Shogi opening

Introduction

There are two usual first moves. A player can move the rook pawn forward (P-2f), or, more commonly, advance the pawn above and to the right of the bishop (P-7f). The former is known as a rook opening and the latter a bishop opening.

With a bishop opening, it's common to exchange bishops by having one capture the other. This allows each player to put their newly captured bishop into play anywhere on the board on their next move although care must be taken to avoid weaknesses in defense which may allow for a bishop drop from their opponent. However, it is not advantageous to exchange bishops if your opponent has a better defensive setup, or more lines of attack. Moreover, making a bishop exchange constitutes one turn loss, so it's not advised without a good reason.

Many common opening attacks involve advancing a silver and ideally pawns, protected by other pieces. Because silvers have more possibilities for retreat, silvers are generally considered superior as attacking pieces in the opening and middle game while golds better defend their sides and are superior as defensive pieces. It is common practice to defend the king with three generals, two golds and a silver.

Because defense is so important, and because shogi pieces are relatively slow movers, the opening game tends to be much longer in shogi than in international chess, commonly with a dozen or more moves to shore up defenses before the initial attack is made. As part of the defense, typically the king is moved to the side in a castle with three generals. Leaving a king on its original square (居玉 igyoku or "sitting king") is a particularly dangerous position.

Over many decades, Japanese professional players have invented various jōseki (定跡), which determine moves and sequences which are thought to be the best for a particular situation. It also covers a branch of different variations within an intricate strategy, including alternative options and the certain consequences that some moves may bring.

Traditional classification by rook position

Openings are traditionally classified as either Static Rook (居飛車 ibisha) openings, where the offense is supported by the rook in its original position, or Ranging Rook (振り飛車 furibisha) openings, where the rook moves to the center or left of the board to support an attack there, typically with the idea of allowing the opponent to attack while arranging a better defense and aiming for a counterattack.

However, as the most powerful piece on the board, the rook invites attack, and in most cases, especially for inexperienced players, it is a good idea to keep the king well away from the rook. Relatedly, the Static vs Ranging classification corresponds to castle development: static rook positions with the rook on the right side of the board tend to have castles on the left side of the board while ranging rook positions tend to have castles on the right side.

Openings are traditionally further categorized based on the opening each player chooses:

1. Double Static Rook (相居飛車 aiibisha) [that is, Black Static Rook vs White Static Rook]
2. Static Rook vs Ranging Rook (居飛車対振り飛車 ibisha tai furibisha)
3. Ranging Rook vs Static Rook (振り飛車対居飛車 furibisha tai ibisha)
4. Double Ranging Rook (相振り飛車 aifuribisha)

Certain castles are traditionally thought to be more appropriate for particular Black/White opening combinations. For example, Yagura castle is a strong defense against an opponent's headlong Static Rook attacks, but it is a poor choice for a Ranging Rook opponent as the Yagura does not provide much defense against side attacks (since the gold on 7h is only defended by the king), which are likely to occur when the ranging rook breaks through the right side of Black's camp.

For each general static or ranging rook classification, there are many different opening types with traditional josekis.

Static Rook

Static Rook (居飛車 ibisha) openings usually have the player's rook at its start position, which is second file (2h) for Black and the eighth file (8b) for White.

Most Static Rook openings coincide with a castle development on the player's left side of the board. In the adjacent diagram is an example of a castle built on the left side of the board paired with a Static Rook position. The castle is a Left Silver Crown Anaguma (with advanced edge pawn).

Examples of Static Rook openings:

Ranging Rook

Ranging Rook (振り飛車 furibisha) openings are positions in which the rook moves to the center or left of the board to support an attack there.

Most Static Rook openings coincide with a castle development on the player's right side of the board. In the adjacent diagram is an example of a castle built on the right side of the board paired with a Ranging Rook position (Fourth File Rook). The castle is a Mino castle.

Examples of Ranging Rook openings:

Identification by initial moves

It is also possible to identify specific openings based upon initial move sequences in a reminiscent way to the way western chess openings are classified.

Below are four-move sequences associated with traditional openings as presented by Kouji Tanigawa on an NHK television program in 2006.

Black's rook pawn push

By advancing their rook pawn (P-2f) in the first for moves, Black reveals very early their intention to play a Static Rook position.

An initial rook pawn push could either be pushed further (P-2e) or combined with activating their bishop by opening its diagonal (P-7f).

Black: P-2f, P-2e

If Black advances their rook pawn two ranks, it's possible that White will respond with the same pawn pushes leading to a Double Wing Attack opening.

Black's bishop pawn

There are several possible openings if Black does not push their rook pawn forward in the first four moves and instead focuses on activating their bishop (P-7f) and developing other pieces. These include Ranging Rook openings as well as Static Rook openings where the rook pawn is delayed.

Black: P-7f, P-1f

Pushing an edge pawn in the first two moves is a nnoncommittal move by Black aiming to wait and see what their opponent's opening will be. If White pushes their rook pawn indicating Static Rook, then Black can choose a Ranging Rook position. This is often seen in the Fuji System strategies.

Frequency of initial move sequences

Out of the 62,999 recorded professional games on Kyokumenpedia (局面ペヂィア) as of 2017 Feb 11, 77.6% started with a bishop pawn opening (P-7f) and 20.5% started with a rook pawn opening (P-2f).

A less common first move (1.5% of Kyokumenpedia games) is the king's pawn (P-5f).

Other first moves are relatively rare.

Other openings

The list of openings below don't fit as well with the traditional classification. They include trick or trap openings (奇襲戦法 kishuu senpou) – such as Demon Slayer – and uncommon openings (such as the Ureshino opening). Others are somewhat harder to classify in the usual way by the position of the rook. For example, Twisting Rook is both a Static Rook and a Ranging Rook opening position while Right King exceptionally uses the rook as a defensive piece adjacent to the king flouting the general maxim that kings are castled away from rooks.

Right King

Right King (右玉 migi gyoku) is a defensive opening in which the king stays on the right side of board along with rook, which protects the last i rank as well as the eighth file. It is an exception to the general rule that the king is castled away from the rook.

It is possible to use a Right King formation within a Bishop Exchange opening as well as other openings.

Twisting Rook

Twisting Rook (ひねり飛車 hineribisha) or Rook On Pawn (縦歩取り tate fudori) is characterized by first playing a Static Rook opening that then switches to a Ranging Rook strategy with the rook positioned in front of one's camp.

Wrong Diagonal Bishop

Wrong Diagonal Bishop (筋違い角 sujichigai kaku) is characterized by an early bishop exchange followed by dropping the bishop in hand on the 4e square if played by Black or the 6e square if played by White.

Bishop Head Pawn

Bishop Head Pawn or Bishop's Head Pawn Push (角頭歩 kakutōfu or 角頭歩突き kakutō fuzuki) is characterized by advancing the bishop's head pawn on 8g to 8f early in the game, in which it is undefended.

Snowroof

Snowroof (雁木 gangi) is a less common Static Rook opening that uses a Snowroof castle.

Windmill

Windmill (風車 kazeguruma) is an opening with the rook on the bottom i rank enabling it to switch between a Ranging Rook and Static Rook attack.

The windmill name comes from the way the king is able to rotate around the gold positioned on 5h as if it were a wheel.

First File Rook

First File Rook (一間飛車 ikkenbisha or ichigenbisha) is a surprise Static Rook opening in which the player's rook supports an attack on the player's rightmost edge file.

Buoyant Rook

Buoyant Rook (浮き浮き飛車 ukiukibisha) is a surprise Static Rook opening in which the player's rook is advanced to the file directly above their line of pawns (rank f for Black or rank d for White).

Pac-Man

Pac-Man (パックマン pakkuman or 四歩パックマン yon fu pakkuman) is a trap opening.

It is named after the video game Pac-Man. The opening has an early pawn gambit made by White on the fourth file which may be metaphorically eaten as if by Pac-Man. If Black takes the pawn with their bishop without careful thought, then the trap may succeed.

Demon Slayer

Demon Slayer (鬼殺し oni koroshi) is a trap opening sequence initiated by Black that characteristically advances their left knight blocking their bishop. Later moves attempt an attack using a further advanced knight and also possibly White's left silver.

There is also a variant known as New Demon Slayer (新鬼殺し shin oni koroshi).

Ureshino

The Ureshino (嬉野流 ureshino-ryū) opening is a newer aggressive Static Rook opening characterized by moving the right silver to the sixth file and then pulling back the bishop to the silver's start position.

It has an element of surprise as the move sequences are nonstandard and not found in professional play.

Lady Killer Wham-Bam Rook

The Lady Killer Wham-Bam Rook (女殺しドッカン飛車 onna koroshi dokkan hisha) is a Ranging Rook surprise opening that was used by pornographer Oniroku Dan.

Tonari

The Tonari opening (都成流 tonari-ryū) is a new Ranging Rook surprise opening that was invented by professional Ryūma Tonari (都成竜馬).

It was presented on the 囲碁・将棋チャンネル (Go/Shogi Channel) by professional player Tetsurō Itodani (糸谷哲郎).

Handicap openings

Games between players of different strengths are often played with pieces removed from the stronger player's side.

Many of these handicap games have their own josekis.