Openings · 青野流
Aono Side Pawn.
Against the bishop to 3c, leave the rook on 3d, step the king up to 5h and bring the right knight out through 3g.
The idea
In the usual Side Pawn Bishop-33 line Black spends a move pulling the rook back to 3f. The Aono line skips it: the king steps up to 5h, guarding the pawns above it, and the rook stays on 3d, so the 3rd-file pawn can advance and the right knight can jump to 3g and then 4e.
The attack with the knight, and later the left knight as well, is the whole plan; one guide calls the position with both knights on the fifth rank the ideal.
Aono Teruichi began playing it around 2005 and received his second Masuda Award for it, announced in 2018, alongside Sasaki Yūki for the Yūki line. ja.wikipedia says that, with computer evaluations also low for White, there was a time in 2020 when professionals almost stopped playing the Side Pawn Capture as White.
The line here is the one where White does most to stop the knights: White takes the side pawn back, trades bishops and drops one on 5e. Its first 24 moves are in two sources, and the rest is the continuation that two of them call the usual one; all three call the end equal.
The king stands on the Central House square, and ja.wikipedia says the Spread Golds often arises from this line once the right gold goes to 3h.
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 | △３四歩 3c3d | Open the bishop’s diagonal. White opens its own. |
| 3 | ▲２六歩 2g2f | △８四歩 8c8d | The rook pawn. White pushes its rook pawn. |
| 5 | ▲２五歩 2f2e | △８五歩 8d8e | The pawn to 2e. White’s to 8e. |
| 7 | ▲７八金 6i7h | △３二金 4a3b | The gold to 7h guards the bishop’s head. White’s gold to 3b guards its own. |
| 9 | ▲２四歩 2e2d | △同歩 2c2d | The pawn on to 2d, to exchange it. White takes. |
| 11 | ▲同飛 2h2d | △８六歩 8e8f | The rook takes back. White exchanges on its side too. |
| 13 | ▲同歩 8g8f | △同飛 8b8f | Take back with the pawn. White’s rook takes back. |
| 15 | ▲３四飛 2d3d | △３三角 2b3c | The rook takes the side pawn on 3d. It now threatens to trade bishops on 2b, winning a gold or making a dragon. White’s bishop to 3c blocks the trade. |
| 17 | ▲５八玉 5i5h | △５二玉 5a5b | The opening’s move: the king steps up to 5h instead of pulling the rook back. It guards the pawns above it, and the rook stays on 3d. White’s king to 5b. |
| 19 | ▲３六歩 3g3f | △７六飛 8f7f | The pawn to 3f opens 3g for the knight. White’s rook takes the pawn on 7f, and the bishop on 3c now looks at 8h. |
| 21 | ▲７七角 8h7g | △同角成 3c7g+ | Block first: the bishop to 7g. The knight to 3g here would lose to the bishop trade on 8h and the rook promoting on 7h. White trades bishops. |
| 23 | ▲同桂 8i7g | △５五角 B*5e | The knight takes back. White drops the bishop on 5e, at the lance on 1i and the knight on 7g. |
| 25 | ▲２二歩 P*2b | △３三桂 2a3c | A pawn dropped on 2b, at the knight: the standard move. White saves the knight by jumping it to 3c. |
| 27 | ▲２一歩成 2b2a+ | △４二銀 3a4b | The pawn promotes on 2a. White’s left silver to 4b. |
| 29 | ▲２三歩 P*2c | △同金 3b2c | A pawn dropped on 2c, aiming to promote on 2b. White’s gold takes it. |
| 31 | ▲８四飛 3d8d | The rook swings across to 8d. The sources call the position equal. |
The plan once you are set up
- After the bishop to 3c, step the king up to 5h instead of pulling the rook back.
- Push the pawn to 3f to open 3g for the knight.
- If White takes the side pawn back with the rook, block with the bishop to 7g before anything else.
- Against the bishop trade and the bishop dropped on 5e, drop a pawn on 2b at the knight.
- Promote that pawn on 2a, drop another on 2c to pull the gold out, and swing the rook across to 8d.
What to watch for
- After White’s rook takes on 7f, the knight to 3g at once loses to the bishop trade on 8h and the rook promoting on 7h. Block first, with the bishop or the knight on 7g.
- If White builds quietly with the right gold to 7b and the right silver to 6b, the knight comes out anyway; after a pawn dropped on 2b and taken by the silver, the knight jump to 4e wins material.
- If White chases the rook with the silver to 2b and on to 2c, the rook goes to 8d and the knight jump still works.
- One note warns against dropping a pawn on 8g in this opening.
What it is played against
White takes the side pawn back with the rook, trades bishops and drops one on 5e, at the lance on 1i and the knight on 7g.
After the pawn drop on 2b, White saves the knight by jumping it to 3c and closes the king’s side with the silver to 4b; the sources call the result equal.
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.