Openings · 原始中飛車
Primitive Central Rook.
The rook goes to the centre file on the first move, the left silver climbs up beside the centre pawn, and the attack goes in with the king still at home.
The idea
The Primitive Central Rook is the plainest Central Rook there is. The rook goes to 5h at once, the centre pawn goes to 5f, and the left silver climbs 6h, 5g and 6f to stand beside it. The bishop’s diagonal stays closed and the king usually stays on 5i. Then the pawn breaks on 5e, the silver takes back and keeps going, and the target is 5c, on the file of White’s king.
When only one White piece covers 5c, as in the line below, the silver and the rook break through and the rook promotes there. Because the plan is so simple, the defence is well known, and the sources agree it rarely succeeds against a player who knows it. Shogi Wars calls it the opening everyone plays at least once.
Masuda Kōzō used it in a 1963 A-class game and won, one of the very few professional examples. The positional form, which castles and holds the pawn on 5e, is the Central Rook.
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 | ▲５八飛 2h5h | △３四歩 3c3d | The rook to the centre on the very first move. |
| 3 | ▲５六歩 5g5f | △５四歩 5c5d | The centre pawn to 5f. |
| 5 | ▲６八銀 7i6h | △６二銀 7a6b | The left silver starts out. |
| 7 | ▲５七銀 6h5g | △８四歩 8c8d | To 5g. |
| 9 | ▲６六銀 5g6f | △８五歩 8d8e | The silver reaches 6f, beside the centre pawn. This is the basic shape on ja.wikipedia, apart from the king. |
| 11 | ▲７八金 6i7h | △８六歩 8e8f | The gold covers the bishop’s head. The attack can wait one move for this. White exchanges rook pawns. |
| 13 | ▲同歩 8g8f | △同飛 8b8f | |
| 15 | ▲８七歩 P*8g | △８二飛 8f8b | A pawn dropped back on 8g. |
| 17 | ▲５五歩 5f5e | △同歩 5d5e | The break, with the king still on its starting square. |
| 19 | ▲同銀 6f5e | △３二銀 3a3b | The silver takes back. |
| 21 | ▲５四銀 5e5d | △５三歩 P*5c | The silver keeps going, to 5d, backed by the rook behind it. White blocks with a pawn on 5c. Only one White piece, the silver on 6b, now guards it. |
| 23 | ▲同銀成 5d5c+ | △同銀 6b5c | The silver takes and promotes. White’s silver takes back. |
| 25 | ▲同飛成 5h5c+ | Two attackers against one defender: the rook takes and promotes on 5c. |
The plan once you are set up
- Rook to 5h on the first move, then the centre pawn to 5f.
- Bring the left silver up: 6h, 5g, then 6f, next to the pawn.
- When the opponent’s rook pawn reaches 8e, put the gold on 7h to cover the bishop’s head before you attack.
- Push 5e and take back with the silver, then go on to 5d. Do not pull the silver back.
- Count the defenders of 5c. With one, take on 5c and recapture with the rook, which promotes. With two, leave a pawn on 5d and bring more pieces: a knight through 7g to 6e, the other through 3g to 4e, or the bishop through 9g.
What to watch for
- A second defender on 5c. Then the silver on 5d is simply pushed back by a pawn on 5c, and you need the pawn on 5d and more pieces before you go in.
- The opponent’s rook file. With the gold on 7h and the king on 5i, a counter there comes quickly. The defence on ja.wikipedia uses a 継ぎ歩 (a second pawn pushed into the exchange) on the rook file, and Shogi Wars says the opening is weak against exactly that.
- Your own king. If the attack is stopped, you are left with an uncastled king, and ja.wikipedia says that is how it usually ends.
What it is played against
Usually a static rook. The defence is established theory. The defender keeps both silvers and the right gold near the centre, so 5c is covered more than once, and when the break comes it counters on its own rook file.
Teaching blogs also show the opening met with an Anaguma, or with two silvers side by side.
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.