Openings · 阿久津流急戦矢倉
Akutsu Rapid Attack Yagura.
Against a Yagura, keep the bishop’s diagonal open, trade the 5th-file pawn with the bishop, then set the bishop on 7c and the silver on 6d and look for the pawn to 6e.
The idea
This line is White’s. The Akutsu Rapid Attack Yagura is one of White’s ways to avoid a slow Double Yagura. You leave the bishop on its diagonal and offer the 5th-file pawn. After Black takes and your bishop takes back, the bishop stands on 5e, and from there it goes back to 7c, or to 2b as in the Nakahara form.
Your silver comes to the centre, and the plan is to break with the pawn to 6e; ja.wikipedia adds that, depending on Black’s reply, White often gives up the attack and plays a slow game. The opening is named after Akutsu Chikara. ja.wikipedia says it is also called the Nakahara, Gōda or Watanabe style; Shogi Wars, like this site, keeps the Nakahara as an opening of its own.
It became famous in the 2008 Ryūō title match, when Watanabe Akira, one loss from losing the title, played it in games 6 and 7 with a new move in each and won both. The first 22 moves have one source.
From move 25 the line follows game 6 up to Watanabe’s new move, the quiet king step to 3a, and then the example ja.wikipedia gives of what follows if Black breaks with the pawn to 6e, which the game did not.
How it goes together
Both sides’ moves are shown, because this opening is an agreement rather than a system: one player cannot reach it alone, so a one-sided list of moves would be a fiction.
Step through the moves, or press play.
Tap a move to jump to it. Arrow keys work once the board has focus.
Every move of the line, with reasons
| # | Black | White | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ▲７六歩 7g7f | △８四歩 8c8d | Black opens the bishop’s diagonal. You push the rook pawn. |
| 3 | ▲６八銀 7i6h | △３四歩 3c3d | Black’s left silver to 6h. You open your diagonal, and it stays open. |
| 5 | ▲６六歩 6g6f | △６二銀 7a6b | Black closes its diagonal: a Yagura. The right silver to 6b. |
| 7 | ▲５六歩 5g5f | △５四歩 5c5d | Black pushes the centre pawn. You push yours. |
| 9 | ▲４八銀 3i4h | △４二銀 3a4b | The left silver to 4b. |
| 11 | ▲５八金右 4i5h | △３二金 4a3b | The gold to 3b. |
| 13 | ▲７八金 6i7h | △４一玉 5a4a | The king to 4a. |
| 15 | ▲６九玉 5i6i | △７四歩 7c7d | The 7th-file pawn. |
| 17 | ▲６七金右 5h6g | △５三銀右 6b5c | The right silver to 5c, behind the centre pawn. |
| 19 | ▲２六歩 2g2f | △８五歩 8d8e | The rook pawn to 8e. |
| 21 | ▲７七銀 6h7g | △５五歩 5d5e | Black’s silver to 7g. The 5th-file pawn is offered. |
| 23 | ▲同歩 5f5e | △同角 2b5e | Black takes. Your bishop takes back: the opening’s basic position. |
| 25 | ▲７九角 8h7i | △７三角 5e7c | Black’s bishop drops back to 7i. Your bishop goes back to 7c. |
| 27 | ▲４六角 7i4f | △６四銀 5c6d | Black’s bishop comes out to 4f, facing yours. The silver to 6d. |
| 29 | ▲７五歩 7f7e | △８四飛 8b8d | Black pushes the pawn to 7e, at your pawn on 7d. The rook lifts to 8d. |
| 31 | ▲７四歩 7e7d | △同飛 8d7d | Black takes on 7d. The rook takes back along the rank. |
| 33 | ▲５六歩 P*5f | △３一玉 4a3a | Black drops a pawn back on 5f. Here a pawn dropped on 5e had been the known move. Watanabe’s new move: the king steps to 3a, and the pawn stays in hand. |
| 35 | ▲６五歩 6f6e | △同銀 6d6e | From here, ja.wikipedia’s example: Black breaks with the pawn to 6e. The silver takes. |
| 37 | ▲７三角成 4f7c+ | △同桂 8a7c | Black’s bishop takes yours on 7c and promotes. The knight takes back. |
| 39 | ▲６六歩 P*6f | △５一金 6a5a | Black drops a pawn on 6f, at the silver. The second quiet move: the gold to 5a. |
| 41 | ▲６五歩 6f6e | △同桂 7c6e | Black’s pawn takes the silver on 6e. The knight takes back on 6e. |
| 43 | ▲７六銀 7g7f | △５七歩 P*5g | Black’s silver to 7f. A pawn dropped on 5g, threatening to promote on 5h, beside Black’s king. |
The plan once you are set up
- Castle loosely: king 4a, gold 3b, silver 4b. Push the 7th-file pawn and the rook pawn to 8e, and bring the right silver to 5c.
- When Black has put the Yagura silver on 7g, offer the pawn to 5e and take back with the bishop.
- Pull the bishop back to 7c and bring the silver to 6d.
- Against the pawn to 7e, lift the rook to 8d and take on 7d along the rank.
- Keep the king safe with small moves such as the king to 3a and the gold to 5a, and meet the pawn to 6e by taking.
What to watch for
- The old move. In the game-6 position, a pawn dropped on 5e had been the known move; Watanabe’s king to 3a kept the pawn in hand.
- Black’s rook pawn to 2e instead of the bishop to 7i. Then Black’s rook trades on the 2nd file; in game 7 Watanabe’s new move against it was the silver to 3c.
- Black’s other answers. ja.wikipedia names the right silver to 5g in place of the rook pawn to 2f, building thickness on the 6th file, and the rook pawn to 2e in place of the silver to 7g, trading rook pawns.
- Your king. It stays thin; if the attack stalls, switch to a slow game.
What it is played against
Black, heading for a Yagura, takes the 5th-file pawn, pulls the bishop back to 7i and brings it out to 4f against your bishop on 7c, pushes the 7th-file pawn at your rook’s side and drops a pawn back on 5f.
Black can also avoid the main line before the pawn trade, with the right silver to 5g or the rook pawn to 2e.
Play it against the bot.
The bot’s search levels, 9 to 12, open from a book that holds two of these openings, the Fourth File Rook and the Yagura; the Mino levels play the openings people play. Either way the review afterwards shows you where the game left the line. Try the line, then try the plan.