Castles · 居飛車穴熊
Static Rook Anaguma.
The badger’s hole dug on the left: the king in the 9i corner behind the lance, sealed by a silver and two golds.
How it goes together
It begins as a boat castle: the king walks to 7h and the right gold comes to 5h. Then it keeps going. The bishop steps up to 7g, which empties 8h; the king passes through, the lance steps up to 9h, and the king goes down into the corner behind it. The left silver comes across to 8h and the two golds close the lid on 7i and 7h.
Move by move
Black only, from the start position. The first six moves are a boat castle without the edge pawn; then the bishop, the lance, the king, and the lid.
Step through the moves, or press play.
Tap a move to jump to it. Arrow keys work once the board has focus.
Fifteen moves. Every square next to the king now holds one of its own pieces: the lance on 9h, the silver on 8h, and the knight that never moved from 8i.
What it is good against
Depth. With the lance, the silver and the knight on the three squares around him, an attack has to take pieces away before it can touch the king, and the two golds behind the silver make that slow. The source’s one line for it is that the king cannot be checked.
Where it breaks
Time, and no way out. Fifteen moves is a long time to spend building, and once the wall is broken the king has nowhere to run: the source’s verdict is 王様の逃げ道がない, no escape route. The edge is where the attack usually comes, down the ninth file at the lance.
When to build it
A static rook facing a ranging rook, when the opponent is slow to attack and you have the time. Against a quick attack, stop at the boat castle or the Left Mino and fight from there.
Build it at the board.
The app’s lesson walks the king into a Mino one step at a time, and its review names the castle you were building when a game turned.