Openings · 棒金
Climbing Gold.
Against Black’s Ishida, march the gold from 6a to 7b and 8c, trade off the 7th-file pawns, and press the floating rook with the gold.
The idea
This line is White’s. The Climbing Gold is a static rook answer to the Ishida. The Ishida rook floats on 7f and has few squares to go back to, so you send a gold forward to hold it, and the bishop behind it, down. A gold suits the job better than a silver, ja.wikipedia says, because it can step sideways. You first push the rook pawn to 8e, so that Black has to float the rook.
Then the gold that started on 6a goes to 7b and 8c, takes back on 7d when the 7th-file pawns are traded, and steps aside to 8d; the rook swings to 7b, and the edge attack begins. The cost is your castle: one gold stays with the king, and ja.wikipedia names that as the risk. Either side can play it, but every full line found is White’s.
The line follows shogi-joutatsu, after a book by Murata Tomohiro, to move 46; shogi-rule.com reaches the same position at move 38 by another order, and ja.wikipedia draws the position at move 36.
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 | Black opens the bishop’s diagonal. You open yours. |
| 3 | ▲７五歩 7f7e | △４二玉 5a4b | Black pushes on to 7e: the sign of the Ishida. The king to 4b at once. Against the Quick Ishida’s rook swing you now have the bishop trade on 8h and a bishop dropped on 4e. |
| 5 | ▲６六歩 6g6f | △８四歩 8c8d | Black closes its diagonal with the pawn to 6f. The rook pawn. |
| 7 | ▲７八飛 2h7h | △８五歩 8d8e | Black swings the rook to 7h. The rook pawn on to 8e, so that Black has to float the rook. |
| 9 | ▲７六飛 7h7f | △６二銀 7a6b | Black’s rook floats up to 7f: the target. The right silver to 6b. |
| 11 | ▲４八玉 5i4h | △３二玉 4b3b | Black’s king to 4h. Your king to 3b. |
| 13 | ▲３八玉 4h3h | △６四歩 6c6d | Black’s king to 3h. The pawn to 6d. |
| 15 | ▲５八金左 6i5h | △６三銀 6b6c | Black’s gold to 5h. The silver to 6c, covering 7d. |
| 17 | ▲２八玉 3h2h | △４二銀 3a4b | Black’s king to 2h. The left silver to 4b, beside the king. |
| 19 | ▲３八銀 3i3h | △１四歩 1c1d | Black’s silver to 3h: a Mino. The edge pawn. |
| 21 | ▲１六歩 1g1f | △７二金 6a7b | Black answers. The gold starts out: 6a to 7b. |
| 23 | ▲９六歩 9g9f | △９四歩 9c9d | Black pushes the 9th-file pawn. You answer on the edge. |
| 25 | ▲７七桂 8i7g | △８三金 7b8c | Black’s knight to 7g. The gold climbs to 8c. |
| 27 | ▲９七角 8h9g | △７四歩 7c7d | Black’s bishop to 9g. The first step: the pawn to 7d. |
| 29 | ▲同歩 7e7d | △同金 8c7d | Black takes. The gold takes back: the 7th-file pawns are traded. |
| 31 | ▲７五歩 P*7e | △８四金 7d8d | Black drops a pawn on 7e, at the gold. The gold steps aside to 8d, a move only a gold can make here. |
| 33 | ▲６八銀 7i6h | △７二飛 8b7b | Black’s left silver to 6h. The rook to 7b, aimed at the 7th file. |
| 35 | ▲６七銀 6h6g | △９五歩 9d9e | Black’s silver to 6g. The edge attack starts: the pawn to 9e. ja.wikipedia draws this position. |
| 37 | ▲同歩 9f9e | △９六歩 P*9f | Black takes. A pawn dropped on 9f. |
| 39 | ▲８八角 9g8h | △７五金 8d7e | Black’s bishop goes back to 8h. The gold takes the pawn on 7e, in front of the rook. |
| 41 | ▲９六飛 7f9f | △８六歩 8e8f | Black’s rook takes the pawn on 9f. The pawn to 8f. |
| 43 | ▲同歩 8g8f | △６五歩 6d6e | Black takes. The pawn to 6e. |
| 45 | ▲同歩 6f6e | △８七歩 P*8g | Black takes. A pawn dropped on 8g, at the bishop on 8h. If the bishop moves, your bishop takes the knight on 7g and promotes. The source calls White clearly better. |
The plan once you are set up
- Play the king to 4b on move four, then push the rook pawn to 8d and 8e so that Black must float the rook on 7f.
- Guard the 7th file with the pawn to 6d and the silver to 6c, and keep the castle short: king to 3b, silver to 4b.
- Bring the gold out: 7b, then 8c.
- Trade off the 7th-file pawns: the pawn to 7d, and the gold takes back. If Black drops a pawn on 7e, step aside to 8d and swing the rook to 7b.
- Attack the edge with the pawn to 9e and a pawn dropped on 9f, then bring the gold to 7e and add the pawns to 8f and 6e.
What to watch for
- The king to 4b on move four. Without it, Black’s Quick Ishida bishop tricks work.
- Black’s pawn to 6e. After you take and Black drops a pawn on 6d, do not take that pawn; drop a pawn on 7e and keep Black’s bishop and rook from getting free.
- After the pawn dropped on 9f, Black should not take with the rook: your lance comes down to 9e, at the rook, with the bishop on 9g behind it.
- An Ishida that holds back the knight to 7g and the bishop to 9g. Then Black can trade bishops with the pawn to 6e at any moment, and the Climbing Gold rarely works.
What it is played against
Black’s Ishida Third File Rook with a Mino, the rook on 7f, the knight on 7g and the bishop on 9g. Black answers the pawn to 7d by settling with a pawn dropped on 7e, or by striking with the pawn to 6e.
Since the 2000s Ishida players have held back the knight to 7g, or kept the silver on 7i to guard the bishop on 8h, so that the knight can jump to 8e against your gold on 8c.
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.