Openings · 玉頭銀
King’s Head Silver.
Against a rapid attack, leave the centre pawn at home and send the left silver up through 5d and 6e to the pawn in front of the enemy king.
The idea
This line is White’s. The King’s Head Silver is a way of using the ranging rook’s left silver, the piece that often has little to do in a Fourth File Rook. Here it answers Black’s Pawn-45 Early Fight. You build an ordinary Fourth File Rook and Mino, but when Black pushes the fourth-file pawn to 4f, you put the silver on 5d instead of the centre pawn.
The silver goes on to 6e and takes the pawn on 7f, on the file of Black’s king, and ja.wikipedia adds that once that pawn is gone the Boat castle is very thin.
The centre pawn has to stay on 5c the whole time, or the silver has no road. shogilounge says Watanabe Akira gave up the Pawn-45 Early Fight because of this silver, and its advice for Black is to wait until White has pushed the centre pawn before attacking. The first 25 moves reach the position of the Pawn-45 Early Fight page by another order.
From there the line follows shogi-rule.com, the one source with every move to the end, which calls the result better for White.
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 | ▲２六歩 2g2f | △４四歩 4c4d | Black pushes the rook pawn: a static rook. You close the diagonal with the pawn on 4d. |
| 5 | ▲４八銀 3i4h | △４二飛 8b4b | The rook swings to 4b: a Fourth File Rook. |
| 7 | ▲６八玉 5i6h | △７二銀 7a7b | The right silver to 7b, ready for the Mino. |
| 9 | ▲７八玉 6h7h | △９四歩 9c9d | You push the edge pawn on your king’s side. |
| 11 | ▲９六歩 9g9f | △３二銀 3a3b | The left silver to 3b. Its long trip starts here. |
| 13 | ▲５六歩 5g5f | △５二金左 4a5b | The left gold to 5b. |
| 15 | ▲５八金右 4i5h | △６二玉 5a6b | The king starts walking right. |
| 17 | ▲３六歩 3g3f | △７一玉 6b7a | On to 7a. |
| 19 | ▲２五歩 2f2e | △３三角 2b3c | The bishop to 3c, covering 2d against Black’s rook pawn. |
| 21 | ▲６八銀 7i6h | △８二玉 7a8b | The king reaches 8b. The Mino is complete: king 8b, silver 7b, golds 6a and 5b. |
| 23 | ▲５七銀左 6h5g | △４三銀 3b4c | Black’s left silver to 5g, for a rapid attack from the Boat castle. Your silver comes up to 4c. |
| 25 | ▲４六歩 4g4f | △５四銀 4c5d | Black pushes the fourth-file pawn to 4f: the Pawn-45 Early Fight. The King’s Head Silver: the silver, not the centre pawn, goes to 5d. |
| 27 | ▲３七桂 2i3g | △６五銀 5d6e | Black jumps the knight to 3g. The silver goes on to 6e. |
| 29 | ▲２四歩 2e2d | △同歩 2c2d | Black pushes the rook pawn to 2d. You take with the pawn. |
| 31 | ▲４五歩 4f4e | △３五歩 3d3e | Black pushes on to 4e. The third-file pawn goes to 3e, toward the head of Black’s knight. |
| 33 | ▲２六飛 2h2f | △７六銀 6e7f | Black’s rook steps up to 2f. The silver takes the pawn on 7f, on the file of Black’s king. |
| 35 | ▲４四歩 4e4d | △同飛 4b4d | Black takes the pawn on 4d, threatening to promote. Take with the rook. shogi-rule.com calls this, not the bishop, the precise move, and the position better for White. |
The plan once you are set up
- Build the Fourth File Rook and the Mino: rook to 4b, king to 8b, right silver to 7b, left gold to 5b. Bring the left silver to 3b and 4c.
- When Black pushes 4f, leave the centre pawn on 5c and put the silver on 5d.
- Go on to 6e, and take the pawn on 7f when Black’s attack leaves time for it.
- If Black answers with the rook to 3h, shogilounge’s best reply, step the silver back to 4c, from where it threatens to come out again.
What to watch for
- The 5c pawn. If it goes to 5d first, the silver has no road.
- The rook to 3h, aimed at the head of your bishop on 3c. shogilounge calls it Black’s best reply. Its answer is to bring the silver back to 4c, and after Black opens the third and fourth files and your bishop steps back to 2b, it rates White better.
- After the pawn to 4d, take with the rook, not the bishop.
What it is played against
A static rook in the Boat castle with the left silver on 5g, heading for the Pawn-45 Early Fight.
Black’s replies to the silver in the sources are the rook to 3h, which shogilounge calls the best, and the sharper pawn to 5e. shogilounge’s advice to Black is not to start the attack until White has pushed the centre pawn to 5d, which takes the silver’s road away.
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.