Openings · 玉頭位取り
King’s Head Vanguard Pawn.
From a Boat, push the 7th-file pawn to 7e, support it with the silver on 7f, and castle into the High Silver Yagura behind it.
The idea
The King’s Head Vanguard Pawn takes space in front of the castle instead of digging in. Black builds the Boat, lifts the left silver to 6h and pushes the pawn to 7e before the silver reaches 7g. The silver then comes to 7g and 7f to hold the pawn, the bishop goes to 7g, and the king to 8h with golds on 7h and 6g: the High Silver Yagura.
If it gets built, ja.wikipedia says, White’s Mino has trouble developing and White’s right knight has no good square, while Black’s king has room and the advanced pawn gives Black something to attack from. The cost is time. The castle takes many moves, and until it is finished a Fourth File Rook can strike in the centre with the silver and the 5th-file pawn.
Here White chooses the setup the source calls its strongest, and Black meets it in the right order. ja.wikipedia traces the opening to the Genroku period and dates its peak as a main answer to ranging rooks to the 1970s; it gave way to the Static Rook Anaguma.
Both sides’ moves from move 1 have one source; Black’s include every move of a Japan Shogi Association column’s build, in another order.
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 | △４四歩 4c4d | The rook pawn. White closes its diagonal with the pawn to 4d. |
| 5 | ▲４八銀 3i4h | △４二飛 8b4b | The right silver to 4h. White swings to 4b: a Fourth File Rook. |
| 7 | ▲６八玉 5i6h | △９四歩 9c9d | The king to 6h. White pushes the edge pawn. |
| 9 | ▲９六歩 9g9f | △７二銀 7a7b | Black answers. White’s silver to 7b. |
| 11 | ▲７八玉 6h7h | △３二銀 3a3b | The king to 7h. White’s left silver to 3b. |
| 13 | ▲５八金右 4i5h | △４三銀 3b4c | The right gold to 5h: the Boat. White’s silver to 4c. |
| 15 | ▲５六歩 5g5f | △５二金左 4a5b | The centre pawn. White’s gold to 5b. |
| 17 | ▲５七銀 4h5g | △６二玉 5a6b | The right silver to 5g. White’s king to 6b. |
| 19 | ▲６八銀上 7i6h | △７一玉 6b7a | The left silver to 6h. White’s king to 7a. |
| 21 | ▲７五歩 7f7e | △６四歩 6c6d | The vanguard pawn: the pawn to 7e, before the silver reaches 7g. Once the silver is on 7g, White could stop it with the pawn to 7d. White pushes 6d. |
| 23 | ▲７七銀 6h7g | △４五歩 4d4e | The silver to 7g. White strikes at once with the pawn to 4e: the silver on 7g has closed Black’s bishop. |
| 25 | ▲２五歩 2f2e | △３三角 2b3c | The rook pawn to 2e. White’s bishop to 3c. |
| 27 | ▲７六銀 7g7f | △４四銀 4c4d | The silver up to 7f, holding the pawn on 7e. White’s silver to 4d. |
| 29 | ▲６六歩 6g6f | △６三金 5b6c | The pawn to 6f. White’s gold to 6c: the setup the source calls White’s strongest. |
| 31 | ▲８六歩 8g8f | △８二玉 7a8b | The 8th-file pawn to 8f... White’s king to 8b. |
| 33 | ▲８五歩 8f8e | △５四歩 5c5d | ...and on to 8e, so White cannot build a Silver Crown. White pushes the centre pawn to 5d. |
| 35 | ▲４八飛 2h4h | △５五歩 5d5e | The rook to 4h, the answer to the pawn on 5d, before the golds move. White breaks with the pawn to 5e. |
| 37 | ▲同歩 5f5e | △同銀 4d5e | Black takes. White’s silver takes back. |
| 39 | ▲５六歩 P*5f | △４四銀 5e4d | A pawn dropped on 5f, at the silver. The silver goes back to 4d. |
| 41 | ▲７七角 8h7g | △５四金 6c5d | The bishop to 7g. White’s gold to 5d. |
| 43 | ▲８八玉 7h8h | △４一飛 4b4a | The king into 8h. White’s rook to 4a. |
| 45 | ▲７八金 6i7h | △５一飛 4a5a | The left gold to 7h. White’s rook to 5a, on the centre file. |
| 47 | ▲６七金右 5h6g | △５五歩 P*5e | The right gold to 6g: the High Silver Yagura is complete. White drops a pawn on 5e. |
| 49 | ▲同歩 5f5e | △同銀 4d5e | Black takes. White’s silver takes back. The source calls the position hard to judge. |
The plan once you are set up
- Build the Boat: king to 7h, right gold to 5h, right silver to 5g.
- Lift the left silver to 6h and push the pawn to 7e before the silver goes to 7g, or White stops it with the pawn to 7d.
- Bring the silver to 7g and 7f, then push the pawn to 6f.
- Take the 8th file too, with the pawn to 8f and 8e, so White cannot build a Silver Crown.
- Bring the bishop to 7g, the king to 8h, and the golds to 7h and 6g.
What to watch for
- White’s pawn to 5d. Answer it with the rook to 4h first. Raising a gold to 7h or 6g there lets the pawn to 5e break through the centre.
- An early gold to 6g. Against White’s silver on 4d it allows the pawn to 5e and a silver trade on 5f.
- The 6th-file exchange. The pawn to 6e works against some setups, but against White’s gold on 5d it lets White push its own pawn to 6e back.
- A ranging rook Anaguma. Against a king going to 9a the vanguard pawn has nothing to press on, and the source calls the pawn to 7e a doubtful plan there.
What it is played against
A Fourth File Rook with a Mino.
White’s strongest answer pushes the pawn to 6d, then strikes with the pawn to 4e the moment the silver to 7g closes Black’s bishop, and builds the silver on 4d and the gold on 6c, later 5d, aiming at the centre with the pawn to 5e.
White can also swing back to a Third File Rook and an Ishida, or castle in an Anaguma. Against a Central Rook ja.wikipedia calls it effective.
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.