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Snowroof

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In shogi, Snowroof (雁木 gangi, lit. 'goose-wooden') is a Static Rook opening that characteristically uses a Snowroof castle.

It is named after the covered sidewalks (雁木造) connected to buildings in Niigata Prefecture.

Originating in the Edo period, the opening had been a less common one after World War II although it was popular in the prewar era. However, around 2017, the opening has become very popular with professional shogi players.[2] The Snowroof structure often appears in computer shogi games.

Characteristics

Snowroof Castle
☖ pieces in hand: –
987654321 
         1
         2
         3
         4
         5
  歩歩歩    6
歩歩 銀銀    7
 角金 金    8
香桂 玉     9
☗ pieces in hand: –

For Black, this castle positions the king on the 69 square while two golds are at the ears of king (78, 58) and the two silvers are on 67 and 57. The Snowroof castle is strong from headlong attacks from above especially headlong attacks around the central file.

Yagura vs Snowroof
☖ pieces in hand: –
987654321 
香桂   王 桂香1
 飛  金 金角 2
    銀銀 歩歩3
歩 歩歩歩歩歩  4
 歩       5
  歩歩歩 歩  6
歩歩銀金 歩  歩7
  金  銀 飛 8
香桂角 玉  桂香9
☗ pieces in hand: 歩

Naitō (1981) notes that the Snowroof was once very popular and had a reputation for being very difficult for a Yagura opponent to defeat. However, by 1981, the Snowroof opening had become less popular because after the Snowroof's opponent trades off their rook pawn, the head of Snowroof player's bishop is vulnerable as it is only defended by an adjacent gold.

Snowroof Bishop-26
☖ pieces in hand: –
987654321 
         1
         2
         3
         4
       歩 5
歩 歩歩歩 歩角 6
 歩銀銀歩 歩7
 金金 飛 8
香桂 玉  桂香9
☗ pieces in hand: –

Initially, the bishop remains on its starting 88 square. In attack development, this bishop is often moved to the 26 square via three moves passing through B-77 and B-59.

Attacking on the fourth file is common by moving the rook to that file supporting an advancing right silver. However, it is also possible to attack on the third file (Sleeve Rook).

Silver Yagura development

Silver Yagura
☖ pieces in hand: –
987654321 
         1
         2
         3
         4
         5
  歩歩歩    6
歩歩銀銀     7
 玉金      8
香桂       9
☗ pieces in hand: –

One way to improve upon the Snowroof castle's weakness is to develop it into a Silver Yagura.

A Silver Yagura is also structurally more flexible than the typical Gold Yagura.

However, building a Silver Yagura from a Snowroof castle takes several moves. Thus, taking this Snowroof to Silver Yagura approach will probably leave a player to having a strictly defensive position.

Game example

Kinjirō Kimi (木見金治郎) vs Chōtarō Hanada (花田長太郎)[3]

Double Snowroof position

Hanada (White) develops his Snowroof castle into a Silver Yagura castle along with a Sleeve Rook formation.

Right King development

Right King Snowroof
☖ pieces in hand: –
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         1
         2
         3
         4
       歩 5
歩 歩歩歩歩歩  6
 歩 銀銀金  歩7
 角金  玉 飛 8
香桂     桂香9
☗ pieces in hand: –

The basic Snowroof formation can transition to a Right King-like structure in which the king and right gold move upward to the fourth file.

Double Snowroof

The Double Snowroof (相雁木 ai-gangi) opening has both players utilizing Snowroof castles.

Old Double Snowroof opening

This is an older opening used in the 20th century up until the end of World War II after which it lost popularity.

Double Snowroof can be developed from an older variant of the Double Wing Attack opening that uses advanced pawns on the central file supported by the right silver.

1. P-76 P-34, 2. P-26 P-84, 3. P-25 P-85, 4. G-78 G-32. An open bishop diagonal variation of the Double Wing is used as is common of the era. (See Double Wing Attack § Open bishop diagonal variation.)

5. P-24 Px24, 6. Rx24. Black trades off the second file rook pawns.

6...P*23, 7. R-28. White fortifies the second file by dropping the pawn back to its original position at the head of bishop. Black retreats their rook to its starting position.

7...P-86, 8. Px86 Rx86, 9. P*87 R-82. White does the same as Black resulting in a Double Retreating Rook variation of Double Wing.

10. S-48 S-62

11. P-56 P-54

12. K-69 K-41

13. S-57 S-53

14. P-16 P-14

15. P-96 P-94

16. P-36 P-74

17. G-58 G-52

18. P-46 P-64

19. P-66 P-44

20. S-68 S-42

21. S-67 S-43

Silver Horns Snowroof

ツノ銀雁木 tsuno gin gangi

The Silver Horns variant of Snowrook positions the right silver on the 47 square instead of the 57 square as in the traditional Snowroof.[4] This formation allows the possibility of a Reclining Silver development where the right silver moves up to 56.

Silver Horns Snowroof Right King

Watanabe vs Kamiya 2016
☖ pieces in hand: 歩
987654321 
香      桂香1
 飛 王金 金  2
歩 桂銀歩銀角歩歩3
  歩歩 歩歩  4
 歩     歩 5
  歩歩歩銀歩  6
歩歩銀金 歩  歩7
  玉    飛 8
香桂角金   桂香9
☗ pieces in hand: 歩
up to move 31


Like the regular Snowroof formation, there is a Right King variant of the Silver Horns Snowroof (ツノ銀雁木右玉 tsuno gin gangi migi gyoku).

The adjacent diagram shows a game position between Hiromu Watanabe (Black) and Hiroshi Kamiya (White) from August 2016.[5] Kamiya is using a Right King position with his king castled rightward (instead of leftward) on the 62 square near his rook on the eight file and his silvers on the 63 and 43 squares. His bishop has advanced to the 33 square in order to prevent Watanabe from trading off his rook pawn. His opponent Watanabe is using a Yagura castle (via the tempo-saving Quick Yagura method) that has not been fully completed (his left gold remains on its starting 69 square) and his king has still not fully entered the castle.

See also

Bibliography

  • Fairbairn, John (1980). "How to play the centre game part 1". Shogi (27): 17–18.
  • Fairbairn, John (1980). "How to play the centre game part 2". Shogi (28): 14–15.
  • Fairbairn, John (1981). "How to play the fortress opening part 1". Shogi (29): 4–6.
  • 金井 [Kanai], 恒太 [Kōta] (2017). "相掛かり&ツノ銀雁木―広がり続ける力戦模様―". 将棋世界 (November): xx–xx.
  • Katō, Jirō [加藤治郎]. 2000. 将棋の公式. 東京書店.
  • 北島 [Kitajima], 忠雄 [Tadao] (2017). "駒組みから仕掛けまで". 将棋世界 (November): xx–xx.
  • Kogure, Katsuhiro [小暮克洋] & Toshiyuki Moriuchi. 1999. 雁木でガンガン!! 主婦と生活社.
  • Mainichi Communications [毎日コミュニケーションズ] (ed.). 2002. 雁木伝説 雁木の秘法を伝授. 毎日コミュニケーションズ.
  • 増田 [Masuda], 康宏 [Yasuhiro] (2017). "ツノ銀雁木講座: 時代は矢倉から雁木へ 自由自在、増田流雁木". 将棋世界 (November): xx–xx.
  • Naitō, Kunio (1981). "Breaking into the enemy camp part 9". Shogi (31): 10–13.
  • Shūkan Shōgi [週刊将棋]. 1991. 雁木伝説. 毎日コミュニケーションズ.
  • 鈴木 [Suzuki], 宏彦 [Hirohiko] (2017). "基本講座: 雁木、その不思議な呼び名の由来". 将棋世界 (November): xx–xx.

References

  1. ^ https://shogidb2.com/games/ea97545f8046ae1bb6b09c9323cee76ece1d45e8
  2. ^ 将棋世界 [shōgi sekai] (2017 November)
  3. ^ https://shogidb2.com/games/0745b8887f2eff218103b525837360e42bd9a272
  4. ^ Masuda (2017)
  5. ^ https://shogidb2.com/games/099564340e6e2a14dc0cd8228092e5218b80019d


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