iP8e │29iS3g
up to 29iS3g
The Climbing Silver, aiming at S2f and P1e. For

29iP9f see Variation 2 (pagei107).
29i… 30iB6d │31iG5h-6g
up to 31iG5h-6g
The King has to go to 8h, then the Fortress castle is

complete.
31i… 32iB7c
up to 32iB7c
32iB7c because 32iB4f would force the exchange of

Bishops.
33iL1g 34iK3a
up to 34iK3a
The other possible move is 34iS5c. If then 35iR1h,

36iG2b makes an odd and bad shape but at least it stops
the edge attack and allows Gote to concentrate on his
own attack with P6d~ B8d~ N7c~ P6e.
35iR1h 36iK2b
up to 36iK2b
Other possible moves are 36iG2b or 36iS2b. 36IG2b is

bad shape and 36iS2b allows 37iP2d, 38iPx2d;
39iBx2d, getting a Pawn in hand. 36IK2b stops the edge
attack for the time being.
37iB5g 38iS5c │39iK7i 40iG5b-
4c J
up to 40iG5b-4c
The Complete Fortress (for other Fortress castles see

below).
41iK8h
up to 41iK8h
The Gold Fortress is now completed.

41i… 42iP9d │43iP9f
up to 43iP9f
43iP9f is not necessarily the best, but a typical move

(“Don't push the Edge Pawn in the Fortress until the
King is round the corner.”).
Here's the whole of variation I including the first 22
moves:

3iS6h 4iP3d │25iP3f 26iP7d
5iS7g 6iS6b │27iP2e 28iP8e
7iP2f 8iS4b │29iS3g 30iB6d
9iS4h 10iG3b │31iG5h-6g 32iB7c
11iG7h 12iP5d │33iL1g 34iK3a
13iP5f 14iK4a │35iR1h 36iK2b
15iK6i 16iG5b │37iB5g 38iS5c
17iG5h 18iS3c │39iK7i 40iG5b-4c
19iB7i 20iB3a │41iK8h 42iP9d
21iP6f 22iP4d │43iP9f
Sente will proceed soon with S2f and an edge attack,

which will include sacrificing his Climbing Silver on
1e. Gote will proceed with B8d~ N7c~ P6d~ P6e.
Variation 2.
The first 28 moves are as in Variation 1 above:
1iP7f 2iP8d │15iK6i 16iG5b

3iS6h 4iP3d │17iG5h 18iS3c
5iS7g 6iS6b │19iB7i 20iB3a
7iP2f 8iS4b │21iP6f 22iP4d
11iG7h 12iP5d │25iP3f 26iP7d
13iP5f 14iK4a │27iP2e 28iP8e
up to 28iP8e – Variation 2 start point

Then we have:
29iP9f 30iP9d
up to 30iP9d
A major problem in the Fortress opening is when to

answer Pawn pushes, especially on the edge.
31iG5h-6g 32iG5b-4c
up to 32iG5b-4c
32iB6d is also good.

33iP4f
up to 33iP4f
A main branching point comes at 33iP4f . Sente also has

33iB4f or 33iS3g See below. The Bishop move lines are
typical of the Centre Game.
33i… 34iP6d │39iK7i 40iK3a
35iS4g 36iS6c │41iK8h
37iB6h 38iB4b │
up to 41iK8h
The completed Fortress.

41i… 42iK2b │43iN3g
44iN7c
up to 44iN7c
Here's the whole of Variation 2 including the first 28
moves:

5iS7g 6iS6b │27iP2e 28iP8e
9iS4h 10iG3b │31iG5h-6g 32iG5b-4c
11iG7h 12iP5d │33iP4f 34iP6d
13iP5f 14iK4a │35iS4g 36iS6c
15iK6i 16iG5b │37iB6h 38iB4b
17iG5h 18iS3c │39iK7i 40iK3a
19iB7i 20iB3a │41iK8h 42iK2b
21iP6f 22iP4d │43iN3g 44iN7c
Variation 3.
The first 32 moves are as in Variation 2 above
(pagei107):
1iP7f 2iP8d │17iG5h 18iS3c

3iS6h 4iP3d │19iB7i 20iB3a
5iS7g 6iS6b │21iP6f 22iP4d
11iG7h 12iP5d │27iP2e 28iP8e
13iP5f 14iK4a │29iP9f 30iP9d
15iK6i 16iG5b │31iG5h-6g 32iG5b-4c
up to 32iG5b-4c – Variation 3 start point

Then we have:
33iB4f 34iB6d │37iP4f 38iP6d

35iB3g 36iB7c │39iS5g
up to 39iS5g
The Complete (ie: four-general) Fortress.

39i… 40iS5c │45iK7i 46iK3a
41iB2f 42iB8d │47iK8b 48iK2b
43iN3g 44iN7g │
up to 48iK2b
48iK2b – now it is difficult for either side to attack for

each has a tendency to zugzwang (compulsion to move
in a position where one would rather not move at all).
Repetition of moves (sennichite) often ensues.
Here's the whole of variation 3 including the first 32
moves:

3iS6h 4iP3d │27iP2e 28iP8e
7iP2f 8iS4b │31iG5h-6g 32iG5b-4c
9iS4h 10iG3b │33iB4f 34iB6d
11iG7h 12iP5d │35iB3g 36iB7c
15iK6i 16iG5b │39iS5g 40iS5c
17iG5h 18iS3c │41iB2f 42iB8d
19iB7i 20iB3a │43iN3g 44iN7g
21iP6f 22iP4d │45iK7i 46iK3a
23iP1f 24iP1d │47iK8b 48iK2b
Variation 4.
(pagei107):


Then we have:
33iS3g
up to 33iS3g
33iS3g aiming at the Climbing Silver or: 35iP3e,

36iPx3e; 37iS3g, 38iBx3e; 39iP*3d; and later P4f~
S3f~ N3g~ R4h.
33i… 34iB6d
up to 34iB6d
Or 34iB4b. See Variation 5 below (pagei124).

35iL1g 36iB7c │37iR1h 38iS5c
up to 38iS5c
Or 38iBx3g+; 39iNx3g, 40iS*2g.

39iS2f
up to 39iS2f
39iS2f aims at P1e.

moves:

7iP2f 8iS4b │27iP2e 28iP8e
11iG7h 12iP5d │31iG5h-6g 32iG5b-4c
13iP5f 14iK4a │33iS3g 34iB6d
15iK6i 16iG5b │35iL1g 36iB7c
17iG5h 18iS3c │37iR1h 38iS5c
19iB7i 20iB3a │39iS2f D
Variation 5.
(pagei107):


Then we have:
33iS3g 34iB4b │37iBx3e 38iP*3d

35iP3e 36iPx3e │
up to 38iP*3d
Probably better is: 38iP4e; 39iB2f, 40iB6d; 41iP*3f,

42iS5c; 43iR4h, 44iS3d.
39iB2f 40iK3a │43iS3f
41iP4f 42iK2b │
up to 43iS3f
3f is a good square. This move prevents P*3f against

Sente's Knight later.
43iS3f B 44iP6d │51iPx7e 52iRx7e
45iN3g 46iR7b │53iP*7f 54iR7b
47iK7i 48iS6c │55iR4h
49iK8h 50iP7e │
up to 55iR4h
55iR4h achieves a good Fortress-destroying shape for

Sente (see also below). A possible continuation is:
56iN7c; 57iP1e, 58iPx1e; 59iP4e, 60iPx4e; 61iP*4d,
62iSx4d; 63iSx4e, 64iSx4e; 65iP*4d, 66iP*4g;
67iPx4c+, 68iGx4c; 69iRx4g, 70iP*4f; 71iP*4d.
moves:

3iS6h 4iP3d │31iG5h-6g 32iG5b-
4c
5iS7g 6iS6b │33iS3g 34iB4b
7iP2f 8iS4b │35iP3e 36iPx3e
9iS4h 10iG3b │37iBx3e 38iP*3d
11iG7h 12iP5d │39iB2f 40iK3a
13iP5f 14iK4a │41iP4f 42iK2b
15iK6i 16iG5b │43iS3f 44iP6d
17iG5h 18iS3c │45iN3g 46iR7b
19iB7i 20iB3a │47iK7i 48iS6c
21iP6f 22iP4d │49iK8h 50iP7e
23iP1f 24iP1d │51iPx7e 52iRx7e
25iP3f 26iP7d │53iP*7f 54iR7b
27iP2e 28iP8e │55iR4h
Variation 6.
The first 22 moves are as in the Basic Pattern above
(pagei76):

11iG7h 12iP5d │
up to 22iP4d – Variation 6 start point

and then we have:
23iP1f
up to 23iP1f
23iP1f is most important in modern Shogi. Whether to

respond or not is difficult.
23i… 24iP7d │ 25iP1e
up to 25iP1e
Gote reasons that this (the response) takes Sente two

moves, which gives Gote time to attack. Therefore
Gote's Silver will go to the right.
25i… 26iP8e │ 29iG5h-6g 30iG5b-4c
27iP3f 28iS7c │ 31iN3g
up to 31iN3g
31iS3g would be poor here as it has no relation to the

Pawn on 1e.
31i… 32iP7e
up to 32iP7e
Other possibilities are: 32iP9d (a waiting move),

32iS8d or 32iS6d (quick attack). But 32iP7e has been
the most popular recently (1981); its purpose is to
develop the Silver with a quick attack to stop Sente
getting the Spearing the Sparrow attack (Rook on 1h,
Lance on 1g, with Pawn on 1e and Knight on 3g ready
to go to 2e, see pagei211).
33iPx7e 34iBx7e │35iP6e
up to 35iP6e
The other main variation here is: 35iB4f, 36iB6d;

37iB5g, 38iS7d; 39iS7f. 35IP6e is a finesse. It aims at
B4f and P*7d.
35i… 36iB4b │37iB4f 38iP*7d
up to 38iP*7d
Apart from preventing P*7d by Sente, 38iP*7d is a

base for a later N*7e.
39iK7i
up to 39iK7i
Played now because 38iP*7d created a lull in the

fighting.
39i… 40iK3a │43iPx6d 44iBx6d
41iK8h 42iP6d │45iB5g
up to 45iB5g
45iBx6d, 46iSx6d; 47iB*6c looks promising, but Gote

now has B*9b! Sente's attack dries up and the Bishop
falls to G5c.
45i… 46iB4b
up to 46iB4b
moves:
1iP7f 2iP8d │25iP1e 26iP8e

3iS6h 4iP3d │27iP3f 28iS7c
5iS7g 6iS6b │29iG5h-6g 30iG5b-4c
7iP2f 8iS4b │31iN3g 32iP7e
9iS4h 10iG3b │33iPx7e 34iBx7e
11iG7h 12iP5d │35iP6e 36iB4b
13iP5f 14iK4a │37iB4f 38iP*7d
15iK6i 16iG5b │39iK7i 40iK3a
17iG5h 18iS3c │41iK8h 42iP6d
19iB7i 20iB3a │43iPx6d 44iBx6d
21iP6f 22iP4d │45iB5g 46iB4b
23iP1f A 24iP7d │
Quick-attack variations.
Until WWII the Fortress actually meant an opening in
which both players adopted one of the many Fortress
castles, and the result was a drawn-out game. But
shortly after WWII Oyama initiated the Quick Attack
lines in which one side began fighting before the castles
had been finished. This is why the Fortress group of
openings are no longer restricted to those with Fortress
castles.
Many lines exist, but one of the first is given here by
way of illustration. It is from a game between Oyama
and Masuda in 1949.
1iP7f 2iP8d │11iS4h 12iK4a

3iS7h 4iP3d │13iP3f 14 iS2b
5iS7g 6iS6b │15iP5f 16iP8e
7iP2f 8iG3b │17iS5g
9iP2e 10iB3c │
up to 17iS5g
17iS5g is the distinctive move in this variation. Since it

was subsequently used most by Masuda the line is
named after him. Oyama is credited with the S4g
version.
17i… 18iP6d │25iG7h 26iP7d

19iS4f 20iB5a │27iK6i 28iS5d
21iP3e 22iPx3e │29iP4f 30iB8d
23iSx3e 24iS6c │31iS6h 32iP*3c
up to 32iP*3c
Both sides have now lost all semblance of a Fortress.

This is normal in these variant lines.
Here's the complete Quick-attack variation up to move
32:
1iP7f 2iP8d │17iS5g 18iP6d

3iS7h 4iP3d │19iS4f 20iB5a
5iS7g 6iS6b │21iP3e 22iPx3e
7iP2f 8iG3b │23iSx3e 24iS6c
9iP2e 10iB3c │25iG7h 26iP7d
11iS4h 12iK4a │27iK6i 28iS5d
13iP3f 14 iS2b │29iP4f 30iB8d
15iP5f 16iP8e │31iS6h 32iP*3c
The old Snow Roof and other Fortress variations.
Common before Oyama's Quick-attack line, and still
afterwards, was the variation illustrated in the following
diagram:
Snow Roof Fortress
It is easy enough to see how this position is reached.

The characteristic feature is the castle, which is known
as the Snow Roof (gangi – in the Snow Country of
Niigata, the arrangement of eaves extended far beyond
the walls of houses so as to create a covered walkway
when the 6-foot high snows come is called gangi). The
four generals resemble the roof over the alley.
The Snow Roof often transposes into the Silver Fortress

castle (reckoned to be the strongest of the Fortresses) as
in the following diagram:
Silver Fortress
The variations associated with these positions will lead

to slow games.
Fortress demolition.
As mentioned at the beginning of this section, it is bad
to play the Fortress alone. It is safe only when played
with the other moves characteristic of the Fortress
opening.
Variation V above (see pagei124) showed one example

of a Fortress-destroying attack. The diagram below
shows another where Sente has castled with no thought
to the rest of the game.
Destruction is achieved with: N8e; S8f, P6e;
S5g, Px6f; Sx6f, S6e:
up to S6e
Fortress castles.
For reference, the various Fortress castles are illustrated
here:
Gold Fortress – usually referred to simply as the

Fortress
Silver Fortress
Complete Fortress – complete because it uses four
generals.
Incomplete Fortress – also called Amano's Fortress,

normally used only by Gote in Bishop handicap games.
Wave Fortress
High Silver Fortress

Lozenge Fortress – or simply Lozenge Castle
Straight Line Fortress

Snow Roof Fortress
Reclining Silver with Bishops Off.
This opening was very popular until just after WWII, as

was its sister opening, the Reclining Silver with Rook
Pawns Off, but it is rarely played today (1981) because
of its tendency to produce draws.
However, to understand and enjoy the early games of

Oyama or the games of the great Kimura, you must
know something about this opening. It is by no means
dead, in any case, and an important point in its favour is
that it offers the clearest and most incisive examples in
the whole opening repertoire of how to start the middle
game.
There is one basic pattern with several variations

stemming from it and some attention must be given to
what happens when colours are reversed.11
11 There is a selection of Reclining Silver gamesShogi Magazine, No. 31, May 1981.
Basic Pattern.
There is considerable latitude in the order of moves in
this Static Rook opening:
1iP7f 2iP8d │5iP2e 6iG3b

3iP2f 4iP8e │
up to 6iG3b
Not 6iP8f: 7iPx8f, 8iRx8f; 9iP2d, 10iPx2d; 11iP*2c.

7iB7g
up to 7iB7g
7iB7g – the point of this opening. It stops the Rook

Pawns being exchanged. In the Reclining Silver either
the Bishops or the Rook Pawns are exchanged but not
both.
7i… 8iP3d
up to 8iP3d
If Gote plays, for instance, 8iS6b now, Sente gets a

Pawn in hand with 9iP2d.
9iS8h
up to 9iS8h
Or 9iS6h.
9i… 10iBx7g+
up to 10iBx7g+
Gote takes the Bishop to avoid 11iP2d, 12iPx2d;

13iRx2d. If Sente tries 11iP2d, etc. now, the exchange
of Bishops is, of course, offset by Sente's extra move
7iB7g.
11iSx7g 12iS2b │13iS4h
up to 13iS4h
Or 13iS3h, but not 13iP2d: 13iPx2d; 13iRx2d, 13iB*3e;

. 13iS3h gives the option of switching to the
Climbing Silver if Gote plays S6b before S3c (ie:
playing S2f instead of G7h next).
13i… 14iS6b │ 15iG7h
up to 15iG7h
Still not 15iP2d: 16iPx2d; 17iRx2d, 18iB*3c (not

18iB*3e: 19iRx3d); 19iR2h (if 18iRx3d: 19iP*2h ),
20iP8f; 21iPx8f, 15iP*8h
15i… 16iS3c │ 17iP4f
up to 17iP4f
'With Bishops off, don't push the Centre Pawn' says the
proverb (because the Bishop can easily be dropped at 5g
and promote out of the zone).
17i… 18iP6d │ 21iS5f
19iS4g 20iS6c │
up to 21iS5f
The Reclining Silver (reclining on a sofa of Pawns at

6g, 5g and 4f). This makes sense with the Bishops off as
the centre Pawns will not be pushed.
21i… 22iS5d │ 23iK6h
up to 23iK6h
The King moves to the second rank because the Bishops

are off. There is a risk of B*4g, check, if Sente's King
is on 6i. The King also defends 5g here.
23i… 24iK4b │ 27iP3f 28iP7d
25iG5h 26iG5b │ 29iP1f
up to 29iP1f
The edge pushes can be deferred.

29i… 30iP1d │ 33iK7i 34iK3a
31iP9f 32iP9d │ 35iP6f
up to 35iP6f
35iP6f to restrict the Knight that will eventually be on

7c but it can be omitted sometimes.
35i… 36iP4d │ 37iK8h 38iK2b
up to 38iK2b
This exchange of King moves can be omitted. The

castles will be Gold Fortresses when completed with
G5h-6g and G5b-4c respectively.
39iN3g 40iN7c
up to 40iN7c
At several points up to this point Gote has the option of

ranging his move to break the symmetry. He can also do
that here, and in fact this Knight move is now regarded
as negative. 40iG5b-4c (or 4b) is preferred. The
thinking is that Gote rather than bring out his own
Knight as a target, should make a target of Sente's
Knight.
Here's the whole sequence of the basic pattern up to
move 40:
1iP7f 2iP8d │ 21iS5f 22iS5d

3iP2f 4iP8e │ 23iK6h 24iK4b
5iP2e 6iG3b │ 25iG5h 26iG5b
7iB7g 8iP3d │ 27iP3f 28iP7d
9iS8h 10iBx7g+ │ 29iP1f 30iP1d
11iSx7g 12iS2b │ 31iP9f 32iP9d
13iS4h 14iS6b │ 33iK7i 34iK3a
15iG7h 16iS3c │ 35iP6f 36iP4d
17iP4f 18iP6d │ 37iK8h 38iK2b
19iS4g 20iS6c │ 39iN3g 40iN7c
up to 40iN7c
The middle game begins hereabouts. Although this
opening was notorious for draws it was just as notorious
for its virtual lack of a middle game once the fighting
began, seeming to go straight from opening to endgame.
The best illustration of how the middle game develops
can be found in following what is now known as
Kimura's joseki:
Kimura's joseki.
Until the end of WWII the opening was considered to
favour Sente because of the threat of Variation 1 below.
But then other variations appeared, each capping the
other, in the order 2 – 5.
Variation 5, the present state of development (1981),

dates from 1948 and is the Kimura joseki.
Variation 1.
41iP4e 42iPx4e │45iNx4e 46iS4d

43iP7e 44iPx7e │47iP*7d
up to 47iP*7d
Variation 2.
41iP4e 42iPx4e │49iPx8f 50iB*5e

43iP7e 44iPx7e │51iR2i 52iN*6e
45iNx4e 46iSx4e │53iPx6e 54iP7f
47iSx4e 48iP8f │
up to 54iP7f
Variation 3.
41iP4e 42iPx4e │45iNx4e

43iP3e 44iPx3e │
up to 45iNx4e
Variation 4.
41iP4e 42iPx4e │43iP3e 44iS4d
up to 44iS4d
Variation 5 – Kimura's joseki.
41iP4e 42iPx4e │51iR2h 52iB*6c

43iP3e 44iS4d │53iP1e 54iPx1e
45iP7e 46iPx7e │55iP*1c 56iLx1c
47iP2d 48iPx2d │57iN2e 58iL1d
49iRx2d 50iP*2c │59iPx3d
up to 59iPx3d
Most middle games begin with two sacrificial Pawn

pushes, but this series of Pawn sacrifices is remarkable.
It is remembered by the mnemonic relating to the file
numbers: 4-3-7-2-1.
.
Variation 6 – Viper Variation.
The last move in the basic pattern was said to be
dubious. The move that generally replaced it was
Oyama's Viper, 40iG5b-4c (it could be played earlier).
Then, the first attempt was:
41iG4h 42iN7c │43iR2i 44iP6e
up to 44iP6e
It took a long time to find an antidote to the poison. The

secret was for Gote to play it himself, but other moves
were tried for Sente's move 41.
Variation 7 – 41 R4h.
41iR4h 42iG4c-4b
up to 42iG4c-4b
42iG4c-4b – simply a waiting move.

43iB*2f 44iG3b-4c
up to 44iG3b-4c
If 44iG4b-4c; then: 45iP4e, 46iPx4e; 47iNx4e, 48iS4d;

49iBx4d, 50iGx4d; 51iNx5c+.
45iP4e 46iPx4e │ 49iNx4e 50iS4d
47iSx4e 48iSx4e │ 51iB3g 52iG5d
up to 52iG5d
Here's the whole of variation 7, up to move 52:
41iR4h 42iG4c-4b │ 47iSx4e 48iSx4e

43iB*2f 44iG3b-4c │ 49iNx4e 50iS4d
45iP4e 46iPx4e │ 51iB3g 52iG5d
Variation 8 – 41 B*2f.
41iB*2f 42iG3b-4b │ 49iP2d 50iPx2d

43iP4e 44iPx4e │ 51iP*2e 52iB*4f
45iP1e 46iPx1e │ 53iR2i 54iPx2e
47iNx4e 48iS4d │ 55iB4h 56iS5dx4e
up to 56iS5dx4e
Other lines.
Another possibility for Gote's move 40 was G6c:
Variation 9.
39i… 40iG6c │41iP4e
up to 41iP4e
It is difficult to know how else to continue after this

point. Repetition of moves (sennichite) is in the air, eg:
after G4g, N7c; K8 h, K2b.
41i… 42iPx4e │45iSx5d 46iBx3g+
43iSx4e 44iB*5e │47iSx6c+ 48i+Bx2h
up to 48i+Bx2h
DIAGRAM IS WRONG! TO BE FIXED

Here's the whole of the 40iG6c line:
39i… 40iG6c │45iSx5d 46iBx3g+

41iP4e 42iPx4e │47iSx6c+ 48i+Bx2h
43iSx4e 44iB*5e │
Variation 10 – Kimura's G6b line.
When this line first appeared after WWII it caused a
great stir. Since the order of moves in the early part of
the sequence differs slightly from the basic pattern, all
the moves are given here.

3iP2e 4iP8e │19iP3f 20iP7d
5iP7f 6iG3b │21iS4g 22iS6c
7iB7g 8iP3d │23iK6h 24iN7c
9iS6h 10iBx7g+ │25iN3g 26iK4b
11iSx7g 12iS2b │27iG5h 28iS5d
13iS4h 14iS3c │29iS5f 30iG6b
15iG7h 16iS6b │
up to 30iG6b
It was 30iG6b and Gote's next move which caused the

stir!
31iP6f 32iR8a │37iK8h 38iP1d
33iK7i 34iK3a │39iP1f 40iK2b
35iP9f 36iP9d │41iP4e
up to 41iP4e
The first game Tsukuda vs. Kimura (1949), continued:

42iP6e; 43iPx6e, 44iP7e; 45iP2d, 46iSx2d; 47iB*6f,
48iB*3c; 49iBx3c+, 50iGx3c; 51iG5h-6g, 52iN6e;
53iS6f, 54iB*6i .
Here's the whole of Kimura's 30iG6b line:
1iP2f 2iP8d │23iK6h 24iN7c

3iP2e 4iP8e │25iN3g 26iK4b
5iP7f 6iG3b │27iG5h 28iS5d
7iB7g 8iP3d │29iS5f 30iG6b
9iS6h 10iBx7g+ │31iP6f 32iR8a
11iSx7g 12iS2b │33iK7i 34iK3a
13iS4h 14iS3c │35iP9f 36iP9d
15iG7h 16iS6b │37iK8h 38iP1d
17iP4f 18iP6d │39iP1f 40iK2b
19iP3f 20iP7d │41iP4e
21iS4g 22iS6c │
Variation 11 – the Reclining Gold.
This is yet another variation invented by Kimura, this
time in 1947. The first 34 moves are as in the basic
pattern (see p.i154).
35iN3g 36iN7c │43iG4g 44iR6b

37iP6f 38iR6b │45iB*4f 46iB*8d
39iP4e 40iK2b │47iS6g 48iR6a
41iK8h 42iR8b │49iG5f
up to 49iG5f – the Reclining Gold
The Reclining Gold. Gote may also play a Reclining

Gold, whether Sente does or not, so that in fact there
may be no Reclining Silver, but as this line did not
develop much further it does not have to be classed as a
separate opening.
The first game, Kimura vs. Hanada continued: 50iP6e;

51iPx6e, 52iSx6e; 53iP2d, 54iPx2d; 55iP*2e, 56iSx5f;
57iPx5f, 58iB3i+; 59iR2f, 60iP8f; 61iPx2d, .
up to 61iPx2d
Variation 12 – reversed colours.
Finally, it is possible for Sente to 'reverse colours' by
playing Bx2b+ and omitting B7g.
A typical opening of this type is:
1iP7f 2iP3d │21iS4g 22iS5d

3iBx2b+ 4iSx2b │23iS5f 24iK4b
5iS8h 6iP8d │25iK6h 26iP7
7iP2f 8iP8e │27iP3f 28iP4d
9iS7g 10iG3b │29iP6f 30iP1d
11iP2e 12iS3c │31iP1f 32iP9d
13iG7h 14iG5b │33iP9f 34iK3a
15iG5h 16iS6b │35iK7i 36iK2b
17iS4h 18iP6d │37iK8h 38iN7c
19iP4f 20iS6c │
up to 38iN7c
Obviously this is the same opening we have been

looking at. One reason for Sente's play is to prevent a
Ranging Rook by Gote (though even with Bishops off
he may not succeed in this), but he has to accept also
that he may end up in an opening far more weird than he
had hoped for. The early exchange of Bishops leads
even today into largely uncharted waters.
Kimura's Joseki – Detailed Analysis.
(Shogi No. 46 – Oyama Yasaharu, trans. David Murphy)
An in-depth analysis of the Kimura joseki in the Double
Reclining Silver, with Bishops off opening (aigakari).
The best way to get a position as good as your

opponent's from the opening is to copy his moves. The
centre game (aigakari) is based on this logic (The
Double Fortress is another example). In the Centre
game the model pattern is called the Double Reclining
Silver. It is a copy-book example of an opening system,
and will well repay close study.
Not included here: A series of 5 games

Moves to Fig.1:
1iP7f 2iP8d │7iB7g 8iP3d

3iP2f 4iP8e │9iS8h 10iBx7g+
5iP2e 6iG3b │11iSx7g see Fig.i1:
Figure 1 – up to 11iSx7g
Don't be hasty.
At one time 1iP2f was the most popular way of starting
a game, but 1iP7f is more flexible, keeping open the
option of a Ranging Rook. Gote replies 2iP8d. The
symmetrical 2iP3d is nowadays nearly always played
with a Ranging Rook in mind. If Gote plays 2iP3d
desiring a Centre Game, then follows the Side Pawn
capture, 3iP2f, 4iP8d; 5iP2e, 6iP8e; 7iG7h, 8iG3b;
9iP2d, 10iPx2d; 11iRx2d, 12iP*2c; 13iRx3d, which is
advantageous for Sente. A clear Pawn loss, in theory at
least, is naturally a minus for Gote.
So it's common sense for Gote to deny Sente this

possibility. 3IP2f, 4iP8e; 5iP2e, are obvious moves.
Now Gote would like to exchange his Rook's Pawn with

6iP8f; but he would lose his Bishop: 7iPx8f, 8iRx8f;
9iP2d, 10iPx2d; 11iP*2c. Novices should be especially
careful, for even in the opening there are little snares
like this – that's what makes Shogi such a difficult
game. 7IB7g, stopping the exchange, is the most solid
move. 7IP2d, leading to a mutual exchange of Rooks
Pawns is another way of playing, but here we are
investigating the solid way of playing. 8IP3d is natural.
To allow the opponent alone to exchange off his Rook's
Pawn would be a great disadvantage. 9IS8h is again the
most solid move. 9IP2d would be hasty: 10iPx2d;
11iRx2d, 12iBx7g+; 13iNx7g, 14iB*3c; 15iRx2a+,
16iBx7g+; 17iS6h, 18i+B2b; with advantage to Gote.
Just trying to find good moves for your own side is a
policy likely to rebound on you, especially in even
games. The correct policy is to try and build up an
advantage step by step.
10iBx7g+ seems a loss of a tempo, but Gote must play it
to prevent P2d, and, besides, since Sente used up a
move to play 7iB7g, Gote doesn't in fact use up a
tempo.
Another possibility was 10iS6b. However, this leads to

Sente's advantage after 11iP2d, 12iPx2d; 13iRx2d,
14iP8f; 15iPx8f, 16iP*8g; 17iRx2b+, 18iSx2b; 19iSx8g.
Gote has Rook for Bishop but he is two Pawns down.
Moreover, provided there are no holes in one's position
for a Rook to drop, a Rook for Bishop exchange in the
opening has no especially bad consequences. On the
contrary, the side with the Bishop in hand often stands
better. This is stressed for the sake of those players who
love their Rooks more than their Kings!
Moves from Fig.i1:
11i… 12iS2b │23iG5h 24iG5b

13iS4h 14iS3c │25iP3f 26iP7d
15iG7h 16iS6b │27iP1f 28iP1d
17iK6h 18iK4b │29iP9f 30iP9d
19iP4f 20iP6d │see Fig.i2:
21iS4g 22iS6c │
Figure 2 – up to 30iP9d
Symmetry all the way.
12iS2b is the natural move to prevent 13iP2d. If Gote
permits the exchange of Pawns, then for him to have
swopped the Bishops becomes pointless. Now 13iP2d is
tempting but Sente would fall into Gote's trap: 14iPx2d;
15iRx2d, 16iB*3e.
13iB*4e, 14iS6b; 15iBx3d, was possible, the so-called

Wrong Diagonal Bishop (see page 272). But for the first
player this is not a particularly favourable system.
14iS3c prevents the Pawn exchange, and 15iG7h over-

protects the 8 file, both according to plan. 17IK6h, is a
safer move than 17iK6i. Even when moves seem almost
identical it is important to try and aim at the most
precise one. Gote copies Sente with 18iK4b.
Maintaining symmetry gives the Aigakari its character.
Even a slight difference in the moves can easily upset
the pattern. 19iP4f paves the way for the Reclining
Silver. 19IP5f would make it impossible. Moreover,
with the Bishops off, after 19IP5f, the drop B*3i is
always in the air, making development rather awkward.
21IS4g and 22iS6c both prepare the Reclining Silver.
But an immediate 23iS5f, 24iS5d; cancel each other out
totally. First each side protects the King with 23iG5h,
24iG5b; then prepare the development of the Knight
with 25iP3f, 26iP7d. Essential moves in the event a
fight breaks out. The edge pushes are also preparations
for the fight to come – once it has started there will be
no time for such moves.
Moves from Fig.i2:
31iS5f 32iS5d │37iP6f 38iP4d

33iK7i 34iK3a │39iN3g 40iN7c
35iK8h 36iK2b │41iP4e see Fig.i3:
Figure 3 – up to 41iP4e
Time to start the fight.

Sente's 31iS5f forms the Reclining Silver. The Pawn on
5g is the 'chair', hence the name. Gote's 32iS5d makes it
a Double Reclining Silver opening. Nevertheless it is
the position of the King that is the most important. Both
sides follow the golden rule and put their Kings in their
castles: K7i- K7h and K3a- 2b. 37IP6f serves as
a preparation for G5h-6g (a Fortress castle) or S6g.
Moreover, without this move, a future P7e by Gote
would expose the weakness of the King's head (7f). But
now that the gold can add his weight to the defence of
7f ( G5h-6g), the King's position on 8h becomes a
secure one. An alternative to 37iP6f was 37iP6f, 38iP4d;
but in that event neither Reclining Silver can move
forward, making it difficult for both sides to make
attacking move. A sennichite could easily arise.
Sennichite (draw by repetition) is the one drawback to
the game of Shogi. However, if both players are so
inclined it can be avoided – indeed, it ought to be.
38iP4d maintains the symmetry. Now development is

completed, so it is natural to think about attacking.
Sente accordingly brings out the Knight, 39iN3g.
Another possibility was 39iR4h. But after 40iG3b-4c;
41iN3g, 42iG5b-4b; 43iB*2f, 44iK3b; Gote has a strong
defensive set-up and Sente cannot make an attack. Then
the fact that he has dropped his Bishop already is
unquestionably to his disadvantage. For there is a great
difference in what a piece on the board and what a piece
in hand can do. Novices have a habit of dropping pieces
indiscriminately, but you must try and ensure that a drop
will be effective before you make it. Gote prepares for a
semeai (mating race) with 40iN7c.
In a symmetrical position, there is the danger of being

over-run if you adopt a defensive stance. If you have
great confidence in defending, it's different, but if you
don't also have some attack possibilities yourself, it
won't be a contest at all. Among novices this tendency is
especially noticeable. But it's better to put up a
spectacular resistance than to lose spinelessly, Sente
then plays 41iP4e, judging that now is his chance to
start the fight. In symmetrical positions, when your
opponent attacks first and you are forced on to the
defensive it is difficult to put up a fight. Nor will you
improve if you don't show courage and shy away from a
fight in a position that calls for it. Seizing the
opportunity to start a fight and not letting it slip is an
important technique to learn.
Moves from Fig.i3:
41i… 42iPx4e │47iP2d 48iPx2d

43iP7e 44iPx7e │49iRx2d 50iP*2c
45iP3e 46iS4d │51iR2h see Fig.i4:
Figure 4 – up to 51iR2h
Fine attacking tesuji – 43iP7e.

42iPx4e is natural, as 43iPx4d would spoil Gote's
defensive structure. 43iP7e! is a fine example of an
attacking tesuji. Neither 43INx4e or 43ISx4e turn out
well. If 43INx4e: 44ISx4e; 45ISx4e, 46IB*3g; 47IR2i,
48IB4f+; 49IS5f, 50I+Bx3f; Gote's Horse is very
powerful and Sente's attack has come unstuck. Or if
43ISx4e, 44IB*5e; is a strong counter. 'Aim for your
opponent's weak spot' is one of the fundamental
principles of attack. Gote's weak spot is the head of the
Knight. So with 43iP7e Sente follows this general
principle. That's why it's the best move.
44iPx7e leaves Gote open to a future P*7d by Sente,

but the alternatives are worse. If 44iS6c; 45iP3e,
46iPx3e; 47iNx4e, 48iS4d; 49iP2d, and Gote loses
quickly. The Silver on 5d is a vital piece to oppose the
Silver on 5f. Withdraw it and you naturally get pushed
back.
Or if 44iG6c; 45iPx7d, 46iGx7d; 47iB*4a, 48iB*6c;

49iBx6c+, 50iSx6c; 51iP3e, 52iPx3e; 53iNx4e, and
again Gote's position is in ruins. As yet Sente has no
Pawns in hand, so not to capture with 44iPx7e would be
cowardice on Gote's part. Cowardice is the worst sin in
the game. For this reason 44iPx7e is the right reply.
45iP3e is a skilful attacking tesuji to make Nx4e more

effective. If at once 45iNx4e, angling for an immediate
P*7d, then 46iSx4e; 47iSx4e, followed up by
48iB*3g; or 48iN*7d; or some such move. Its only
effect would be to facilitate Gote's counter-attack.
45IP3e! Is the key move in Sente's attacking sequence.
Make sure you remember it.
Gote's reply 46iS4d is forced. The tame 46iPx3e is met
by 47iNx4e, 48iSx4e (if 48iSx4e; 49iP2d, is bad for
Gote); 49iSx4e, 50iB*3g; 51iR2i, 52iB4f+; 53iS*3d
This is a semeai Sente will win. But 46iS4d is a good
defence. 47IPx3d? Is now met by 48iP*3f. So Sente
plays instead 47iP2d to get a Pawn in hand. Note that he
retreats the Rook to 2h. If he carelessly plays it back to
2i, 52iB*3h; gives Gote the advantage. Care is essential
at all times.
Moves from Fig.i4:
51i… 52iB*6 │57iN2e 58iL1d

53iP1e 54iPx1e │59iPx3d 60iP2d
55iP*1c 56iLx1c │see Fig.i5:
You can't afford to relax.

Gote clearly cannot allow 53iP*7d. He has various ways
of defending against it. However, of these 52iB*6c is
the best, 52iR8d is bad on account of 53iP*7d, 54iRx7d;
55iB*8c, 56iR8d; 57iB7b+. 52iS6c as previously stated
(see page 203 move 44 et. seq.) lets Sente push Gote
back witi either 53iNx4e or 53iSx4e. The Silver on 5d
must neutralise the Silver on 5f and can seldom be
moved away.
The most solid defensive move is 52iG6c. However,

after 53iP7d, 54iGx7d; 55iB*4a, 56iG8d; 57iSx4e,
58iS5dx4e; 59iNx4e, 60iS*5b; 61iBx3b+, 62iKx3b;
63iP*2d, 64iPx2d; 65iRx2d, followed by 67iRx3d Sente
is winning. In this variation 56iB*6c; instead of 56iG8d;
is met by 57iBx6c+, 58iSx6c; 59iSx4e, similar to the
line above. Or if 60iSx4e instead of 60iS*5b, 61iS*4c,
62iGx4c; 63iRx2c+, wins for Sente.
So 52iG6c is not the best defence. On the other hand,

52iB*6c, in addition to defending 7d and 4e, also
prepares an edge attack on the 9-file. Three birds with
one stone, you might say. So here 52iB*6c is the
strongest move for Gote.
Sente's 53iP1e is another fine attacking tesuji. In this

position he can't afford to ease up, eg: if 53iR2i, then,
54iP9e; 55iPx9e, 56iP*9g; 57iLx9g, 58iP*9f; 59iLx9f,
60iP8f; and the Lance on 9f is captured. This is exactly
what Gote was aiming for with 52iB*6c. Once you've
started an attack, until you've achieved some result with
it, you can't afford to relax as was stated earlier. This
point deserves to be stressed again.
Regrettably for him, Gote has to play 54iPx1e. He
cannot go for semeai with 54iP9e, because, after
55iPx1d, 56iP*1b; 57iPx9e, he only has one Pawn left
in hand so his edge attack doesn't work.
The drop 55iP*1c is the point of the edge attack. Now

the threat is 57iLx1e, destroying Gote on the 1-file, and
Gote's King on 2b would feel that very quickly. So Gote
must defend the file and play 56iLx1c.
57iN2e is the follow-up to 55iP*1c. The threat is

59iNx1c+, again destroying Gote's defences on the 1-
file. So 58iL1d, to avoid this, is natural. Thanks to the
fact that Gote has already dropped his Bishop, he cannot
find a strong enough counter-attack. That's what Sente is
trying to capitalise on. Moreover, the Knight on 3g
which was a target for Gote's counter-attack has neatly
moved a way with sente, and so 59iPx3d can be played
in perfect safety. Sente's attack is now really flowing.
60iP2d, attacking Sente's Knight, is Gote's only means

of defence. The tame 60iG5b-4c would allow 61iB*5a.
Play would be very one-sided then. Or if Gote tries for a
semeai with 60iP9e, after 61iP3c+, 62iNx3c; 63iB*1c,
64iK1b; 65iNx3c+, 66iSx3c; 67iB3e+, and Sente has
the much stronger attack. When you stand worse,
making a weak counter-attack only increases your
disadvantage. Having said that, giving up hope and just
playing out of desperation is even worse. The right
attitude is to put up the most stubborn resistance you
can, and the you'll have a good chance of retrieving the
situation.
Moves from Fig.i5:
61iN3c+ 62iNx3c │71iRx2c+ 72iKx2c

63iRx2d 64iG2c │73iBx4d+ 74iG4c
65iB*1a 66iK3b │75iSx4e 76iGx4d
67iPx3c+ 68iSx3c │77iSx4d see Fig.i6:
69iN*4d 70iSx4d │
Figure 6 – up to 77iSx4d
Don't be afraid to sacrifice your major pieces.
61iN3c+ is the key to the win. 61IP3c+?, 62iNx3c;
63iB*1c, 64iK2c; 65iNx3c+, 66iSx3c; would spell a
quick defeat for Sente, as his attack has dried up and
moreover his Bishop is trapped. Then instead of
recapturing the Knight, Sente plays another good move
63iRx2d !
63iPx3c+, 64iGx3c; would leave Sente without any

continuation.
Gote is forced to reply with 64iG2c. 64iP*2c lets Sente

capture the Lance with 65iRx1d, which would be
disastrous for him. 65iB*1a! is the idea behind
61iN3c+! To retreat the Rook now would make
61iN3c+ seem pointless. Gote can't capture the Bishop.
If 66iKx1a; then 65iRx2c+ wins. However, 66iK1c
must also be considered. Sente can't afford to move his
Rook away, so he would play 67iPx3c+. Then would
follow: 68iSx3c (if 68iKx2d; 69i+Px2c, 70iKx2c;
71iBx4d+, winning); 69iBx3c+, 70iGx3c; 71iR2a+,
threatening 71iN*2e, mate, giving Sente a winning
position. For Gote's King the left side is the danger
zone. He must try to reach safety on the right. So
66iK3b is the right reply. Sente's Rook and Bishop are
now working beautifully, and so after 67iPx3c+, re-
capturing the Knight, Sente's attack is in full flow. When
attacking moves come as easily as this it's a good sign
that victory is in sight. 68iSx3c is forced. If 68iGx3c;
69iR2b+, and it's all over. For Sente the good moves just
keep on coming: 69iN*4d. Gote must take it. If the King
moves, 71iRx2c would follow.
Sente answers 70iSx4d strongly with 71iRx2c+! If he

plays 71iRx4d, in an attempt to keep his Rook, 72iG4c;
puts him in a lot of trouble. Though it's bad to sacrifice
your major pieces recklessly, when, as here, the position
is critical, if you don't have the courage to go ahead and
sacrifice, you'll very often miss your chance of winning
the game.
73iBx4d+ threatens to mate with 75iG*3c. 74IG4c is

the only defence. The attempt to escape with the King
74iK3b, fails to 75iP*3d. The only way Gote can create
an escape route is by dislodging the Horse on 4d. Sente
would be doing just what Gote wanted if he moved his
Horse away. It's vital for him to be prepared to sacrifice
his Bishop yet again with 75iSx4e. Gote has no choice
but to take the Bishop, whereupon 77iSx4d once again
threatens the mate with 79iG*3c. In this position (see
Fig.i6), without any generals in hand, Gote has no
means of defence. Nor does he have any attack. So the
position is a win for Sente.
Spearing the Sparrow (Suzumezashi).
(Shogi 15, Kiriyama Kiyosumi, trans, John Fairbairn)
Revival.
Among the numerous different strategies in the Yagura
opening,12 the simplest and most popular is the one
known as 'Spearing the Sparrow' (suzemezashi). It refers
to a position in which the edge Pawn is pushed right up
against the opposing King and the Rook Pawn is
advanced just one square. A direct attack is then
mounted by concentrating the Rook, Bishop and Knight
on the edge file.
This is a revival of the old form. It is now being used

again by professionals. But there are differences
because modern Shogi advances day by day. The
differences between the old and new forms will be
highlighted.
The moves up to Fig.i1 are omitted. Sente has just

played P1e, pushing this Pawn right up the first file.
Let us satisfy ourselves that Gote does not have to
defend his edge Pawn because he had suitable
counterplay even if he allows 'spearing of the sparrow'.
12 An opening in which one player (or sometimes both) adopts the Yagura castle – see
pi75.
Figure 1 – up to P1e
Moves from Fig.i1:
1i… 2iS7c │5iL1g 6iK3a

3iN3g 4iB4b │7iR1h 8iK2b
2iS7c which aims at a bogin (Climbing Silver) counter-

attack is the latest trend in Spearing the Sparrow. In the
past this was replaced exclusively by 2iB6d (see Var. 1).
Variation 1 – up to 2iB6d
Moves from Var. 1:
3iN3g 4iK3a │ 11iP2e 12iS3c

5iL1g 6iK2b │ 13iK7i 14iP6d
7iR1h 8iS2d │ 15iP4f 16iS6c
9iB6h 10 B7c │ 17iS4g see Var. 2:
Variation 2 – up to 17iS4g
2iB6d was intended to restrain Sente but the result of

Var 2. is that Gote has ended up making a belated start.
The initiative to attack is Sente's and in preparation for a
later R3h he has P4e, Px4e; P3e. Sente can also
expect superiority if he attacks with P4e, Px4e;
Nx4e.
Returning now to the main line, Sente answers 2iS7c by
bringing out his Knight to 3g. This is the traditional way
of playing Spearing the Sparrow. Gote plays 4iB4b to
get his King into the Yagura castle.
Sente's 5iL1g is a positive tactic which flows from the

strategy adopted. 6iK3a and 7iR1h complete the
preparations for Spearing the Sparrow. Gote plays
8iK2b; he cannot start a strong fight until his King is
safely castled.
Moves from Fig.i1:
9iB4f 10iB6d │13iP6e 14iB5c

11iB5g 12iS8d │15iS6f see Fig.i2:
Figure 2 – up to 15iS6f
Restraining the Bogin.

Sente's 9iB4f is a good move. It is intended to restrain
Gote's bogin. Instead Sente could also venture an attack
with 9iN2e (see Var. 3) but Gote has B6d which
makes Sente's attack seem somewhat unreasonable.
Variation 3 – up to 9iN2e
In the 1978 10-Dan tournament Kato Hifumi (9-dan)

played just this way against Yonenaga Kunio (Sente).
Their game is given for reference. Moves from Var. 3:
9i… 10iS2d │21iBx1c+ 22iNx1c

11iNx1c+ 12iSx1c │23iP3e 24iB*3f
13iP1d 14iSx1d │25iP2e 26iBx2e
15iLx1d 16iLx1d │27iR1i 28iB6d
17iRx1d 18iL*1a │See Var. 4:
18iP*1c 20iLx1c │
Variation 4 – up to 28iB6d
After 10iS2d, Sente's 11iNx1c+ and the rest are already

joseki (standard sequence), probably well-known
enough not to need further explanation here.
If Gote cannot play 28iB6d he has to play 28iP3e, but

then Sente will get the advantage of putting his Lances
in tandem with L*2h, B3d; L*3h.
However, Gote can play 28iB6d, so this restriction does

not apply.
Moves from Var. 4:
29iR2i 30iN*3f │41iK8h 42iRx3d+

31iL*2f 32iNx4h+ │43iB*6a 44iR6b
33iLx2e 34iS*2h │45iBx4c+ 46iGx4c
35iRx2h 36iBx2h+ │47iG*2f 48i+R3i
37iK7i 38iNx2e │49iGx2e 50iB*6i
39iPx3d 40iR*3i │51iG6g-6h see Var. 5:
Variation 5 – up to 51iG6g-6h
Sente has been outplayed.

By way of brief explanation from Var. 4 onwards, it can
be said that Gote's harassing of Sente's Rook is vital.
For Sente to have to castle his King with K7i~ K8h
at such a 'busy' time, is painful but unavoidable.
Sente's 49iGx2e has a hisshi in mind but in the

breathing space given by the (earlier?) retreat of Sente's
King, Gote plays 50iB*6i which, after 48i+R3i,
threatens next Bx7h; Kx7h, G*7i; K8h, Gx8i;
K9g, P9e and mate follows.
Returning to the main line - Fig.i1:
If each player were to have a Bishop in hand, it would

be worse for Sente because he has many holes where the
Bishop could be dropped. At first sight, therefore,
offering to exchange off Bishops with 9iB4f seems a
loss, but Sente has to do something: if he attacks as
described above (Var. 5?) he loses, yet if he plays
aimlessly, with B6h then K7i~ K8h to castle his
King, he will meet Gote's bogin attack head-on.
Instead of 10iB6d for Gote, it appears that he can also
move onto the attack with L9c then R9b and S8d
but this takes too many moves. Sente's Spearing the
Sparrow will triumph first.
Having offered to exchange Bishops it is then best for

Sente to play 11iB5g, even though it loses a tempo.
After 12iS8d Sente's 13iP6e is critical for his counter-

attack. If he plays K7i instead, then after N-7c;
K8h, Gote gets an edge attack with P9e; Px9e,
Sx9e.
Sente's 15iS6f in response to 14iB5c brings us to Fig.i2:

Moves from Fig.i2:
15i… 16iP8f │ 23iN2e 24iS2d

17iPx8f 18iBx8f │ 25iB4f 26iN7c
19iP1d 20iPx1d │ See Fig.i3:
21iP*1c 22iLx1c │
Figure 3 – up to 26iN7c
The main attack in Spearing the Sparrow.

Gote's plan with 16iP8f and the rest is to exchange the
Pawn on the 8th file with the Bishop and free lines for
the Silver. If he tries an edge attack with P9e instead,
it does not work because of Px9e, Sx9e; B4f,
R9b; P*9c.
So for Sente this is a good chance. He attacks using the

main method in Spearing the Sparrow, ie: 19iP1d, the
dangling tesuji 21iP*1c, then 23iN2e.
Gote's defence against this edge attack is to bring the
Silver up to 2d, whereupon Sente 'peeps' with 25iB4f!
Gote's best move is to defend with 26iN7c. If he plays

S7c here, Sente will play Nx1c+, Sx1c; L*8h,
P*8e; P7e, Px7e; Lx1d, Sx1d; P*7d and
Gote's Rook is outflanked.
Moves from Fig.i3:
27iNx1c+ 28iSx1c │ 31iBx7c+ 32iSx7c

29iL*8h 30iB4b │ 33iLx8b+ see Fig.i4:
Figure 4 – up to 33iLx8b+
Sente can capture the Rook.

27iNx1c+ gives Sente a Lance in hand, so that he can
prepare a pin on 8h. This move – 29iL*8h is the
decisive move. Saving the Bishop with 30iB4b lets
Sente capture the Rook in return for his Bishop.
After Fig.i4 if Gote plays Sx8b, Sente invades with
R*8a and, later, if he can capture with Lx1d he will
have no cause to be dissatisfied.
A thing to note in this sequence is that the move L*1f

instead of 29iL*8h leads to the evaporation of all of
Sente's carefully established advantages: P4e; B3g,
B5c; Lx1d, Sx1d; Lx1d, P*1g; R3h, P3e.
Finally to summarise the Spearing the Sparrow opening:

first of all Sente keeps P2e in reserve and pushes
ahead on the first file to sound out Gote's response. If
Gote does not defend the edge, by all means take up
further positions there. Then the important point is to
construct the Spearing the Sparrow position before
castling.
After this Gote has some difficulty in finding the best

way to continue. If he peeps at ?B6d Sente can play the
traditional way, and if Gote plays S7c, Sente can
restrict his bogin with B4f, P6e and S6f. If Sente
can meanwhile grasp the opportunity to start an edge
attack he will probably be successful.
Vertical Rook on Pawn.
(Shogi 14,15,16,17, Hanamuri Motoji, trans. Fairbairn)
The Rook on Pawn attack (Tatefu Tori) is a relatively
new opening which enjoyed a wave of popularity in the
late 1960's. The essence of this attack, and the reason
for its name can be seen in Fig.i1 where both players
have given themselves an opportunity to play a Floating
Rook. Sente intends to shift his Rook one file to 3f and
put Gote's Pawn on 3d (once it is there) en prise.
But this opening differs from openings such as the

yagura in that it must be played by Sente and is possible
only if Gote plays a Static Rook, and to that extent, it is
passive.
This discussion will discuss both theory and actual

games.
Moves to Fig.i1:
1iP2f 2iP8d │ 5iG7h 6iG3b

3iP2e 4iP8e │ see Fig.i1:
Figure 1 – up to 6iG3b
First Stage: Static Rook.

If you intend to play the Rook on Pawn your first move
must be 1iP2f. Then Gote must comply by answering
symmetrically with 2iP8d and if he complies as far as
Fig.i1 you can reasonably expect it to lead to the Rook
on Pawn. Up to this point you have to be passive.
Moves from Fig.i1:
7iP2d 8iPx2d │ 11iR2f see Fig.i2:

9iRx2d 10iP*2c │
Figure 2 – up to 11iR2f
Opting for the Floating Rook.

Sente now has a Pawn in hand. This is an important
prerequisite for this opening. Whenever it is possible to
exchange Pawns you should do so, to use in tesuji
sequences.
Floating the Rook into the centre at 2f after the Rook's
Pawn has been exchanged is one of the first steps in the
Rook on Pawn. At first sight the stage is set for a mutual
Static Rook opening but from now on we shall assume
that Gote's answers allow Sente to play the Rook on
Pawn opening.
Moves from Fig.i2:
11i… 12iS6b
13iP9f 14iP1d see Fig.i3:
Pushing the edge Pawns.
Sente's 13iP9f is preparation for a later Twisting Rook
(ie: a Rook harassing the opponents Pawns by switching
back and forth across the 4th rank) and is an
indispensible move to allow for the possibility of B9g
at some point.
Gote's reply, 14iP1d, prepares for a similar Bishop

manoeuvre. In pushing the edge Pawns both players are
trying to sound the opponent out. Sente, for instance, is
also trying to get Gote to push P3d.
Moves from Fig.i3:
15iS3h 16iP9d │ 19iR3f see Fig.i4:

17iP1f 18iP3d │
The Rook on Pawn appears!

There are many pros and cons as far as pushing the edge
Pawns is concerned, but professionals feel that, in an
opening strategy involving probing moves, now is the
time to push.
15iS3h. With this move the Rook on Pawn opening
begins to take shape. 18iP3d is perhaps too
straightforward a response, but the alternative of 18iP6d
allows Sente to adopt the 'cat' variation of the Rook on
Pawn with 19iR3f (see Fig.iA)
Figure A – up to 19iR3f
18iP3d is therefore natural for Gote even though it

means he is complying with Sente's intentions.
19iR3f. This is the characteristic move of the Rook on
Pawn attack. Nevertheless, you must not assume that
you can capture the 3rd Pawn unconditionally.
Moves from Figi 4:
19i… 20iG3c │ 21iP7f see Fig.i5:
Figure 5 – up to 21iP7f
G3c.
Since 20iG3c is inevitably poor shape, consideration
must be given to the alternative 20 R8d. Then, however,
Gote would not be able to push his Rook's Pawn and his
development would be restricted.
The answer to this move, 21iP7f, distinguishes the

Hanamura variation of the Rook on Pawn. Here is
another way of playing where Sente keeps P7f in
reserve and brings his King up with: K4h, P6d;
B9g, S6c; P8f (see Fig.iB).
Figure B – up to P8f
This causes a fight immediately on the 8th file, but here

we shall deal only with the Hanamura variation.
If, after 21iP7f, Gote declines the exchange of Pawns on
the 8th file, Sente will bring up his Bishop on 7g and
then place his Silver on 8h. Even if the opening then
transposes back to a conventional Static Rook with
Sente's Rook returning to 2f, Sente has the advantage
simply because he has his 2nd file Pawn in hand.
Fighting spirit now demands that Gote should now play
P8f.
Incidentally, it was important earlier for Sente to play

17iP1f only if Gote first played 16iP9d, otherwise he
would have fallen a move behind, which is taboo in this
opening.
Moves from Fig.i5:
21i… 22iP8f │ 25iP7e see Fig.i6:

23iPx8f 24iRx8f │
The Target: P7e.

Gote after his initial frustration, can exchange off his
Rook's Pawn once Sente has played 21iP7f. Then, after
24iRx8f, Sente unleashes 25iP7e, one of the trickiest
moves in the Rook on Pawn opening. This move is the
real aim behind 19iR3f, because the Rook's
manoeuvring has brought it into a position where it is
defended by a Pawn.
If Gote exchanges the Rooks in Fig.i6 it would be bad

for him as there are several holes in his position where
Sente can drop a Rook (eg: from Fig.i6: Rx3f; Px3f,
G7b; P9e, Px9e; P*9b, Lx9b; R*9a,
R*8b; P*8d – see Fig.iC). If the Rooks are
exchanged, P9e~ P*9b is one of the tesujis Sente can
aim at in the Twisting Rook openings. Sente create
winning chances by aiming next at Lx9e. This attack
works only because Sente has two Pawns in hand. It is
always useful to have Pawns in hand: remember this.13
Editor's Note: Errors in in-hand P and the move sequence

up to in the original have been corrected.
13 Editors note: errors in in-hand P and the move sequence up to Fig.iC in the original
have been corrected.
Figure C – up to P*8d
Moves From Fig.iC: If Gote plays K4b, then follows

Lx9e, P*9c; Lx9c+, Lx9c; P9d, and the attack
on the 9th file snowballs.
Moves from Fig.i6:
25i… 26iR8b
27iN7g 28iP6d see Fig.i7:
Transposing to a Twisting Rook.

Going right back to 8b is the best move for Gote's Rook.
If Gote dislikes being so submissive and tries instead to
float his Rook on 8d, Sente can block him with N7g
then P*8e.
27iN7g triggers off transposition to a Twisting Rook
opening. Note that if Sente had not played 13iP9f,
Gote's P*8g would win Sente's Bishop.
Intuitively it seems bad to leave the 8th file open, but if

Gote plays P*8f, Sente defends with P*8e. For
Sente, keeping P*8e in reserve and playing B9g
may be good. At least, Masada (9-dan) has played this.
Moves from Fig.i7:
29iB9g 30iS6c See Fig.i8:
Figure 8 – up to 30iS6c
The Rook cannot promote.

29iB9g invites Gote's Rook to promote. Gote would like
to penetrate with his Rook but if he plays R8i+, Sente
brings back his Bishop to 8h, then follows: G7b;
R8f, P*8c; K5h, S6c; G6h, S4b; S7h (see
Fig.iD) and the Rook ends up being captured despite its
pains in promoting. Gote therefore has to defend with
30iS6c. Remember the proverb: “It doesn't pay to be too
smart.”.
Figure D – up to S7h
Moves from Fig.i8:
31iR8f 32iP*8d │ 33iK4h see Figi 9:
Figure 9 – up to 33iK4h
31iR8f, insisting on the exchange, is an awkward move

to deal with. Gote has no choice but to give way with
32iP*8d and block the 8th file which cost him so many
moves to open up. Having put Gote on the defensive
Sente must now take time to make his King safe with
33iK4h (recall the proverb: “Don't leave the King
sitting.”).
How does Gote play from Fig.i9? Several variations
have been tried by professionals. Here, by way of
illustration is a simple one:
Moves from Fig.i9:
33i… 34iS4b
35iP6f 36iK4a see Fig.i10:
Figure 10 – up to 36iK4a
Amateurs.
Only Sente has Pawns in hand (two in this case) and
since Gote also has bad shape with his Gold on 3c,
Sente would probably go on to win now if this were a
game between amateurs. Sente can shift his Rook to 7f
to test Gote's response, following which he may be able
to play the manoeuvre S6h~ S6g~ S5f. The later
continuations in both the Rook on Pawn and Twisting
Rook openings are difficult and have not attained the
status of josekis. Gote tends to avoid extreme fighting
and seeks to reinforce his defences – you don't fight
when you've got bad shape!
Moves from Fig.i10:
37iR7f 38iG7b │ 41iS6g 42iG4d

39iS6h 40iK3b │ 43iS5f 44iG5d
Even – see Fig.i11:
Figure 11 – up to 44iG5d
The advantage of a Pawn in hand.

It would be foolish of Gote to attack, instead of
defending with 38iG7b.
Sente calls out his Silver for the decisive clash. 37iR7f
makes the position similar to Ishida's variation and
bringing the Silver out via 6g to 5f seems to offer
good chances of success with P6e, but Gote defends
skilfully with 42iG4d and 44iG5d to maintain equality.
In 'olden days' players were taught never to bring the

Gold out in front of the Pawns and any Shogi player
who hasn't read this discussion probably doesn't know
about these Gold moves. If Gote doesn't know them the
game will favour Sente.
Alternative moves from Fig.i10:
37iR7f 38iG7b │ 41iS6g 42iK3a

39iS6h 40iG3b │ 43iS5f see Fig.iE:14
Figure E – up to 43iS5f
14 Editors Note: Moves incorrectly numbered in original – corrected.

There is always P6e.
Compare Fig.iE and Fig.i11. What is the difference? In
Fig.iE Sente has the opportunity to attack at any time
with P6e and since he can start his attack at the most
opportune time, this favours him. In Fig.i11 the G on
5d prevents this.
After Fig.iE, Gote is stumped for a move. Even if he

plays B3c, Sente will immediately push his Pawn to
6e and if then Px6e; P*6d, Sx6d; P7d, G6c;
Px7c+, Sx7c; P*6d (see Fig.iF). The key point is
that Sente, after sacrificing a Pawn with P6e, can drop
Pawns on 6d and harass the Silver. Sentes P7d is
identical to the manoeuvre in Ishida's attack and once
Sente can play this he has spectacular success.
Figure F15– up to P*6d
In Fig.iF Sente's Pawn on 6d cannot be captured.

Nevertheless G6b encounters P*7d which wins the
Silver. G7d is the only move, whereupon Sente
promotes with P6c+, and being able to gain a
promoted Pawn at no expense should ensure victory.
The correct response is to follow Fig.i11. After this the

moves depend on the players because there are no
josekis yet (1978) which are clearly better for Sente.
15 Editors Note: Incorrect number of in-hand pawns in original – corrected.

Figure 11 – up to 44iG5d
To give one hypothetical continuation from Fig.i11:

K3i, P4d; P4f, B3c; L9h, P2d; G6h, P2e
(see Fig.i12). Each side is probing for weaknesses in the
others defence.
That is as far as we can go. You should study the moves

given above and try them out in several games and form
your own conclusions. Even professionals are
experimenting with the Rook on Pawn opening.
The Rook on Pawn opening without P3d.
Returning to Fig.i3:
Moves from Fig.i3 were:
15iS3h 16iP9d │ 19iR3f

17iP1f 18iP3d │
From Fig.i3 Gote's 18iP3d prompted Sente to play

19iR3f. Thought has naturally been given to what
happens if Gote does not play 18iP3d. In a 10-dan final
between Nakahara (10-dan) and Kato (9-dan) it was
taken as a matter of course not to push this Pawn and in
fact this idea had been known for ten years or more (in
1978). By the same token, lines of the Rook on Pawn
without P3d had been known for more than a decade.
Because these lines appeared in title matches they
gained wide currency among amateurs.
Moves from Fig.i3 now are:
15iS3h 16iP9d │ 17iP1f 18iP6d
Up to 17iP1f Sente is exactly the same as before. Now

instead of 18iP3d Gote plays 18iP6d (see Fig.i3a).
Figure 3a – up to 18iP6d
Come what may, R3f.

Since Gote cannot exchange Pawns on the 8th file he
has to push some other Pawn. It is disadvantageous to
play now G5b, S4b or G7b because these moves
commit Gote to much. Considering that he has already
played 12iS6b, 18iP6d is the safest course. Now R3f
by Sente starts the so-called 'cat' variation of the Rook
on Pawn. The name perhaps comes from an association
of ideas: the Rook is a cat waiting to pounce on a mouse
( P3d) emerging from its hole.
Why R3f? The idea, an important one in the Rook on

Pawn opening and which must be remembered, is to be
able to play P7e after the exchange of Pawns on 8f.
Moves from Fig.i3a:
19iR3f 20iS6c │23iPx8f 24iRx8f

21iP7f 22iP8f │25iP7e see Fig.i3b:
Figure 3b – up to 25iP7e
If Gote exchanges on the 8th file, P7e.
After 24iRx8f, 25iP7e is a must and it is also the reason
behind 19iR3f. As mentioned above, it would be to
Sente's advantage if the Rooks were now exchanged.
Thus the Rook on Pawn opening is extremely easy to
play at the beginning. The problems come when you
have to decide whether or not the opponent will answer
Sente's 1iP2f with 2iP8d!
Let's look at the continuation of this (Nakahara-Kato)

game.
Moves from Fig.i3b:
25i… 26iR8b │ 29iB9g 30iK4a

27iN7g 28iS4b │ 31iK4h 32iP4d
See Fig.i3c:
Figure 3c up to 32iP4d
Gold on 6a.
Gote's 28iS4b and 30iK4a are similar to the variation of
the previous section (see Fig.iE pagei250), but here
there is the advantage of omitting one move to pull the
Gold back to 3c and another to bring it forward. Gote's
aim now is to revert to the normal pattern in which, after
32iP4d, he brings forward the Gold to 4c and pushes the
Pawn to 3d.
Both players ignore the 8th file and proceed to castle.

Of course, R8i+ is not on.
Moves from Fig.i3c:
33iP*8e 34iG4c │ 37iR7f 38iK3b

35iS6h 36iP3d │ 39iP6f see Fig.i3d:
Figure 3d – up to 39iP6f
The Rook on Pawn Ishida style.
As mentioned earlier, in Fig.iC (pagei240), Sente urges
the exchange of Rooks with R8f and the fact that
Gote has to submit to P*8d is clearly to Sente's
advantage. But Kato (9-dan) has said “If that is so, the
attack is not urgent.” and therefore the ideal strategy is
to build up pressure slowly with P*8d. Compare
Fig.i3d with Ishida's opening and you will see that Sente
has the extra advantage of a Pawn in hand.
However, because it is one Pawn, an early attack on P6e

and P6e (?) is not advisable. For players with an
attacking style this may not be to their liking.
Moves from Fig.i3d:
39i… 40iP4e │ 43iS5g 44iP2e

41iP5f 42iP2d │ see Fig.i3e:
Figure 3e – up to 44iP2e
Early attack is not possible.

Pushing not P5f but the neighbouring P6e would
start a sudden fight but, after Px6e; P*6d, S5b;
P7d, Px7d; Rx7d (see Fig.i3f), is not good for
Sente, though it might seem so at first glance. In Fig.i3g,
if Gote forces the exchange of Rooks with R7b Sente
is left with the defect that a Pawn can drop at the head
of his Knight, ie: on 7f. The reason that this is good for
Gote is that with his Gold still on 6a it can easily join in
any fighting on the 6th, 7th or 8th files.
Figure 3f – up to Rx7d
From Fig.i3d, if Sente maintains his wait-and-see policy
with S5g after P5f, Gote will do exactly what he did
in Fig.i12 and play P2d~ P2e to aim at Sente's weak
points on the 2nd file (see Fig.i3g).
Figure 3g – up to P2e
From the 4th game of the 10-dan tournament.
Fig.iI shows a position reached during the 4th game of
the 15th 10-dan final between Kato (9-dan, Sente) and
Nakahara (10-dan). In contrast to what has been said so
far, Sente has deferred P1f and Gote has deferred
P9d. The fact that Gote has not played P9d implies
that if the Rooks are exchanged Sente can aim at P9e.
But through the omission of P1f Sente is inevitably
behind in his developments. The omission leaves Gote
the favourable potential (aji) of B*2h.
Figure I – up to S6h
Moves from Fig.iI:
1i… 2iP4e │9iK3i 10iP2d

3iP5f 4iK3b │11iP6f 12iP2e
5iS5g 6iP5d │13iG6g 14iB3c
7iP1f 8iS5c │see Fig.iII:
Figure II – up to 14iB3c
Psychology.
Gote's 2iP4e opens the Bishop's diagonal. Many people
have played this coupled with G5d, but here Nakahara
varied with 6 P5d. This was not because G5d is bad,
but was no doubt a little bit of psychology on his part:
Kato would have studied this variation, but G5d is
perfectly possible.
For Gote, G7b instead of 14iB3c is too committal. It

is better to wait and see whether this Gold should be
used on the left or the right. Gote would like to get in
S4d to protect against P4f, but the 6th file is thin
(full of defects) and as soon as Gote plays S4d, Sente
will attack with P6e, Px6e; P*6d, Sx6d; P7d,
and Gote will lose.
14iB3c is a waiting move. It is waiting for Sente to start

the fight.
Moves from Fig.iII:
15iB7i 16iS3d │ 25iS4f 26iS3d

17iB6h 18iP3e │ 27iR7f 28iP*4e
19iR8f 20iP*8c │ 29iS5g 30iN3c
21iP4f 22iB2d │ 31iP*2g see Fig.iIII:
23iPx4e 24iSx4e │
Figure III – up to 31iP*2g

From the Rook on Pawn to the Mino Castle.
15iB7i and 17iB6h: this is a fairly unusual idea. Next
19iR8f, forcing Gote to use up his Pawn in hand,
followed by 21iP4f shows good timing.
25iS4f is good. If answered by Sx4f, Sente plays

Bx4f then P6e. Consequently, Gote's 26iS3d is
natural, whereupon Sente plays 27iR7f. This too is
somewhat unusual. Amateurs would be thinking here
only of attacking and would have in mind, not moves
like 27iR7f, but something like P3f. However,
creating complications on the 2nd or 3rd files would be
bad because it would lead to defects at the head of
Sente's own King.
The flow of play pauses after 31iP*2g. We are back now

to a Mino Castle opening.
As far as what happened after Fig.iIII, Nakahara

brought his King up to 2c. Sente, seeing that the 6th file
was thin, and having already returned his Rook to 7f,
once again manouevred his Bishop, this time back to 9g
via 7i and aimed at P6e. This was a good strategy.
Why don't you try it?
Wrong Diagonal Bishop.
(John Fairbairn, Shogi 23)
The regular Static Rook openings fall into four principal
classes. One of these, the 'Bishops Wild' group is
characterised by these opening moves:
1iP7f 2iP8d │9iS8h 10iBx7g+

3iP2f 4iP8e │11iSx7g 12iS2b
5iP2e 6iG3b │see Fig.i1:
7iB7g 8iP3d │
Figure 1 – up to 12iS2b
This is the forking point from which Sente can play the
Climbing Silver (see page 285), Reclining Silver, Right-
side King – or, by dropping his Bishop straightaway, the
Wrong Diagonal Bishop.
This opening, which is only for those with strong

stomachs is very rarely played nowadays (late 1970's),
although it turns up occasionally as a shock weapon. Its
heyday was in the 1950's, when it was a favourite of
Oyama and Tsukuda.
From the moves above Sente plays 13iB*4e to give the
Wrong Diagonal Bishop and then the standard moves
are:
13i… 14iS6b │ 17iB5f see Fig.i2:

15iBx3d 16iS3c │
Figure 2 – up to 17iB5f
This opening then branches into two lines according to
whether Sente decides to pull back his Bishop to the left
wing or right wing.
Left wing.
Sente plays 19iP6f to pull back his Bishop to 6g; then he
usually plays a Climbing Silver strategy with
S3h~ S2g~ S3f~ S3e to attack up the 2nd file.
Opposing Rook is also possible (see Shogi Openings –
Ranging Rook).
Right wing.
Sente plays 19iP4f, allowing his Bishop to go to 4g.
Then he can opt for a slow game by keeping a Static
Rook, or he can prepare for a quick game and
R8h: also an Opposing Rook strategy.
The opening described above is the high-class version;
there is a cruder way of getting into the Wrong Diagonal
Bishop, as follows:
1iP7f 2iP3d │ 7iBx3d 8iP8d

3iBx2b+ 4iSx2b │ 9iG7h 10iP8e
5iB*4e 6iG6a-5b │ 11iB5f
up to 11iB5f
This can clearly transpose into the first version, but
Gote can play 12iP8f now (then, eg: 15iG7g, 16iPx8g+;
17iP*8c, 18iR6b; 19iGx8g, following up later with
R8h).
up to 19iGx8g
But unless Sente drops his Bishop at once, Gote gets a
good chance to play Wrong Diagonal Bishop himself, as
in Naito vs. Oyama (1971):
1iP7f 2iP3d │ 9iS3h 10iBx7f

3iBx2b+ 4iSx2b │ 11iG7h 12iP4d
5iP2f 6iS3c │ 13iS7g 14iB4c
7iS8h 8iB*6e │
up to 14iB4c
The left-wing, with Opposing Rook to follow.

15iP3f
up to 15iP3f
15iP3f is important: if Gote is allowed P3e, the

Bishop on 4c becomes too powerful.
15i… 16iR2b │ 19iS6f 20iG6b
17iP4f 18iP2d │
up to 20iG6b
If instead 20iP2e; then: 21iPx2e, 22iP3e; 23iPx3e,

24iBx2e (if 24iRx2e: 25iS2g); 25iP*2c, 26iRx2c;
27iB*3f .
21iS4g 22iK6a │ 29iK7i 30iK8b
23iN3g 24iK7b │ 31iG5h 32iR4b
25iK6h 26iP9d │ 33iS5e
27iP9f 28iG4a-4b │
up to 33iS5e
33iS5e – aiming eventually at B*3a by tempting the

Pawn on 5c forward.
Here's the whole line for convenience:
1iP7f 2iP3d │ 19iS6f 20iG6b

3iBx2b+ 4iSx2b │ 21iS4g 22iK6a
5iP2f 6iS3c │ 23iN3g 24iK7b
7iS8h 8iB*6e │ 25iK6h 26iP9d
9iS3h 10iBx7f │ 27iP9f 28iG4a-4b
11iG7h 12iP4d │ 29iK7i 30iK8b
13iS7g 14iB4c │ 31iG5h 32iR4b
15iP3f 16iR2b │ 33iS5e
17iP4f 18iP2d │
This kind of Shogi is difficult for amateurs!

There is yet another line, introduced by Owaku (5-dan)
in 1937:
1iP7f 2iP3d │ 7iBx3c+ 8iGx3c

3iP2f 4iG3b │ 9iS8h 10iB*6e
5iP2e 6iB3c │
up to 10iB*6e
But this was predominantly in Gote's favour, so that

Sente began playing 9iS3h or 9iG3h to avoid it and
Gote then had to play Opposing Rook lines, discussion
of which does not belong here (see Shogi Openings –
Ranging Rook). But the complication of having to know
these lines does add difficulties for amateurs.
As mentioned, modern professional games with this

opening are rare – it is difficult for the pros too! The
example game in Shogi No. 23 is a beautiful game,
illustrating the right wing line – it was also the first
Wrong Diagonal Bishop game in the Meijin league
Climbing Silver – Part I.
(Shogi World 05)
The Climbing Silver is an opening strategy with a very
straightforward aim – to attack straight up the Rook's
file with the right-hand Silver, Pawn and Rook. It exists
in various forms, in a Static Rook version with the
Bishops on the board, as a Static Rook attack against the
Ranging Rook, as a variation of the Yagura, and as a
Bishop-exchange game, which is the one introduced
here.
A major aim in this strategy is to exchange the Rook-file

Pawn and the right-hand Silver.
The opening moves are:
1iP7f 2iP8d │ 3iP2f 4iP8e
Sente's first two moves serve to develop the two major

pieces. Gote's develop his Rook and at the same time
threaten to exchange Pawns on 8f.
5iP2e
This is a bigger threat than Gote's, simply because

Sente's Bishop is free. If Gote should play 6iP8f? Then
7iPx8f, 8iRx8f; 9iP2d, 10iPx2d; 11iP*2c wins the
Bishop.
5i… 6iG3b
Defending the Bishop's head. Now he really is

threatening P8f, so Sente has to defend.
7iB7g see Fig.i1:
Figure 1 – up to 7iB7g
7i… 8iP3d
To exchange the defender of 8f, which Sente defends in

its turn.
9iS8h
Here a move like P6f, closing the Bishop's diagonal

would be far too passive.
9i… 10iBx7g+
Gote must exchange, in order to prevent Sente's P2d.
11iSx7g 12iS2b see Fig.i2:
Gote's 12iS2b is essential, and indirectly defends 2d.
Sente cannot play P2d, Px2d; Rx2d because of
B*3e which attacks the Rook and the Pawn on 5g.
After P2d, Px2d; Rx2d, B*3e, in the note to

move 12, Rx3d would fork the Bishop and Gold (see
Fig.i2a).
Figure 2a – up to Rx3d
From Fig.i2 there are three possible ways of proceeding
for Sente:
1. S4h(3h)~ P4f~ S4g~ S5f – the Perching

Silver
2. S3h~ S2g as in the text
3. B*4e – the Wrong Diagonal Bishop (see
pagei272), a strategy which wins a Pawn in the
opening at the expense of a loss of time.
13iS3h 14iS6b
Gote intends to make a Perching Silver formation, with

the Silver on 5d.
15iG7h
A standard Static Rook move. It strengthens the King's

side against the enemy Rook, and defends against a
future pawn drop on 8h. As will be seen later, this kind
of Pawn drop can be very effective.
15i… 16iS3c
Now Gote must defend.
17iS2g see Fig.i3:
Figure 3 – up to 17iS2g
The Silver has started its climb.
17i… 18iG5b │ 21iS1e see Fig.i4:

19iS2f 20iK4b │
Figure 4 – up to 21iS1e – the basic position

In this variation the Climbing Silver meets with scarcely
any resistance.
21i… 22iP4d
Gote opens up a square for the right-hand Gold to move

to.
23iP2d 24 Px2d │ 27iRx2d

25iSx2d 26 Sx2d │
Sente has achieved his major aim. It might be thought

that because Sente has expended more moves on his
Silver than Gote, the exchange is unfavourable. But the
important point here is the exchange of an attacking
piece for a defender.
27i… 28iP*2c │ 29iR2h see Fig.i5:
Figure 5 – up to 29iR2h
29i… 30iG5b-4c │ 31iK6h

Getting the King to a safer position.
31i… 32iP5d see Fig.i6:
From Fig.i6 Gote has a winning attack. Look at his

pieces in hand.
33iP*2b! 34iGx2b
Of course Gote could reply N3c, and in a position
where N4e would then be effective, he would do so.
But here after P2a+ he would still be badly off.
35iB*6a see Fig.i7:
Figure 7 – up to 35iB*6a
Now Sente is threatening S*8c, killing the Rook, and

S*3a, K3a; Bx4c+.
This variation shows dramatically the power of the

Bishop, Pawn and Silver in hand.
The obvious counter to the Climbing Silver is not to
allow the Silver exchange, even if the exchange of
Pawns cannot be prevented. Here is one attempt:
From the basic position in Fig.i4:
Figure 4 – up to 21iS1e – the basic position

21i… 22iS2b │ 27iS1e 28iP4d
23iP2d 24iPx2d │ 29iS2f 30iG5b-4c
25iSx2d 26iP*2c │ see Fig.i8:
Figure 8 – up to 30iG5b-4c
Sente has managed to exchange Pawns, but at great

expense in moves (Sente's Silver has made seven moves
to the three by Gote's Silver). It used to be thought that
Gote had the advantage, but nowadays the Pawn in hand
is considered more important. Game results show that in
fact Sente has the better game.
Another variation:
This position is from a professional game (played in

1981). Gote has just played 20iS2b. The difference
between this and the basic position (Fig.i4) is that
Sente's left-hand Gold and Gote's right-hand Silver have
not moved.
21iP2d 22 Px2d │ 27iK6h 28iG5b-4c

23iSx2d 24 P*2c │ 29iG4i-5h 30iS6b
25iS1e 26 P4d │ 31iG7h
Each looks after his King's safety. But Sente's King is
much more secure than Gote's. If Gote tries to make a
Yagura with S3c, K3a and K2b, Sente will play
P*2d and force the exchange of the Silvers.
31i… 32iP6d
33iP6f 34iP4e see Fig.i10:
With the Vanguard Pawn on 4e Gote tries to get

compensation for his constricted position. If this Pawn
were on 6e, close to Sente's King, it would be effective.
35iK7i 36iS6c │ 37iG5h-6g
completing his Yagura.
37i… 38iN3c
With his Silver doomed to inactivity on 2b, Gote's best

bet would seem to be this Knight move, which supports
his Vanguard Pawn.
19iS2f see Fig.i11:
The Silver no longer needs to watch 2d, so it comes

back to where it can be useful.
Sente has a very good position. He will eventually bring

out his right-hand Knight and attack up the 3-file.
To play the Climbing Silver in this form you first have

to master the opening moves of the Bishop exchange up
to about move 13. After that the attack is fairly
straightforward, but you have to consider Gote's
counters. You will find out more about those, and the
counters to the counters later. Meanwhile try the
Climbing Silver in your games. You may find that it
suits your style of play.
Climbing Silver – Part II.
(Shogi World 06)
As outlined in Part I, the Climbing Silver is a strategy in
which the right-hand Silver advances straight up the
Rook's file with the immediate object of exchanging the
Rook file Pawn and the Silver.
In Part I we saw that if Gote allows the exchange or

exchanges unconditionally, he gets a bad game. On the
other hand the most obvious counter – pulling the Silver
on 3c back to 2b to avoid at least the exchange of
Silvers – leaves his game cramped.
In Part II we will consider what is Gote's most powerful

counter – B*5d.
First, here are the opening moves again (for fuller notes
on moves 1-7, see pagei285)
1iP7f 2iP8d │ 5iP2e 6iG3b

3iP2f 4iP8e │ 7iB7g see Fig.i1:
Figure 1 – up to 7iB7g
The theme is the exchange of Rook Pawns. Sente has

prevented P8f by the Bishop move. What should Gote
do?
7i… 8iP3d
He defends by attacking, threatening to exchange

Bishops and then play P8f.
Moves from Fig.i1:
9iS8h 10iBx7g+ │ 15iG7h 16iS3c

11iSx7g 12iS2b │ 17iS2g see Fig.i2:
13iS3h 14iS6b │
17iS2g is the characteristic move of the Climbing
Silver. In Part I, Gote next played G5b and K4b (see
pagei292). These moves are intended to strengthen the
left-hand side, but they have the effect of cutting off the
Rook's access to the left, and also of exposing the King
to possible checks. Nowadays the usual procedure is to
develop the right-hand Silver as in the next two moves:
17i… 18iP7d │ 19iS2f 20iS7c
Gote is aiming at S6d – the Speeding Silver.

21iS1e 22iB*5d
Figure 3 – up to 22iB*5d
The Bishop drop on 5d has two main aims. The first is

to put pressure on the Rook's head:
23iP2d 24iPx2d
25iSx2d 26iP*2g see Var. 1:
Variation 1 – up to 26iP*2g
Sente loses the Silver and the game. Notice that if

Gote's King were at 4b, Sente could exchange Silvers
with check and then move his Rook away.
The second aim comes to light if Sente decides to castle
his King instead of advancing up the 2-file:
23iK6h 24iS6d │ 27iPx7e 28iSx7e

25iK7i 26iP7e │ see Var. 2:
Variation 2 – up to 28iSx7e
Returning to the main line, Gote has a fierce attack
down the 8-file. You can see that 22iB*5d is both
offensive and defensive.
Moves from Fig.i3:
23iB*3h
This move was first played in 1955 by Masuda Kozo (8-

dan) against Oyama Yasuharu (Meijin). It was difficult
to discover because, although it looks purely defensive,
while the Bishop on 5d is, as we have seen, offensive as
well. It took Masuda's genius to see that it has attacking
possibilities.
The defensive function is obvious: if Sente goes ahead

now with P2d, after Sx2d Gote's Pawn drop on 2g is
prevented by the Bishop.
There are two possible counters by Gote here: S2b

and P4d.
(1) …, S2b
23i… 24iS2b │ 29iS1e 30iS6d

25iP2d 26iPx2d │ 31iP4f see Fig.i4:
27iSx2d 28iP*2c │
31iP4f unleashes the power of Sente's Bishop.
Figure 4 – up to 31iP4f
From position in Fig.i4: Gote cannot make much
progress on his right-hand side. Thus:
31i… 32iP7e │ 37iS2f 38iP4d

33iPx7e 34iSx7e │ 39iS2e see Var. 3:
35iP*7f 36iS6d │
(alternative: 36iSx7f; 37iSx7f, 38iBx7f; 39iS*6e

catching the Bishop)
Variation 3 – up to 39iS2e
Sente seems to have the better game.

(2) …, P4d
23i… 24iP4d
A fine move which increases the effect of the Bishop.
25iP2d 26iPx2d │ 29iRx2d 30iG3c!

27iSx2d 28iSx2d │ see Fig.i5:
Figure 5 – up to 30iG3c
The Gold attacks Sente's Rook while the Bishop guards

2a and Gote's Rook guards 2b. This was the point of
P4d, and the reason for keeping the 2nd rank clear.
31 R2h 32iP*2g │33iRx2g
If 33iBx2g, then 34iR2b; 35iS*3h, 36iP4e, and it will be

hard for Sente to develop his Bishop and Rook.
Returning to the main line:
33i… 34iBx2g+ │ 37iP*2h 38iG6b

35iBx2g 36iR2b │ see Fig.i6:
Opinions differ over the position in Fig.i6, suggesting
that chances are even. In practice Gote seems to have
the advantage. His Rook in hand is more than
compensation for being a Pawn down. From this point
the most likely continuation is 39iG3h, (to free the
Bishop) 40iK5b; 41iK5h
If instead of pulling the Rook back to 2h on move 31,
Sente plays 31iR2e, there follows:
31i… 32iS*2d │ 33iR2h
so, finally, R2h is forced, after all
33i… 34 R2b see Var. 4:
Variation 4 – up to 34 R2b
This variation is worse for Sente than Fig.i6.

Climbing Silver – Part III.
(Shogi World 07)
The Climbing Silver strategy considered here is one that
arises from the Bishop exchange variation of the Double
Static Rook.
The right-hand Silver goes straight up the Rooks file

with the object of exchanging Pawns, and if possible
Silvers. Generally if the Climbing Silver can succeed in
this object, he gets a good game. On the other hand, if
he does not succeed, his opponent's game will be better.
Part II looked at the opponent's most powerful counter.

B*5d, and Sente's reply, B*3h. Sente's Bishop drop
is based on the principle of 'opposing the Bishop with
the Bishop'. The first alternative we consider in Part III
is based on the idea of avoiding the enemy Bishop.
Here are the opening moves, for which fuller notes can
be found in Part I (see pagei285):
1iP7f 2iP8d │ 5iP2e 6iG3b

3iP2f 4iP8e │ 7iB7g
The characteristic move of the Bishop exchange.
7i… 8iP3d
Essential to defend his own Bishop's head.

9iS8h 10iBx7g+ │ 13iS3h
11iSx7g 12iS2b │
The Silver can go either to 4g and 5f as a Perching

Silver, or up the 2nd file as in the text
13i… 14iS6b │ 17iS2g see Fig.i1:

15iG7h 16iS3c │
Sente shows his hand in starting the climb of the Silver.

Instead of this move Aono Teruichi (8-dan), who often
plays the Climbing Silver, usually plays the waiting
move K6h. Then if Gote plays K4a/b, he plays
S2g.
17i… 18iP7d │ 21iS1e 22iB*5d

19iS2f 20iS7c │ see Fig.i2:
The Bishop exerts influence on both wings. On the one

hand it prevents an immediate exchange of Pawns on
2d, because it supports a drop on 2g, while on the other
hand it threatens an attack down the 7th file in co-
operation with the Silver and the Rook (see Part II,
pagei308).
Sente's next move was first played by Otomo Noburu

(8-dan):
23iR2f see Fig.i3:
Whereas the idea of B*3h is to oppose the Bishop

with the Bishop, R2f tries to get the Rook out of the
range of the Bishop. Then if the game proceeds without
incident, having a Bishop in hand should favour the
Climbing Silver.
Sente's shape looks awkward, as the Silver has no move,
but if Gote tries to take advantage of this with P1d,
Sente plays P2d and succeeds in his object of
exchanging Pawn and Silver.
If Gote plays passively, we have the following line:
23i… 24iS2b │27iB*6f

25iP2d 26iPx2d │
Putting pressure on Gote's Silver and Gold.
27i… 28iN3c │31iBx3c+ 32iGx3c

29iSx2d 30iP*2c │33iSx3c= 34iB*1e
The Bishop forks the Rook and the Silver.

35iR2h 36iBx3c │ 41iPx3f 42iS*4e
37iN*4f 38iB4e │ See Fig.i4:
39iG*3f 40iBx3f │
Figure 4 – up to 42iS*4e
In Fig.i4 it is not very clear who has the advantage. Of

course Otomo (8-dan) claims that Sente is better off, but
many other professionals have the opposite opinion.
While Sente has some pressure on the right flank, and
still has a Bishop in hand, he is slightly down in
material – Knight to Gold – and Gote's Bishop is strong.
From Fig.i3 the more active line is:
23i… 24iS4d
To attack the Rook.
25iP3f 26iG3c!
A strong move. The shape is bad, but it defends against

Sente's incursion.
27iP2d
Sente goes ahead with his original plan.
27i… 28iPx2d │ 29iSx2d 30iP*2e
Drawing the Rook forward.
31iRx2e 32iBx3f │ 35iSx3c=

33iR2f 34iBx4g+ │
Sente wants to exchange pieces and then promote the
Rook on the 2nd file, but Gote can stop the Rook before
capturing on 3c.
35i… 36iP*2e
37iR2g 38i+B3f see Fig.i5:
Figure 5 – up to 38i+B3f
39iSx4d+
Giving up the Rook to attack Gote's King.

39i… 40iBx2g │ 41i+Sx4c 42iR*2h
See Fig.i6:
Figure 6 – up to 42iR*2h
In Fig.i6 Gote is obviously winning. Sente's promoted

Silver on 4c is not enough to hold down Gote's King.
Figure 5 – up to 38i+B3f
From Fig.i5 Sente might try opposing the Rook against

the promoted Bishop:
39iR3g 40i+Bx3g │ 43iB*1h 44iK6b
41iNx3g 42iNx3c │ 45iP*2d see Fig.i7:
Figure 7 – up to 45iP*2d
From Fig.i7, there is the following:
45i… 46iP2f │ 47iP2c+ 48iS*2g
Gote is better off.

Now, returning to Fig.i2, we consider Sente's waiting
strategy G5h.
From Fig.i2:
23iG5h see Fig.i8:
Figure 8 – up to 23iG5h
The Gold moves over to protect the left flank against

Gote's expected attack. If Sente can withstand the attack,
his Bishop in hand should decide the game.
23i… 24iS6d │ 25iP6f 26iP1d
So that he does not have to worry about his left flank

27iS2f 28iP7e see Fig.i9:
The attack starts. Sente has two possible replies to this.

The first is simply taking the Pawn.
29iPx7e 30iSx7e │ 33iSx7f ` 34iBx7f

31iP*7f 32iSx7f │ 35iS*6e see Fig.i10:
From this position Gote's Bishop is lost. And the

following variation does not help Gote:
35i… 36iS*3i │ 43iKx4h 44iR*2h
37iR3h 38iBx5h+ │ 45iS*3h 46iRx2f+
39iRx5h 40iG*4h │ 47iP3f! See Var. 1:
41iRx4h 42iSx4h+ │
Variation 1 – 47iup to P3f
Sente threatens first of all B*3g. If Gote plays

+Rx3f, B*1h skewers the Rook on the Pawn at 6c.
Notice that Bx6c+ threatens mate in one.
If Gote plays 48i+Rx2e, B*4f followed by N3g is

good for Sente.
It was thought that the game from S*6e was good for
Sente, but then Nakahara (Meijin) came up with a new
move:
35i… 36iBx5h+ │ 41iR2h 42iN3c
37iRx5h 38iK4b │ see Fig.i11:
39iS7f 40iS4d │
Gote is better off.

Sente's best move from Fig.i9 is to defend his own

Pawn, rather than capture Gote's Pawn.
29iG5h-6g 30iPx7f │ 31iSx7f 32iP*7e
Gote cannot exchange his Rook file Pawn because of

B*9e, forking the Rook and the King.
33iS6e 34iSx6e │ 35iPx6e see Fig.i12:
Figure 12 – up to 35iPx6e
Gote still cannot exchange on 8f, so forces the

promotion of his Bishop:
35i… 36iS*3i │ 39iRx3i 40i+Bx2f

37iR3h 38iB2g+ │ 41iK6h
Getting the King out of the centre and away from the
Rook.
41i… 42i+B4d │ 43iS*6f
A solid defence. Dropping a Pawn on 7g to save a piece

would be bad shape, and also lose the chance of
dropping on 7d later.
43i… 44iK4b │ 47iS*8c see Fig.i13:

45iB*4f 46iR9b │
Figure 13 – up to 47iS*8c
Sente is winning.16
16 Editors Note: in the original text, R was missing in several diagrams, and a few
moves were incorrect in the text. This has been corrected,
Climbing Silver – Part IV.
(Shogi World 08)
Up to now, we have considered the kind of defence in
which the non-Climbing Silver side (mostly Gote, here),
allows the advance S1e. In this section what happens
if Gote prevents the immediate advance with P1d.
The opening moves from Part I (see pagei285):
1iP7f 2iP8d │ 11iSx7g 12iS2b

3iP2f 4iP8e │ 13iS3h 14iS6b
5iP2e 6iG3b │ 15iG7h 16iS3c
7iB7g 8iP3d │ 17iS2g 18iP6d
9iS8h 10iBx7g+ │ 19iS2f 20iP1d
Basic diagram – up to 20iP1d

Pushing the Pawn is a natural way of preventing the
Silver from advancing. Of course Sente does not give up
here, but pushes the 1-file Pawn himself too in
preparation for the attack.
21iP1f 22iS6c
A common place to develop the Silver in the Bishop-

exchange opening. If it advances further to 5c, it is a
Perching Silver.
23iK6h
Before breaking into the middle game Sente brings his

King to a somewhat safer place – away from the centre
and closer to his generals.
23i… 24iG5b see Fig.i1:
25iP1e 26iPx1e │ 27iSx1e!
This move is really quite ordinary, but for a novice, it

might be well to flag it with a ! The point is that
capturing the Pawn with the Lance would be bad:
27iLx1e? 28iP*1c see Var. 1:
Variation 1 – up to 28iP*1c
In this variation Sente's attack has stopped. His Lance

and Silver are in bad shape – if the Silver were at 1e and
the Lance anywhere between 1i and 1f, the shape would
be good.
Continuing from Fig.i1:
27i… 28iLx1e │ 29iLx1e 30iP*1c
See Fig.i2:
Figure 2 – up to 30iP*1c
Sente was threatening to promote the Lance on 1b or 1a.

That is now blocked, but with his three pieces in hand
he still has an attack against Gote's left flank.
31iP*1b!
A common tesuji in the middle game and endgame. The

Pawn threatens to promote and capture at least Gote's
Knight.
31i… 32iS2b
In order to take the Pawn when it promotes. A move like

S*2b would be far too passive, using a potential
attacking piece in the defence. After this, L*1i would
be good for Sente.
33iP1a+ 34iSx1a
Now the Silver is in a bad position and unsupported.
How does Sente take advantage of this?
35iL*8d 36iRx8d │ 37iB*6f see Fig.i3:
Figure 3 – up to 37iB*6f
Sente's Bishop is attacking the Rook and Silver at the

same time. If Gote runs away with R8b, Bx1a+ wins
for Sente.
This seems to be successful for Sente, but 'sauce for the
goose is sauce for the gander', and Gote strikes back:
37i… 38iL*2f
Sente has two possible replies:
One:
39iRx2f 40iB*4d │ 43iR*7a 44iR*6a

41iBx8d 42iBx2f │ see Var. 2:
Variation 2 – up to 44iR*6a
Sente has no attack. Notice that from Var. 2 Rx6a+,
Kx6a; R*4a, R*5a is an illegal perpetual check
(sennichite).
Two:
39iR5h 40iR8b
41iBx1a+ 42iG3a see Var. 3:
Variation 3 – up to 42iG3a
This variation again cannot be called successful for

Sente. Although he has promoted his Bishop, his Rook
is out of play, and Gote's Lance is putting pressure on
his right wing.
From the above we can see that it is not a good idea for
Sente to launch an attack from Fig.i1. In that case the
problem for Sente is to find some profitable waiting
moves to make before the attack.
Look at the following continuation:
25iG5h 26iP9d │ 29iG5h-6h 30iN7c

27iK7i 28iP7d │
Who is making more valuable moves in this sequence?

Sente's moves all contribute to the safety of the King.
On the other hand, while Gote's P9d may be said to
put pressure on Gote's King, it is negligible. Again,
though his P7d is necessary for the development of
the Knight, the Knight's move itself turns out to be
negative. Perhaps Gote could have thought around this
point of moving the King to the right – 6b and 7b.
Now Sente attacks:
31iP1e 32iPx1e │ 39iP1a+ 40iSx1a

33iSx1e 34iLx1e │ 41iL*8d 42iRx8d
35iLx1e 36iP*1c │ 43iB*6f see Var. 4:
37iP*1b 38iS2b │
Variation 4 – up to 43iB*6f
Sente is better off. Notice that the previous counter does
not work:
43i… 44iL*2f │ 47iBx8d 48iBx2f

45iRx2f 46iB*4d │ 49iBx7c+ see Fig.i8a:
and Sente has a won game.
Variation 4a – up to 49iBx7c+
“The sitting King is vulnerable.”.
Now, a couple of examples from professional games:

Example 1: From a game between Kiritani (4-dan) vs.
Kobori (8-dan)
A big difference between this example and the previous

variation is the position of Gote's King:
Figure 4 – Kiritani vs. Kobori17
31iP1e 32iPx1e │ 35iLx1e 36iP7e

33iSx1e 34iLx1e │ see Fig. 5:
17 Errors in the diagrams in the original have been corrected.

Instead of defending on 1c, Gote counterattacks on the

right wing. As usual, the attack starts with a Pawn
sacrifice:
37iPx7e 38iN6e see Fig.i6:

37iPx7e 38iN6e see Fig.i6:
Figure 6 – up to 38iN6e
Then follows:
39iS6f 40iS*7f │ 45iLx8a+ 46iPx8g+

41iB*7c 42iR8a │ see Fig.i7:
43iL*8d 44iP8f │
Figure 7 – up to 46iPx8g+
It is difficult to say who is ahead in this position.

Perhaps Gote's counterattack could be improved with
40iP8f before the Silver drop. Then, after:
41iPx8f 42iS*7f │ 43iB*7c 44iRx8f

see Fig. 8: │
Figure 8 – up to 44iRx8f
Gote's position is better than in Fig.i5.

Example 2: From a game between Shima (4-dan) and
Nakamura (4-dan).
Figure 7 – Shima vs. Nakamura
31iP1e 32iPx1e │ 35iLx1e 36iP*1f

33iSx1e 34iLx1e │ 37iP2d
Sente ignores Gote's counter, and presses on with his

attack.
If he defends after 37iP*1h, 38iS3e; 39iL1b+, 41iN3c;
Gote is better off (see Fig.i7a)
Figure 7a – up to 41iN3c
37i… 38iP1g+ │ 45iR2d 46iB3e

39iNx1g 40iB*3i │ 47iR1d 48iSx4g+
41iR2i 42iBx1g+ │ 49iR1b+ see Fig.i8:
43iPx2c+ 44iS*3h │
Figure 8 – up to 49iR1b+
Sente is winning, though remarkably Gote managed to

turn the tables.
In Part V we look at variations with Gote's right-hand

Silver at 7c.
Climbing Silver – Part V.
(Shogi World 09)
In Part V we look at how to use the Climbing Silver
against the Ranging Rook. The Climbing Silver is not
seen as often as it used to be against the the Ranging
Rook, but is still occasionally played by top
professionals.
The theme is just the same as in the Static Rook, that is,
to attack with the Silver and Rook down the right flank,
and exchange the Rook-file Pawn and Silver. The
difference is that the opponent's King is farther away, so
that the immediate target is the head of the Bishop.
Again, the main danger for the Climbing Silver is that
the action may move elsewhere and it may be left
stranded on the right flank.
Now, let's look at some examples of the Climbing Silver

in action against the Ranging Rook.
1iP7f 2iP3d │ 5iS4h

3iP2f 4iP4d
A typical Ranging Rook start.
Now is the time to move this Silver. The Rook-side

Silver is an attacking piece. From 4h it has various
choices of movement – after the relevant Pawns have
been moved, 5g, 4g, and 3g are all playable.
5i… 6iS3b │ 7iK6h 8iR4b
Gote plays the Fourth-file Rook. Here he could also

play R5b for a Central Rook.
9iK7h
Sente gets his King away from the battlefield.
9i… 10iK6b Gote follows suit.

11iP5f 12iK7b
13iP2e 14iB3c
The Bishop must defend here, though novices are apt to

defend with the Silver.
15iP5f 16iG5a-5b │ 19iP9f 20iP9d

17iG4i-5h 18iK8b │
The edge Pawn has an effect on the endgame
21iP1f 22iP1d
23iS6h 24iS7b see Fig.i1:
Gote completes his Mino castle S7b~ G6a~ G5b –

a very solid formation especially strong against attack
from the side. Sente's Boat Castle – S7i~ G6i~ G5h
– is less strong against flank attacks, but Sente's strategy
is to use his opening moves in attack, rather than
defence. This is the traditional way of playing for the
Static Rook.
25iS3g
The start of the Climbing Silver. Here Sente could play

S6h-5g or S4h-5g. S3g stakes the game on the
fate of the Climbing Silver.
25i… 26iP6d
Instead of defending against the Silver's advance, the

Ranging Rook prefers action on the other side of the
board.
27iS2f 28iP7d
But this seems to be a slack move. Waiting for the

opponent's attack, and then countering, is part of the
Ranging Rook's stock-in-trade, but P7d is overdoing
things. Perhaps P4e would be best here.
29iP3e
Sente presses on.
29i… 30iPx3e │ 31iSx3e see Fig.i2:
Figure 2 – up to 31iSx3e
31i… 32iP4e
The Pawn push is the usual technique of the Ranging

Rook, and here the only thing to do.
33iBx3c+
Novices are often afraid of exchanging Bishops, but

against the Ranging Rook this exchange is to be
welcomed. The point is that the Static Rook has more
chance of dropping his Bishop effectively in his
opponent's territory than the Ranging Rook.
33i… 34iSx3c │ 35iP2d
This is the best continuation.

The Pawn drop on 3d is tempting, but bad:
35iP*3d? 36iS2b │ 41iPx4f 42iRx4f

37iP2d 38iPx2d │ 43iP*4g see Var. 1:
39iSx2d 40iP4f! │
Variation 1 – up to 43iP*4g
In Var. 1 Gote has a winning game.

35i… 36iPx2d │ 39iRx2d 40iB*3c

37iSx2d 38iSx2d │
Gote counters with a Bishop drop, forking the Rook and

Lance.
41 Rx2a+ 42 Bx9i+ see Fig.i3:
Figure 3 – up to 42 Bx9i+
43iS*8h
The Silver drop is the usual reply here, and it imprisons
the promoted Bishop. In this sort of position the
promoted Bishop is very close to the King, so caution is
necessary.
43i… 44i+B9h │ 45iN*8f
Sente uses the captured Knight against the Pawn on 7d,

which is a weak point of the Mino castle. The Knight
also aims at 9d.
45i… 46iB*3c see Fig.i4:

Figure 4 – up to 46iB*3c
Sente has a winning game. As well as attacking the

Rook, the Bishop drop threatened S9i, killing Gote's
promoted Bishop. If Gote drops his Silver on 3b,
forking the Bishop and Rook, each takes the other's
Rook, and Gote is left with his Silver out of play.
The timing of the Ranging Rook's opening of the

Bishop's diagonal is important. Let's see what happens if
he pushes the Pawn earlier.
Figure 5 – up to 29 P3e
In Fig.i5 Sente has just playedi29 P3e:
29i… 30iP4e │ 35iP*3e 36iS4c

31iBx3c+ 32iSx3c │ see Fig.i6:
33iPx3d 34iSx3d │
Figure 6 – up to 36iS4c
Sente exchanges Bishops and Pawns, and then drives

back Gote's Silver. But the Climbing Silver itself seems
out of play. What should he do about it?
37iS3g
The answer is simple – bring the Silver back into play

via 3g. Next it can move to 3f, making a good shape to
put pressure on the 4-file Pawn.
37i… 38iB*3c
Gote has to drop the Bishop here to prevent Sente from

exchanging Pawns on 2d.
39iS7g see Fig.i7:
Sente defends with the Silver, and keeps his Bishop in

hand. Gote would like to move his left-hand Silver, but
P3d would force the Bishop off 3c, enabling Sente to
exchange on 2d. Sente is much better off.
Now, an example from a professional game played in
1987 between Habu Yoshiharu (Sente) and Ishikawa
Akio.
1iP2f 2iP3d │ 7iP5f 8iR4b

3iP7f 4iP4d │ 9iK6h 10iK6b
5iS4h 6iS3b │ 11iK7h 12iS7b
The Ranging Rook's order of moves is slightly different

from the previous example, but the aim is the same.
13iG4i-5h 14iK7a │ 17iS6h 18iG4a-5b

15iP3f 16iK8b │ 19iS6h-5g
A common development from the Boat castle. It usually

means the Static Rook is aiming at a fast game.
19i… 20iB3c │ 23iG6i-6h

21iP2e 22iP5d │
Sente strengthens his King's position before going for

the attack.
23i… 24iP9d
25iP9f 26iL1b see Fig.i8:
Figure 8 – up to 26iL1b
Moving this Lance up one square, or sometimes two, if

the edge Pawn has been moved , is a common technique
of the Ranging Rook. The idea is to move the Lance off
the enemy Bishop's diagonal, so that if the Bishop
promotes on 1a, it has to spend another move to capture
the Lance.
27iS3g
Habu picks the Climbing Silver.
27i… 28iS4c │ 29iS2f 30iR3b
This time the Ranging Rook prepares for the enemy

attack. Moving the Rook to the file that is under attack
is the usual thing to do. Don't imagine that a Fourth-file
Rook, for example, must always sit on the fourth file.
31iR3h
Sente brings another piece to bear on the 3-file.
31i… 32iB5a
The Bishop move uncovers the Rook's action, and

prepares to move to 6b, from where it will aim at
Sente's Silver.
33iP3e 34iB6b │ 39iS2f 40iP6d

35iP4f 36iPx3e │ 41iS3g see Fig.i9:
37iSx3e 38iP*3d │
As before, the Silver is pulled back to be developed on

3f.
41i… 42iP7d
P3e, to prevent the advance of Sente's Silver would be

met with P*3f. This dropping of a Pawn at the head of
a Pawn to advance one's pieces is an important tesuji.
43iS3f 44iG6c │ 49iR4h 50iR4b
45iP4e 46iN3c │ 51iN3g
47iPx4d 48iSx4d │
Each throws everything into the battle.
51i… 52iR4a │ 53iP*3b
Threatening to promote and draw the Rook from the

crucial 4-file.
53i… 54iP*4e │ 55iR2h
Gote has blocked the 4-file, so Sente turns his aim to the
weakened 2-file.
55i… 56iP4f
A sacrifice to get his pieces moving.
57iSx4f 58iS3e see Fig.i10:

Figure 10 – up to 58iS3e
59iS3fx3e 60iPx3e │ 61iR2f
To protect the head of the Knight.
61i… 62iP3f
Attacking the Knight and the Rook at the same time.
63iRx3f 64iS*2g
65iRx3c+ 66iRx4f see Fig.i11:
Gote has exchanged Silvers, but at the cost of dropping

one in a poor place, and he has still not managed to
promote his Rook.
67iS*4g
Naturally Sente does not allow Gote's Rook to promote.
67i… 68iR2f │ 69iP*4d

This Pawn prevents the Bishop from advancing easily,
and threatens to promote. It looks slow, but as the
proverb says “The Tokin is faster than you think.”.
69i… 70iS3f=
Gote promotes his Rook at any cost:
71iSx3f 72iR2h+ │ 73iN4e see Fig.i12:

Figure 12 – up to 73iN4e
Sente moves the threatened Knight out of danger and at

the same time advances on Gote's position. Sente has a
winning game.
The rest of this game is interesting but goes beyond the

scope of this article.
Next time you face the Ranging Rook, see if you can
play a Climbing Silver against it.
Bear-in-the-hole (Anaguma).
(Shogi 12,13,14,15, Nobuyuki Ouchi, trans. John Fairbairn)
Of the many castles the Anaguma is the most secure.
There are other solid castles such as the Yagura and
Mino, but none is safer than the Anaguma.
Shogi is an all-or-nothing game: whoever mates first

wins and that's it, so it is only natural to hide the King
away. Prudence takes priority and the King is whisked
away before the attack starts – this is the natural order
of things in every game and is one of the basic tenets of
Shogi theory.
That accepted, it is inevitable that a solid castle such as

the Anaguma should have been invented. The good
point about this castle is that the King is safe, and if
your King is safe you can attack without worry as
strongly as you like. If vigorous games are what you
enjoy, by all means learn the Anaguma.
How did the Anaguma come about?

Before discussing the theory, let's look briefly at the
history of the Anaguma.
In its early days it was regarded as a negative strategy

for the Ranging Rook Side, but further study led to its
general acceptance. In even earlier days the Ranging
Rook had been achieving a high winning percentage and
this was attributable to the use of the Mino castle by the
Ranging Rook Side. Strenuous efforts were made by the
Static Rook side to come up with a means of breaking
down the Mino and the result was an opening known as
the gyoku-tō-kuraidori or literally, the 'King's head
position taking' strategy. Kuraidori (position-taking)
refers to a manoeuvre in which Pawns are advanced to
the 5th rank and are backed up by generals. ('Vanguard
Pawn' seems an appropriate translation) There are, for
instance, 5th file and 8th file Vanguard Pawn attacks,
but the one we are concerned with here is in effect a
'King's side Vanguard Pawn' attack. And it proved to be
unexpectedly powerful. The Mino is strong against
attacks from the side but it is weak against a frontal
attack. The King's side Vanguard Pawn attack fully
exploited all the Mino's weak points.
Figure A
In Fig.iA Gote has taken a forward position on the 2nd

and 3rd files and is fully extended. In contrast Sente's
Mino position seems to be buckling inwards. Gote's
position here is known as the Gindachi Yagura (Silver-
standing Yagura) and is a typical position in the King's
side Vanguard Pawn attack. The Gindachi Yagura is just
as secure as the Mino in its own way and Gote can
accept the exchange of pieces (sabaki) with equanimity,
happy in the knowledge that when it comes to the
endgame he is ready to strike at the enemy King's head
with P2f. In short, the Mino met its antidote in the
Gindachi Yagura.
It was then up to the Ranging Rook side to find a

countermeasure to the Vanguard Pawn attack. The
urgent problem was to reduce, even by a fraction the
power of the Vanguard pawns. Someone evidently
thought, “Why not move the King away, back to the 1st
rank?”, and so the Anaguma was born.
Figure B
As can be seen from Fig.iB, where the Vanguard Pawns

are confronting the Anaguma, the Pawn phalanx does
not have such a direct effect as it does against the Mino.
In other words, the Anaguma is the counter to the
Vanguard Pawn attack.
Types of Anaguma.
Although we talk of the Anaguma, there are actually

several types. There is no room here to list them all, so
we shall give only the four commoner versions.
Figure C
Fig.iC is the most orthodox form. It employs three

generals and there are no spaces for the opponent to
drop in.
Figure D
Fig.iD – this version uses two generals and is not so

secure as Fig.iC, but it can be achieved more quickly
and leads to earlier fighting. It is often used against the
Silver-on-the-Horn lines of the Central Rook opening.
Figure E
Fig.iE shows a 'higher' position which can develop from

the Silver Crown castle. The advantage of this formation
is the tightness of the front wall.
Figure F
Fig.iF is a variation with the generals lined up side by

side. There are many other forms of the Anaguma but C
is the basic form and is the one which we will refer to
most frequently.
Vanguard Pawn vs. the Anaguma.
Figure 1
Now let's see how to play the Anaguma. Fig.i1 shows an

Anaguma for Sente whereas Gote has Vanguard Pawns.
This kind of position is frequently seen. It takes many
moves with lots of long and intricate variations to get to
Fig.i1 so we shall omit them. You need to know simply
that the Anaguma is one way of resisting the Vanguard
Pawn attack against the King's head. Apart from
anything else the Anaguma is all about the middle game
and the endgame – the actual opening poses few
problems. For this reason we shall be stressing the
middle and end game.
1iR4i 2iP2e │ 5iPx8f 6iP1e

3iP4e 4iP8f │ see Figi 2
Ouchi's 4th file attack.
There are numerous ways of playing from the Anaguma,
each depending on how the opponent moves. Here is a
favourite – the 4-file attack.
1iR4i is the first step in this attack. It aims next at 3iP4e.

For Gote 2iP2e is a natural move if he has adopted the
Vanguard Pawn attack, and then Sente's 3iP4e signals
the start of the middle game.
If Gote answers 3iP4e with 4iPx4e, there follows

5iSx4e, 6iSx4e; 7iRx4e, (see Var. 1), but these
exchanges favour the Anaguma side.
Variation 1 – up to 7iRx4e
The policy of the Static Rook side should be to restrict
exchanges and therefore Gote sacrifices with 4iP8f and
plays a waiting game with 6iP1e
7iPx4d 8iSx4d │ 11iP*5e 12iS4b

9iP*4e 10iS5c │ see Fig.i3:
Avoiding the Bishop exchange.

Gote, having acknowledged that a fight is about to
begin, has sacrificed a Pawn to give his Rook more
scope and then bided his time with 6iP1e. Gote's 8iSx4d
is now his correct response to 7iPx4d. Sente blocks
immediately with 9iP*4e. Such moves are perfectly
natural, as is Gote's decision to withdraw his Silver with
10iS5c. Replacing this with S5e gives the Anaguma
side a certain win with Sx5e, Px5e; S*4d. For the
Static Rook side the policy must be to avoid fighting as
much as possible. Also, 10iS5c invites the exchange of
Bishops. If this exchange takes place, the fact that Gote
has already sacrificed a Pawn at 8f will really pay off.
Sente, of course, has no intention of doing what Gote

wants him to do, and so dropping the Pawn at 5e denies
Gote the exchange of Bishops.
Instead of 11iP*5e, Sente might want to play the typical

Anaguma move 11iBx3c+ and if followed by 12iNx3c;
13iP4d, 14iSx4d; 15iB*7a, 16iR4b; 17iBx4d+,
18iGx4d; 19iS*5c, it is very good for Sente. But Gote
would actually not play this way. He would instead
answer 11iBx3c+ with 12iG3bx3c (see Var. 2) and then
Sente has no attack.
Variation 2 – up to 12iG3bx3c
In contrast to these variations, Gote's Rx8f (from

Fig.i3) would be very menacing.
13iP3f 14iPx3f │ 17iNx7g 18iB*7h

15iPx5d 16iBx7g+ │ see Fig.i4:
Figure 4 – up to 18iB*7h
Typical Anaguma move.

The last move in Fig.i3, 12iS4b, is a good precautionary
play and it makes Sente's next move somewhat difficult.
At first glance Px5d looks right but Gote has a tesuji
against this: Bx7g+; Nx7g, B*7h (see Var.i3).
Variation 3 – up to B*7h
Nevertheless Sente has to play Px5d somehow to

continue his attack and the sacrifice of the Pawn with
13iP3f prior to the Px5d is a typical Anaguma tactic.
Such a move would be quite inconceivable in the usual
Mino castles because it would then have a direct effect
on the King. With the King tucked away in the corner in
the Anaguma, this move is possible and displays
straightaway one of the strong points of this particular
castle. No matter how stormy the weather outside, the
bear sleeps peacefully in his lair.
The idea behind 13iP3f of course is to follow up with
the Pawn strike at 3e.
Then comes 15iPx5d. The exchange of Bishops

following this is natural then 18iB*7h, attacking the
Silver, is what Gote has been aiming at. But Sente
cannot let his Silver go, so how should he answer?
Figure 4 – up to 18iB*7h
Continuing from Figi 4:
19iS5e! 20iB5f+ │ 25iPx2f 26iRx8f

21iP4d 22iG4c-3c │ See Fig.i5:
23iB*6f 24iP2f │
Figure 5 – up to 26iRx8f18
19iS5e kills two birds with one stone: apart from

escaping from the Bishop it manages to move forward.
20iB5f+ keeps in pursuit. Instead of this, 20iB4e is
possible but Sente will capture with the Rook and this
18 Editor's Note: Extra Lance incorrectly shown at 1a in original. Corrected.

Rook-for-Bishop exchange is very welcome for the
Anaguma.
20iB5f+ threatens the Silver. 21iS4f in response to this

would be faint-hearted and poor; it allows Gote to
capture a vital Pawn with 22iGx5d. Accordingly, 21iP4d
is a skilful follow-up. 22iG4c-3c is forced. Replacing
this with 22i+Bx5e leads to Gote's ruin – 23iPx4c+,
24iS3dx4c; 25iB*7a (see Var. 4).
Variation 4 – up to 25iB*7a
Sente's attack in Var. 4 might continue (assuming

26iR5b) 27iG*5c or (assuming 26iR7b) 27iB5c+. Even
just being able to promote the Bishop on 3e would be
enough to give Sente a won game.
Thus 22iG4c-3c is inevitable, with the result that Sente

has been able to get two Pawns on vital squares inside
the opponent's camp, which is in ruins. Nice if you're on
the Anaguma side.
But the Silver is still en prise – hence Sente's 23iB*6f.
This move not only defends the Silver but also
indirectly aims at Gote's King.
Gote's counter-attack starts with 24iP2f and 26iRx8f.
27iP*3e 28iS2c │ 31iSx6f 32iR8i+

29iR4f 30i+Bx6f │ see Fig.i6:
Figure 6 – up to 32i+Bx6f
P*3e: the springboard for attack.

Gote sacrifices a Pawn at 2f then charges in to 8f with
the Rook. The idea of the Pawn sacrifice is that if, in
future he gets a Knight in hand, he can aim at P*2g;
Sx2g, N*3e. Accordingly, Sente follows the proverb
“Drop where your opponent wants to drop.” and strikes
with a Pawn at 3e. This does away with the threat of
N*3e.
Gote answers 27iP*3e with 28iS2c but 28iSx3e is

another response. However, this allows 29iP*3d! (see
Var. 5) and after 30iGx3d; 31iP4c+, 32iGx4c; (if
32iSx4c then 33iP5c+) 33iP*4d, 34iG4c-3c; 35iB7e,
forking the Rook and Silver.
Variation 5 – up to 29iP*3d!
Also, if 30i+Bx3d (in Var. 5), a Rook-and-Silver fork

again results from 31iP5c+, 32iSx5c; 33iB7e. Thus
28iS2c is regrettable but necessary.
But 27iP*3e is the springboard for a major attack. The
benefits of having sacrificed a Pawn on 3f now begin to
accrue.
29iR4f is the move Sente has been aiming at. If

30i+Bx4f, then 31iSx4f and after S4e Sente wins in
view of P3d~ P4c+. The full force of the Bishop on
6f will be displayed.
Consequently Gote has no option but to get rid of this

Bishop with 30i+Bx6f.
Sente answers with 31iSx6f and Gote's Rook promotes

on 8i.
33iB*5f 34i+Rx9i │ 37iPx3c+38iNx3c

35iP3d 36iP*4e │ 39iR4i see Fig.i7:
Figure 7 – up to 39iR4i
Good Point for a Bishop drop.

33iB*5f is a waiting move. It puts the promoted Rook
en prise and in addition, assuming 34i+Rx9i, gives the
promise of the severe attack 35iP3d, 36iSx3d; 37iP5c+,
38iSx5c; 39iBx3d, 40iGx3d; 41iP4c+ (see Var. 6). In
short, 5f is a good square for the Bishop drop.
Variation 6 – up to 41iP4c+19
Since Gote cannot countenance giving up his promoted

Rook as he has to allow it to be cleared away, although
it picks up a Lance on its way. However 35iP3d gives
Sente a big advantage.
Since 36iSx3d and the rest in Var. 6 loses for Gote he

cannot take the Pawn. Although 36iP*4e is bad it is the
best resistance; if 37iBx4e then 38iGx3d, or if 37iRx4e
19 Editor's Note: Only 4 in hand-pawns for Gote shown in original. Corrected.

then 38iSx3d. P*4e is the so-called Interposed Pawn
(chuai-no-fu) but in this case, because 37iPx3c+ checks
as well as capturing the Gold, Gote cannot get a good
result.
With 37iPx3c+ Sente gains a Gold for a Lance, which is

clearly in his favour. In the Anaguma, owing to the solid
position of the King, Sente can withstand some loss of
material. But now that he has gained material...
Once Sente has won material all he has to do is aim at a

decisive end-game. He therefore offers the exchange of
Rooks with 39iR4i, and once he has a Rook in hand it
goes without saying that R*8b will lead to an early
endgame.
Figure 7 – up to 39iR4i
39i… 40i+Rx4i │ 45iP4c+ 46iGx4c

41iGx4i 42iR*6i │ 47iR*8b see Fig.i8:
43iP5c+ 44iSx5c │
Figure 8 – up to 47iR*8b
Speed is of the essence.

It is painful for Gote to have to exchange Rooks here
with 40i+Rx4i. But if he avoids the exchange with
40 +R9h, Sente can inevitably attack with 41iP5c+,
42iSx5c; 43iG*4c (see Var. 7).
Now, 42iR*6i. This forks the Gold and Silver. However,

this does not mean Sente overlooked this move. He is in
fact ready for it and has a counter prepared.
First he plays the promotion sacrifice 43iP5c+. As soon
as Gote's Silver takes this with 44iSx5c he makes
another 45iP4c+. This time Sente's Gold captures:
46iGx4c. Since Sente has thus stripped the King of his
defences he can now invade with his prepared Rook
drop at 8b, which is check.
In the Anaguma, as soon as you sense a mate. Don't

hesitate. Speed is of the essence.
Variation 7 – up to 43iG*4c
Figure 8 – up to 47iR*8b
Let's assess the situation after Sente's invasion at 8b.

Sente is still ahead in material: Gold for Lance. As for
the solidness of the King's positions, a 'bear-in-the-hole'
is obviously better placed, and here too, Sente has the
advantage. Since 47iR8b is check, Sente has the
initiative (sente) which is yet another point in his favour.
47i… 48iB*3b │ 51iN*3e 52iRx5f

49iRx8a+ 50iRx6f+ │ see Fig.i9:
No checks.
Interposing 48iB*3b against 47iR*8b is not particularly
desirable but Gote can afford to be patient because he is
still forking a Gold and a Silver. 48iS4b would be
countered by 49iP*4d, 50iGx4d; 51iRx4b, and 48iG4b
suffers from the painful drop 49iP*5d. Furthermore,
pulling back the other Silver to 3b does not work:
49iP*3d, 50iGx3d; 51iG*4c. If Gote answers 49iP*3d
with 50iRx6f+, he loses after 51iPx3c+, 52iGx3c;
53iN*2e (see Var. 8).
Variation 8 – up to 53iN*2e
Sente quietly answers 48iB*3b with 49iRx8a+, winning

a Knight. This Knight in hand allows the following
move, 51iN*3e, with a beautiful fork. But Gote also
wins material by capturing the Silver with 50iRx6f+.
50iRx4i+ is inferior because it leaves none of Sente's
pieces en prise, which would mean that Sente could
attack in comfort. Since 50iRx6f+ leaves the Bishop en
prise Sente's attack has to produce results fast.
Nevertheless Sente ignores the threat on his Bishop and

drops the Knight, the move he has been aiming at.
Normally the successive loss of a Silver and Bishop
would be disastrous; but this is the Anaguma. Whatever
pieces he might lose, Sente's King is safely tucked away
and will not feel a tremor.
53iNx2c+ 54iKx2c
55i+Rx1a 56iK3d see Fig.i10:
Figure 10 – up to 56iK3d
Beware the entering King.

We are now on the threshold of the endgame. In Fig.i9
Sente had just had his Bishop taken but counters this
with the promotion check 53iNx2c+. It is difficult to say
where the Knight should capture – 2c or 4c – but the
general principle in the endgame is always to capture
the piece nearest the enemy King; which is why Sente
chooses 53iNx2c+ here.
Gote's answer is 54iKx2c. If, instead of this, he plays

54iBx2c, he is stumped by 55i+Rx1a, 56iKx1a;
57iS*1c, 58iR*8b; 59iL*2d (see Var. 9). Answering
55i+Rx1a with 56iK3b loses to 57iL*2d.
Variation 9 – up to 59iL*2d
Gote's 54iKx2c, escaping towards the centre, has an

eye, if the circumstances permit, on an “Entering King”
(Nyugyoku). It is possible in the endgame to chase a
King too hard and to end up with the opponent's King
inside one's own camp; so this is something to watch
for.
Sente keeps the pressure up with 55i+Rx1a. What he is

aiming at is preventing the entering King with S*3e.
Since S*3e would mean that Gote's King is
sandwiched in, Gote has to keep running with 56iK3d.
He is getting close to the entering King.
57i+R2b 58iS*2a │ 61i+Rx2e see Fig.i11:

59 iS*2e 60iNx2e │
Figure 11 – up to 61i+Rx2e
Tying the King up.

57i+R2b attacks the Bishop. Gote defends it with the
Silver drop, simultaneously attacking the promoted
Rook. His aim is to seize the initiative (sente), which is
crucial in the endgame. Instead of 58iS*2a, 58iB1d
looks possible, but the answer to this is mate: 59iP*5g,
60i+Rx7f; 61iS*5e, 62iP*5d; 63iG*2d, 64iK3e;
65iGx1d, 66iPx5e; 67i+R2d, 68iK4f; 69iB*3e (see
Var.i10).
Variation 10 – up to 69iB3e
So 58iS*2a attacks the promoted Rook. But instead of

retreating Sente piles on the pressure with 59iS*2e. It is
the endgame and so he cannot afford to relax for even
one move.
The alternative to 60iNx2e is 60iK4d, but Sente wins

then with 61i+R2d, 62iK5e; 63iP*5g, 64i+Rx7f;
65iG*4g, then mate. In this sequence if Gote answers
63iP*5g with 64i+Rx5g he will be skewered with
L*5i.
By inviting 60iNx2e, Sente gets in the check of

61i+Rx2e in good order: The attacked promoted Rook
has bounced straight back to to attack the King. The
King is about to be tied up.
61i… 62iK4d │ 67iG*3e 68iK3c

63iN*4h 64i+Rx7f │ see Fig.i12:
65iL*5f 66iP*5e │
Figure 12 – up to 68iK3c
63iN*4h: The decisive move.
62iK4d renews the attempt to get an entering King. The
alternative of 62iK3c allows 63iP*3d and after 64iGx3d
comes the drop 65iL*3e (see Var. 11).
Variation 11 – up to 65iL*3e
After 62iK4d there appears to be no continuation for

Sente but 63iN*4h is decisive. There is no move to
attack the King directly but attacking the promoted
Rook puts pressure on the King indirectly. At one blow
it also prevents the “entering King”.
64i+Rx7f is forced. Then 65iL*5f cuts off more of the
King's escape routes. This move is aiming next at
67i+R2d, 68iG3d; 69iG*3e. Consequently 66iP*5e is
the only move to block off the effect of the Lance.
However Sente still has 67iG*3e and defeat is already
staring Gote in the face. After this 68iK5d loses to
Gx4e (mate!) so that 68iK3c is forced. But the King
has no way out.
The combination of 63iN*4h and 65iL*5f stops the

entering King marvellously. Because Sente's own King
is not exposed to check he can do almost what he likes
( N*2g is check, but Gx2g puts paid to that).
Figure 12 – up to …, K3c
69iP*4d 70iPx5f │ 73i+R2d 74iK4b

71iNx3f 72i+Rx7g │ 75iPx4c+ see Fig.i13:
A certain win for Gote follows.

Figure 13 – up to 75iPx4c+
A relentless endgame.
Sente has been able to drive Gote's King back to his
own camp; now the rest is easy.
69iP*4d hits the first vital point. Gote cannot take this
Pawn; if he does (…, 70iSx4d) his King is suffocated by
71i+R2d, 72iK4b; 73iGx4d, 74iGx4d; 75i+Rx4d (see
Var. 12). But this Pawn cannot be captured it is the end
anyway …, 70iPx5f is just a way of giving up...
Variation 12 – up to 75i+R4d
71iNx3f brings up the reinforcements relentlessly. Since

Px4c+ is possible at any time, there is no need to rush
it. The technique of relentless reinforcement
exemplified by 71iNx3f is something which should be
learned.
Having already lost the means of defending, Gote

ploughs on with 72i+Rx7g but still Sente can take his
time because his 'bear' is in his lair.
74iK4b. The answer to this is of course 75iPx4c+, check
and winning a Gold. Now even a strong player could
not win as Gote. The solidity of the Anaguma is patent.
The coup de grâce from Fig 13:
75i… 76iKx4c │ 83i+R4b 84iG*5b

77iG4d 78iK5b │ 85iS*5c 86iK7b
79iGx5c 80iKx5c │ 87i+Rx5b 88iK8c
81i+R4d 82iK6b │ 89iG*8e see Var. 13
Variation 13 – up to 89iG*8e
If 84iN*5b, then 85iS*8c is hisshi.

Summary.
As we have seen, the secure position of an anaguma
King allows that side to attack ferociously, and a special
feature is the way that Sente (in our examples) could
relentlessly pursue the endgame once saw the chance.
Had the King not been so secure, Sente could not have
attacked in anything like the same degree of comfort.
You should now appreciate the importance of castling
your King.
To sum up, the most valuable point to learn is: to

surround your King with three generals before mounting
an attack. Do not attack in the Anaguma before the King
is castled. Once the King is safe, however, you can
switch to attack. The attack from 39 R4i to ? P4e is one
you can learn. Many other attacks do exist but this one
is particularly strong in the Anaguma opening.
In addition to learning to appreciate the value of the

'bear in the hole' you should study the tesujis of N*4h
and P*3f~ P*3e by which Sente prevented the
Entering King. Do this and your winning percentage
will shoot up!
(Incomplete!) Glossary of Shogi Terms.
I have shown the Romanised form (Rōmaji), (in a few

cases, the kanji) and the commonly-used Western term –
literal meanings are usually not given.
Shogi Pieces
In this case, the kanji are shown also.
Sente (先手) Black

Gote (後手) White
Gyoku (玉將) Black King
O (王將) White King
Hi (飛車) Rook
Ryu (龍王) Dragon (promoted Rook)
Kaku (角行) Bishop
Uma (龍馬) Horse (promoted Bishop)
Kin (金將) Gold
Gin (銀將) Silver
Narigin (成銀) Promoted Silver
Kei (桂馬) Knight
Narikei (成桂) Promoted Knight
Kyō (香車) Lance
Narikyō (成香) Promoted Lance
Fu (歩兵) Pawn
Tokin (と金) Promoted Pawn
Piece quality
In ascending order:
kaki-goma kanji are painted directly onto the

surface of the piece, usually with
lacquer
hori-goma kanji are inscribed into the pieces
and lacquer is applied
hiriume-goma kanji are inscribed into the pieces
and lacquer is applied until it is flush
with the surface of the piece
moriage-goma kanji are inscribed into the pieces
and lacquer is applied until it stands
proud of the surface of the piece
Shogi Openings and Attacks (joseki)

Note that the same term is sometimes used to describe
both an opening strategy (joseki) and a castle (gakoi).
Ibisha Static Rook

Aiibisha Double Static Rook
Furibisha Ranging Rook
Aifuribisha Double Ranging Rook
Yagura Fortress
Sō yagura Complete Fortress
Kata yagura Incomplete/Half Fortress
Aiyagura Double Fortress
Shikenbisha 4th file Rook
Ai/Sankenbisha Double/3rd file Rook
Nakabisha Central Rook
Mukaibisha Opposing Rook
Hineribisha Twisting Rook
Chikatetsubisha Subway Rook
Tatefu Rook on Pawn
Bōgin Climbing Silver
Bōkin Climbing Gold
Aigakari (Double) Wing attack
Kakugawari Bishop exchange opening
Kakutōfu Bishop's Head Pawn, a.k.a.
Kakutōfuzuki Bishop's Head Pawn Push
Sujichigai-Kaku (primitive) Parallel Bishop
ai/Yokofudori Double/Side Pawn(capture)
Ukibisha Floating Rook
Sodebisha Sleeve Rook or Sidestepped Rook or
Sideways Rook or Right 3rd file
Rook
Suzumezashi Spearing the Sparrow
Koshikakegin Reclining Silver
Tsuno gin Horn Silver (Central Rook)
Gatchangin Clanging Silvers
Shogi Castles
Gakoi Castle – generic term
Yagura Fortress
Gangi Snow Roof Fortress
Ginyagura Silver Fortress
Kinyagura Gold Fortress
Anaguma Bear in the hole
Minogakoi Mino
Taka mino High Mino
Gin kanmuri Silver Crown
Kata mino Incomplete Mino
Funagakoi Boat
Hayagakoi Quick Yagura
Edo Quick Castle/Wall Castle
Kanigakoi Crab
Kinmusou Gold Excelsior which is the same as:
Nimaikin Twin Gold
Hishigakoi Lozenge Castle
Handicap Shogi (common handicaps only)

hirate even game
kyō ochi left Lance
kaku ochi Bishop
hi-kyō ochi Rook, left Lance
ni-mai ochi 2-piece; Rook, Bishop, right Lance
san-mai ochi 3-piece; Rook, Bishop
yon-mai ochi 4-piece; Rook, Bishop, both Lances
go-mai ochi 5-piece; Rook, Bishop, both Lances,
one Knight (usually right)
roku-mai ochi 6-piece; Rook, Bishop, both Lances,
both Knights
nana-mai ochi 7-piece; Rook, Bishop, both Lances,
both Knights, left Silver
hachi-mai ochi 8-piece; Rook, Bishop, both Lances,
both Knights, both Silvers
General Shogi Terms
Aji potential
ajikeshi erasure/loss of potential
akukei bad shape
atsumi thickness
boyomi countdown of time
shogi-ban the Shogi board
fugire with no Pawns in hand
furigoma Pawn-tossing (ritual to decide who
plays Sente; one player throws five
pawns and if a majority of five land
face up, he is Sente)
hisshi brinkmate problems
hoshi the four circular dots which divide
the board into 'camps'. Sometimes
known as 'the four stars'
igyoku sitting King
jishogi game deadlocked by impasse (ie:
both Kings have entered the enemy
camp and cannot be mated), leading
to a piece count to decide the winner
joseki established principles of Shogi,
'standard' opening sequences
kakugen Shogi proverbs
kakukokan Bishop swap or exchange
karanari empty promotion, ie: promoting
without a capture
katachizukuri making one's position look as good
as possible before resigning
kifuzu 'thorn-in-the-flesh' Pawn
kokei/ryoku good shape
koma the Shogi pieces
komada side table for the storing of captured
('in-hand') pieces
komafukuro piece bag
komahako piece box
kuraidori Vanguard Pawn
kuzushi castle-destroying techniques
narisute promotion sacrifice
nifu having two unpromoted Pawns on
the same file (which is illegal)
nimaigae exchanging one piece for two pieces
nozoki peeping (Bishop)
nyugyoku entering King(s)
nyūjō the process of castling
ougyoku Two Kings mating problem
okiritesuji shepherding finesse
onigorosho demon slayer
otebisha Rook-and-King fork
sabaki development resulting from
exchange of pieces
semeai mutual attack: attacking race
sennichite endless repetition
shitate the junior (less experienced) player
in handicap games. (a.k.a. Sente)
shōgi Shogi, General's chess
sujichigai-Kaku wrong-diagonal Bishop
tanegoma seed piece
tarashi/tarefu the act of dangling a Pawn; tarefu is
the dangled Pawn
tataki striking Pawn
teikijin promotion zone
tesuji sequence of 'clever' moves
tonshi sudden death by checkmate while
pursuing checkmate yourself
tsume-shogi mating problems
uwake the senior (more experienced) player
in handicap games. (a.k.a. Gote)
yoseai a position from which a final kill can
be administered
Computer Shogi.
Shogidokoro.
There are quite a few Shogi programs around. For the
English speaker, the best free one (in my opinion) is
Shogidokoro.
Shogidokoro is not itself a Shogi program, but rather a

scaffolding/interface which allows the incorporation of
Shogi game playing engines, the playing and recording
of games20, and the display of the board and game
statistics. You can even choose your own style of
calligraphy on the pieces!21 Users can play against the
computer, against another human player, or set the
program to play against itself using the engine(s) loaded
into the program. The program has the facility to play
using time limits (boyomi), and you can also set up and
solve tsumeshogi problems. It is also possible to set up
and play handicap games.
The following page shows a screenshot showing what

the Shogidokoro program looks like in action.
You can see the board and the komada at the side with
the in-hand (captured) pieces displayed. It is also
possible to see the time taken for both Black and White
moves, and that it is Gote's (White) turn to move next.
20 Games can be saved using different formats, including ones which use simplified
kanji for recording the moves.
21 Including pieces with single kanji, red promoted pieces, and 'Westernised' pieces.
The game record is in the centre, and to the right of this
is an area for making notes to be saved with the game.
The remainder of the display is given over to the display
of various statistics, search trees, etc. This display is
typical of a modern Shogi program.
Shogidokoro can load previously saved games, and

using the tape-recorder style buttons on the display,
( ) it is possible to play through the games
on either a single-move or continuous basis.
The Shogidokoro program numbers moves individually.

This is why in this document, I have usually numbered
moves in this way – to facilitate the easy and
unambiguous playing through of game situations using
the program.
Shogidokoro is downloadable from the following
website:
http://shogidokoro.starfree.jp/download.html
The site may appear in Japanese or English (depending

on how your browser is configured). The download link
is the 3rd from the top of the page ( ダウンロード in
Japanese).
Shogidokoro comes with one engine – Lesserkai – this

will need to be installed before use. Reijer Grimbergens
web site contains instructions for downloading Reijers
Spear engine. See:
http://www.cloud.teu.ac.jp/public/CSF/grimbergen/research/SPEAR/spearmain.html
Spear can be found at the 'Available releases' section.

Other engines must be searched for on the internet (try
'Shogi engines' in your search box).
Some of the diagrams in this document were created

using screenshots from the Shogidokoro program.
Shogidokoro is, as far as I know, available for Windows

platforms only.
In principle, Shogidokoro can be run on other

architectures/operating systems using the WINE
emulation system – see: https://www.winehq.org/. I
haven't tried this myself, but the only reports I have
(June 2020) are that the WINE system itself does not
work on the most recent versions of the MacOS
operating system (Catalina 10.15). On Linux, the
Shogidokoro menus do not display correctly – whether
the program works is doubtful.
For more about Shogidokoro, and computer Shogi in

general, see the Wikipedia page 'Computer Shogi'.
ShogiGUI.
ShogiGUI is similar in some ways to Shogidokoro, as
the screenshot below illustrates:
This screenshot shows the position at the start of a two-

piece handicap game (Gote gives up the two Lances at
the start of the game).
The display is similar to Shogidokoro – you can see the

board, the komada for storing captured pieces, the move
window, etc. However, ShogiGUI is more flexible and
powerful than Shogidokoro:
• The notation used to record moves in the 'Move'
window can be changed
• ShogiGUI can display 'hints' as to the next best
move
• ShogiGUI has powerful game analysis features. 22
• Game engines can be 'fine-tuned'.
ShogiGUI can be downloaded from:
http://shogigui.siganus.com/
The interface of the program as downloaded is entirely

in Japanese, but it can be converted to English (or
German),23 although much of the fine detail in the
display is still in Japanese. With some determination,
there is no reason why the non-Japanese speaker should
not use ShogiGUI, even if not all of its features are fully
exploited.
The program comes with one pre-installed game engine

(GPSFish), and like Shogidokoro, other engines can be
downloaded and installed – I have successfully installed
Lesserkai.
ShogiGUI seems better at setting up tsume-shogi

problems than Shogidokoro.
22See: http://shogibond.nl/how-to-analyze-your-games-using-a-shogi-engine/ for a
description of how to do this.
23 See: http://shogibond.nl/shogi-school/artikelen-van-hideaki-takahashi/gui-introductie/
or: http://shogibond.nl/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/GUI-Introduction.pdf for details
of how to configure the program. I also have a copy of this PDF file.
Versions exist for use on Android computers (Japanese
language only – seems to be a completely different
interface to the Windows version).
In principle, ShogiGUI can be run on other

architectures/operating systems using the WINE
emulation system – see: https://www.winehq.org/. I
haven't tried this myself, but the only reports I have
(June 2020) are that the WINE system itself does not
work on the most recent versions of the MacOS
operating system (Catalina 10.15). On Linux, the
program does not display correctly.
Winboard (Alien Package).
Also available for Windows machines is a Winboard
package developed by H.G.Muller. This package can be
downloaded from:
http://hgm.nubati.net/WinBoard-Chu.zip
and when unpacked gives access to several Shogi

variants: Chu Shogi, Dai Shogi, Sho Shogi, Shogi and
Tori Shogi. Once you have unpacked the program,
simply click on the Black Knight's head icon to start up
the program. You have the choice of using Western-style
pieces or pieces with Japanese-style kanji.
The screenshot shows the position at the start of a game:

Steve Evans Shogivar Program.
This Shogi variant software has been around since the
1990's. Originally available as a 32-bit PC
implementation written in Visual Basic (you will need a
very old PC, or 32-bit emulation plus the VB Library
files to run this), it is now also available as a Linux port
maintained by H G Muller. Downloadable in either form
from:
http://www.users.on.net/~ybosde/
The screenshot shows the position several moves into a

human vs. computer game:
Phil Holland's Shogi Variants Program.
For those interested in the Shogi variants, a variants
program can be downloaded from Phil Hollands web
pages:
http://www.hollandnumerics.demon.co.uk/SHOGI.HTM
Simply click on the Shogi Software icon, and download

and unpack the SHOGIV41.ZIP file.
You will also need to download the file

MSAFINX.DLL as well.
This program has only a text-based display.
AiAi.
Ai Ai is a Java-based general game playing engine
based on Mogal (a GGP designed and developed by
Stephen Tavener and Cameron Browne). Games can be
hand-coded in Java (for efficiency), or assembled from
blocks using a scripting language based on JSON. The
web page is here:
http://mrraow.com/index.php/aiai-home/
The web page claims that Shogi and Shogi variants are
included in the repertoire of the program. There is
further information here:
https://drericsilverman.com/2021/05/13/ancient-shogi-revival-part-ii-the-big-ones/
So far, I have not tried this one – I am not usually a Java
user.
BCMGames/BCMShogi.
Development of this program was 'frozen' by the author
in ~2012. I had difficulty finding a version of the
program which worked when downloaded and installed,
though I finally tracked one down. As the program has
not been updated since 2012, I have not given a
download link here.
Shogi Game File Formats.
Unfortunately, most of the computer programs described
above use different formats for storing game records –
a real can of worms!!!
There is some overlap – for example, Shogidokoro will

handle .CSA, .KIF, .Ki2 and .PSN formats (.PSN is
the default). ShogiGUI will handle .CSA and .KIF
formats (.KIF is the default).24
Winboard uses .PGN and .GAM formats to store games.
Phil Hollands program uses .SHO format to store

games.
Steve Evans program appears to be unable to save

games.
It doesn't matter what these files look like, but it is

clearly not possible to load the same game file into
different programs – except in the case of Shogidokoro
and ShogiGUI (.CSA or .KIF format).
To avoid problems, you should pick a program and stick

with it – I use Shogidokoro.
24 .KIF and .Ki2 formats are possibly best avoided as they both use Japanese
characters.
Shogi programs on other architectures.
Shogidokoro is a Windows PC program, as is ShogiGUI
(for English speakers). On Unix/Linux systems,
gnushogi/xshogi is available, as is Xboard (a
Unix/Linux version of WinBoard).
On Mac OS machines there are some Shogi programs

available. For tablet computers, there are programs
available for the Apple iPad and for Android systems
(including ShogiGUI, p.i448).
I can't comment on any of these as I don't (yet) have any

experience with these programs.
Shogi Equipment.
Moderate quality Shogi equipment is available via

numerous suppliers on Amazon/eBay.
Rakuten in Japan seem to be a Japanese version of

Amazon, and supply Shogi equipment – customer
reviews of the company seem to be 'mixed'.
For better quality equipment, you need a specialist

trader. A short list follows. I have equipment/books
from, and have dealt satisfactorily with those marked
with a *:
*iThe Shogi Foundation – Shogi books:

http://www.shogifoundation.co.uk/
*iCzech Shogi Federation – suppliers of Shogi

equipment, books and other Shogi equiment. The basic
Shogi set includes a set of very nice hybrid pieces :
http://shogi.cz
*iAobo Shop – suppliers of Oriental board games,

puzzles and books:
http://en.aobo-shop.com/
* G. F. Hodges – Shogi equipment, variants, books, etc.

Supplier of Shogi magazine as a PDF download.
Tel: +44 (0)1234 211 286
E-mail: George.hodges@talk21.com
*iKurokigoishi Shop – suppliers of Oriental board
games, including Shogi (Masters may be able to supply
in the U.K.):
http://shop.kurokigoishi.co.jp/en/category/10
*iMasters Traditional Games – suppliers of Oriental

board games, including Shogi:
https://www.mastersofgames.com/
*iNekomado Online Shop – suppliers of books and

Shogi equipment:
http://shop.nekomado.com/
Schaak en Go winkel het Paard – suppliers of books

and Shogi equipment:
https://www.schaakengo.nl/goshop-keima/shogi-889416/
Yutopian Enterprises:
http://www.yutopian.com
Ohishi-Tengudo Corporation – suppliers of high

quality Shogi equipment:
http://go.tengudo.jp/english/shogi.html
Kiseido – suppliers of high quality Shogi equipment:

http://www.kiseidopublishing.com/shogi/shogi_equipme
nt.htm
Tendo Sato Kei Shoten – suppliers of high quality
Shogi equipment:
http://shogi-koma.jp/index.html
Horikoshi – suppliers of high quality Shogi equipment:

http://www.shogi-horikoshi.com/
The Shogi Game Store – suppliers of high quality

Shogi equipment:
http://www5b.biglobe.ne.jp/~goban/english@shogi@ver
sion.html
Japanese Games Shop – suppliers of books and Shogi

equipment:
http://japanese-games-shop.com/
[no longer trading?]
*iPentangle Puzzles and Games – suppliers of Shogi,

Go and Xiang-chi equipment:
http://www.pentangle-puzzles.co.uk/
[no longer trading?]
Please note that I have no connection with, or financial

interest in any of the organisations listed above. The
information provided is based on the latest information I
have from these organisations. For fuller information
please contact the organisations direct.
Downloadable and printable Shogi sets.
If you want to 'do-it-yourself', I have created a set of
templates for a simple Shogi board and pieces. These
templates can be downloaded from:
https://tinyurl.com/RogersShogiArchive25
Download the file:
DIY Shogi set.pdf
When making a Shogi set with these templates, I

recommend using double-sided adhesive tape to make
the board and pieces. You can also make a laminated
board if you have access to a laminating machine.
You can use glue26 – if you do, use good quality glue to
stick the pieces and board to good quality mounting
card. Trim the board, if desired, with a craft knife, and
use sharp scissors to cut the pieces to shape, and you
can make a very acceptable set. Try not to get air-
bubbles/wrinkles when you offer the templates to the
card. I use a rolling pin to flatten the templates to the
card and to squeeze out excess glue.
25This is a DropBox folder. The full URL is:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/2wicm2bnw5lv3t0/AADyepK_y_3e819UAbrwjJoza?dl=0
26iSee http://www.edenworkshops.com/Bookbinding_Adhesives.html for a serious
discussion of what sort of glue to use. I use PVA craft glue or 3M PhotoMount. Don't
use cheap glue – it can be difficult to apply evenly, and will bleed through the paper
template and 'stain' the set...
Bibliography and other Shogi resources.
Items in my possession, or consulted by myself have

been given a 'star rating' – maximum 5 stars – this is of
course, entirely subjective, you may think differently!
Books.
Better Moves for Better Shogi, Teruichi Aono, (trans.
John Fairbairn), Man to Man Books, 1983, 2377-
906053-2732. ★★★★★
Guide to Shogi Openings, Teruichi Aono (trans. John
Fairbairn), Man to Man Books, 1983, 2377-906052-
2732. ★★★★★
Tsume Puzzles for Japanese Chess, T Gene Davis, 2011,
146369055X. ★★★★★
Shogi – How to Play, John Fairbairn, The Shogi
Association, 1979. ★★★★★ (rare)
Shogi for Beginners, John Fairbairn, The Ishi Press,
1989, 4-87187-201-7.27 ★★★★★
Habu's Words, Y Habu, The Shogi Foundation, 2000, 0
9531089 2 9. ★★★★★
Masters of Shogi, Y Habu & Tony Hosking, The Shogi
Foundation, 978 09531089 4 7. ★★★★★
27Shogi for Beginners is available in PDF format from at least one paid-for e-book
service on the internet. The monthly subscription rate is more expensive than buying
the book outright. Seems like a no-brainer to me...
4 Great Games, Tony Hosking, The Shogi Foundation,
1998, 0 9531089 1 0. The games are: Chess, Shogi, Go
and Xiang ch'i. ★★★★★
The Art of Shogi, Tony Hosking, The Shogi Foundation,
March 1997. ★★★★★
Classic Shogi, Tony Hosking, The Shogi Foundation,
2006, 0 9531089 3 7. ★★★★★
Ending Attack Techniques, Takashi Kaneko (trans.
Tomohide Kawasaki), Nekomado, 2012, 978-4-905225-
03-4. ★★★★★
Storming the Mino Castle, Takashi Kaneko, (trans.
Richard Sams), Nekomado, 2013, 978-4-905225-05-8.
★★★★★
Joseki at a Glance, Madoka Kitao (trans. Tomohide
Kawasaki), At a Glance Series, 2011, 978-4-9052-2501-
0. ★★★★★
Edge Attack at a Glance, Madoka Kitao, (trans.
Tomohide Kawasaki), At a Glance Series, 2012, 978-4-
9052-2502-7. ★★★★★
Sabaki at a Glance, Madoka Kitao (trans. Tomohide
Kawasaki), At a Glance Series, 2013, 978-4-9052-2510-
2. ★★★★★
Ending Attack at a Glance, Madoka Kitao (trans.
Tomohide Kawasaki), At a Glance Series, 2014, 978-4-
9052-2513-3. ★★★★★
Japanese-English Shogi Dictionary, Tomohide
Kawasaki (a.k.a. Hidetchi), 2013, Nekomado, 978-4-
9052-2508-9. One-way only (Japanese to English)
★★★★★
Japanese Chess: The Game of Shogi, E. Ohara and
Lindsay Parrott. Has received a very poor review on
Amazon.com.
Shogi Primer: Japanese chess guide for English
speakers, Seigo Sato, 2021, Independently published,
979-8755253314. I don't have this one, but in the
description on Amazon, the author states “I believe that
Kanji is not a big obstacle to learning the Shogi rules.”.
This is a promising start!
First Step To Shogi, Space Sano, Oyama Memorial
Museum, 1995.
The following items contain articles or chapters of
greater or lesser depth pertaining to Shogi and/or Shogi
variants. The star rating reflects both the quality and
quantity of material on Shogi:
Board and Table Games from Many Civilizations, R C
Bell, Dover, 1979, 0-486-23855-5. ★★★★★
Games Ancient and Oriental and How to Play Them,
Edward Falkener, Dover, 1961 (originally published
1892), 486-20739-0. Of historical interest, but like
many early publications, contains mistakes. ★★★★★
Chess Variations, John Gollon, Charles E Tuttle
Company, 1985, 0-8048-1122-9. ★★★★★
The Great Shogi Games, George Hodges, The Shogi
Association, 1978. ★★★★★ A description of Shogi
variants larger than 15x15 squares. (rare)
A History of Chess, H J R Murray, Skyhorse Publishing,
2012 (originally published 1913). Of historical interest,
but like many early publications, contains mistakes.
★★★★★
The Encyclopaedia of Chess Variants, David Pritchard,
available as a PDF from https://www.jsbeasley.co.uk.
Contains a small amount of Shogi material of mixed
quality. ★★★★★
New rules for classic games, R. Wayne Schmittberger,
Wiley, 1992, 0471536210. Reputed to contain a good
description of the rules of Chu-Shogi – I haven't seen
this one myself.
Books to Avoid.
Unfortunately, there are a few really poor Shogi books
in English. I have listed some of them here.
Shogi – Japan's Game of Strategy, Trevor Leggett,

Charles E Tuttle Company, 1966. Re-published as
Japanese Chess, 2009, 978-4-8053-1036-6. Very poor
diagrams, the notation system is a mess, contains at
least one major/vital error and the advice given is often
suspect. Note though that this book is of historical
interest, as it was the first serious book published in
English after WWII. ★★★★★
Japanese Chess or Shogi Book of Board Game Strategy,
John Sami Mamoun, independently published, 2021,
979-8712410125. Avoid this one! Uses Chess-like
notation, a chequered board and diagrams with faux-
Staunton style images. Clearly an attempt to force Shogi
to look as much like Chess as possible. A truly
appalling book. ★★★★★
Oriental Board Games, David Pritchard, Know The
Game Series, 1977, 0-7158-0524-X. By the same author
as Encyclopaedia of Chess Variants. Avoid this one!
The same awful diagrams as Leggett, there is no
notation system, contains many errors, and the advice
given is usually highly suspect. ★★★★★
SHOGI (Japanese chess), Calogero A. Salomon, print-
on-demand, 2019, 978-8831643177. Avoid this one! A
very poor translation of an Italian original. The
typesetting is woeful (the author clearly does not know
how to use his publishing software), and many of the
illustrations are distorted in either the horizontal or
vertical direction. This is clearly a 'vanity' project by
someone who wishes to practice their English. The price
(~£20) is outrageous! ★★★★★
The History of Shogi.
The history of Shogi is outlined in the April 1999 issue
of the Japan Foundation Newsletter. This can be found
here:
https://web.archive.org/web/20151105233924if_/http://w
ww.jpf.go.jp/j/publish/periodic/jfn/pdf/jfn26_5.pdf
There is a 2021 paper entitled “1000 Years of Shogi

History” by Prof. Dr. Frank Rövekamp here:
https://ostasieninstitut.com/1000-years-of-shogi-history/
The Wikipedia article 'History of Shogi is also of

interest:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_shogi
Magazines.
Here, the star rating reflects both the quality and
quantity of the Shogi content.
The late George Hodges published Shogi magazine from

1978-1986. A complete run of the 70 issues of the
magazine is now available as a zipped download. To get
details of how to access these magazines, go to:
https://tinyurl.com/ShogiPriceList
and use the contact details you will find there.
This is a very valuable archive of Shogi material in

English. ★★★★★
In the UK, The British Shogi Federation (BSF)

published a magazine – Shoten – on a quarterly basis. I
have numbers 38-61 inclusive. ★★★★★
In the USA, The Ishi Press published a quarterly

magazine, Shogi World in the late 1980s-early 1990s. I
have numbers 1-9 inclusive. ★★★★★
Variant Chess magazine was published in the U.K.

From 1990 to 2010. Contains several Shogi-related
articles of mixed quality. Diagrams usually show rather
silly 'westernised' forms of the pieces. Available as a
single 1200 page download, or as individual issues from
https://www.jsbeasley.co.uk. ★★★★★
Other Literature.
Zen Culture, Thomas Hoover
Heihō Kadensho (A Hereditary Book on the Art of War),
Yagyū Munenori
Go Rin No Sho (A Book of Five Rings), Miyamoto
Musashi
Shogi on the Internet.
Dropbox.
I have recently created a Dropbox archive of Shogi
material. This is located at:
https://tinyurl.com/RogersShogiArchive28
When you connect to this shared folder, you should see

a list of the contents of the folder – simply click on the
required item and then on the Download button which
should be visible at top right. Then click on 'Direct
download' and select the location for the file.
If you do not select an individual document and simply

click the Download button when the DropBox page first
appears, you should get a zipped download of all the
28 The full Dropbox URL is::
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/2wicm2bnw5lv3t0/AADyepK_y_3e819UAbrwjJoza?dl=0
documents in the folder (warning – this may be a large
download).
There is a wide range of Shogi related material here,

including: a READ.ME file; paper templates for DIY
sets for Shogi and some of the Shogi variants; plus a
selection of edited digests of articles from magazines
(including Shogi magazine) which cover many aspects
of Shogi including Openings, Castles and castling,
Shogi proverbs, tsume-shogi; other oriental board
games; etc. Please browse and help yourself – that's
what it's there for.
Copyright material is included with the permission of

the copyright holder – where I have been able to contact
the copyright owner.
Please explore this resource and let me have feed-back –

this will help me improve the archive.
Google Drive Archive.

There is now an experimental 'mirror' of the Dropbox
archive:
https://tinyurl.com/GoogleShogiArchive
If there are any problems with this, please let me know.

Wikipedia.
There is a great deal of information about Shogi on
Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia).
The entry-level Shogi listing is at:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shogi
The Shogi information on Wikipedia is widely

dispersed. This is not a criticism, but an observation –
this is just the way Wikipedia works. The information is
an extremely valuable resource. You will need to start
Wikipedia and then enter the Shogi term in which you
are interested into the Wikipedia search box. Try 'Shogi
opening', 'Shogi castle', 'Shogi tesuji', etc.
If you understand Japanese, you are laughing! Japanese

Wikipedia has a wealth of articles on Shogi.
If you do not understand Japanese, the English language

pages mentioned above are very good – they are not
direct translations of the Japanese pages, but there is
usually an English page corresponding to each Japanese
page, and the information on each page is pretty much
the same.
Internet fora and Web sites.
Internet fora come and go – unfortunately. Websites
which are largely information-only tend to be a little
more permanent. Those listed below are available at the
time of writing (see front cover for date). Traffic is low
on all but the first of the three internet fora. The
remaining URLs are basically information-only web
sites.
There is a Reddit Shogi forum with 3500+ subscribers:

https://www.reddit.com/r/shogi/
81Dojo World Shogi Forum:

https://system.81dojo.com/en/forums
BoardGameGeek Shogi forum:

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2065/shogi
Shogi.net. Contains teaching information, Shogi variant

web pages, etc. Not very active:
http://www.shogi.net/shogi.html
Shogi.net proverbs pages. Contains list of Shogi

proverbs and explanatory notes and diagrams
illustrating the proverbs 'in use':
http://www.shogi.net/kakugen/
Reijer Grimbergen's web page. Contains download
instructions for Shogidokoro and for the Spear engine,
plus some archived games:
http://www2.teu.ac.jp/gamelab/
Eric Cheymol's web page. Contains Larry Kaufman's

handicap notes plus some archived games:
http://eric.macshogi.com/
A modern Shogi diagram generator – used for many of

the diagrams in this document:
http://wormz.free.fr/kifugen/
Shogi Playground – an alternative diagram generator

which allows storage of games and recall via a unique
URL. If this had been around when I started, I would
probably have used it for my own diagrams:
https://play.mogproject.com/
British Shogi Federation/Shogi London web pages:

https://shogilondon.blogspot.com/
http://www.kittywompus.com/shogi/other_uk_shogi_eve
nts/
Defunct web sites.

81 Square Universe. Disappeared ca. 2015. Contained
active mail fora, lessons, videos, etc. Was a good place
to find out more about WinBoard, amongst other things:
http://81squareuniverse.com/
Playing Shogi on the Internet.
I'm not really familiar with playing Shogi 'live' (or
otherwise) via the internet – I'm an 'across-the-board'
player, but I have listed a couple of sites where this is
possible:
Shogi Playground Live.

This site allows play without any formal registration,
subscription, or divulging of personal information. It
appears to do this by allowing a player to start a game,
and allocating a unique URL to that game, which the
player then shares with the opponent. The site is
minimalist in its presentation, while at the same time
being flexible enough to allow personalisation of boards
and pieces in the display. The site is here:
https://live.mogproject.com/
and the documentation here:
https://mog-playground-docs.readthedocs.io/en/latest/
81 Dojo.
Besides a Shogi forum (p.471), the 81 Dojo web site
also hosts an interactive Shogi application:
https://81dojo.com/en/
Videos.
In February 2020, lady professional Karolina
Styczyńska (5-dan) inaugurated a series of videos
entitled 'Road to Shodan'. The first four of these can be
seen at:
https://youtu.be/bmH2hqRyR8A (Weak King falls easily)

https://youtu.be/nrS3WnnWA6Qv (Fighting Anaguma)
https://youtu.be/VOXX67hAHuM (Beating your rival)
https://youtu.be/IfExOhAJmsw (Fooling the opponent)
Typically, these themed videos last approximately 40

minutes – highly recommended.
The whole series, which also includes an Introduction to

Shogi, a discussion of Shogi notation, plus analyses of
some professional games is available on the Shogi
Harbour channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRnXG7CkKfEN6IINKcO_uBg
In mid 2019, Chess Grandmaster Matthew Sadler and

Women's International Master Natasha Regan produced
an introductory Shogi video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=At6KWe7bCbg
This lasts about 45 minutes and is an excellent

introduction to the game.
The second video in this series is at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eu6kRSkjp64
Another good source of Shogi videos is Hidetchi's

YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/user/HIDETCHI
The channel includes a useful series of 40 short video

films teaching the basic aspects of Shogi. Also included
are series relating to Shogi Openings, Famous Shogi
Games and Tsume Shogi.
Connect to YouTube and enter 'hidetchi shogi lessons'

into the search box and you should see the teaching
videos listed.
There is a lot more Shogi material on YouTube.

Shogi Openings Static Rook

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Front Cover..

Articles from Shogi magazine.

99iXx1x 99iXx1x │ 99iXx1x 99iXx1x

This document is an edited compilation of a series of

I am grateful to the copyright owners for granting

The rationale for creating the document in the first place

My editing has been as 'light' as possible:

In order to achieve a consistent and 'sensible' layout in

I have numbered moves individually, in the Japanese

Numbered alternatives to the main line are often left

I have (silently) made some textual changes in order to

A significant resource used to create this document has

The late George Hodges published Shogi magazine from

This is a very valuable archive of Shogi material in

John Fairbairns original brochure, Shogi – How to play;

Not used for this document, but also of great interest to

Full details of all sources can be found in the

I have used Open Office to prepare the document in

If you read this document and find any errors, typos, or

This is a complex subject at first, and previous English

Let us get rid of the main barrier to understanding

A Static Rook (Ibisha) opening is an opening where that

Figure 1 – Static Rook (Ibisha) opening

A Ranging Rook, on the other hand, is a Rook moved

In general the Ranging Rook openings are adopted by

Figure 2 – 3rd-file Rook (Sangaribisha)

Sente could also play the 3rd-file Rook if he wanted but

Fig.i3 shows next the 4th-file Rook (Shikenbisha), the

Figure 3 – 4th-file Rook (Shikenbisha)

Now look at Fig.i4. Here again you see a Rook on the

As a point of interest the oldest record of a Shogi game

Other forms of the Ranging Rook are perhaps more

Finally, if Sente adopts a Static Rook opening Gote can

That almost completes the main spectrum of Ranging

Firstly, what is the Bogin? It means Pole-Silver (ie:

There is also a Pole Gold (Climbing Gold) attack we

Next the Yagura defence. This is an arrangement of the

The Floating Rook: If a Rook is moved from 2nd to the

The Floating Rook opening may further transpose into

Figure 7 – Twisting Rook (Hineribisha)

Figure 8 – Side Pawn capture (Tate fu tori)

Figure 9 – Ishida's opening

Figure 10 – Ishida counter-attack (Ishida-kuzushi)

Figure 11 – 'Pawn-crossing Silver' (Fugoshi gin) and

Figure 12 – The Ai-koshikake gin

Historical note: Standard lines (Joseki) of the openings

Static Rook Ranging Rook

Sente first move.

Generals moved to the 2nd rank merely block the Rook

Other Pawn moves do nothing positive but edge moves

A: 1iP7f 2iP3d │ C: 1iP2f 2iP8d

The possible second moves can now be considered for

Pattern A: 1iP7f 2iP3d

Sente second move.

(a) 3iP2f The most powerful but generally forces

(i) 4iP8d After this a Centre game opening can be

(i) and (ii) are recommended for novices.

Pattern B: 1iP7f 2iP8d

Sente second move.

If 14iP6d: 15iP2d, 16iPx2d; 17iRx2d, 18iP2c;

Good. It stops P2d or S3d.

If 57iB5e: 58iS4d; 59iBx9a+, 60iN*6d; (this

If 65iG3b: 66iK5a; 67iGx2b, 68iN3f; and Gote will