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Openings · 左美濃急戦

Left Mino Rapid Attack.

Castle in the Tenshukaku Mino with the bishop’s diagonal open, then attack a Fourth File Rook with the right silver from 4f.

On this page 5The ideaHow it goes togetherThe plan once you are set upWhat to watch forWhat it is played against

Static rook, a rapid attack on a ranging rook · castles into Tenshukaku Mino ·

The Left Mino Rapid Attack after move 48987654321abcdefghi 香香 桂桂 金金 龍龍 王王 銀銀 金金 歩歩 銀銀 桂桂 歩歩 歩歩 歩歩 歩歩 歩歩 歩歩 歩歩 歩歩 歩歩 歩歩 歩歩 歩歩 玉玉 歩歩 銀銀 歩歩 飛飛 歩歩 銀銀 金金 香香 桂桂 金金 桂桂 香香 角角 歩歩 2their hand 角角 香香 in hand
The shape. The Left Mino Rapid Attack after 48 moves of the main line, with the key squares ringed. Black is at the bottom, both sides’ moves are shown, and the pieces in hand are drawn above and below the board.

The idea

The usual rapid attacks on a ranging rook start from a Boat, which is much weaker than White’s Mino. In the Left Mino Rapid Attack Black first builds a Mino of its own on the left, the Tenshukaku Mino: king on 8g above the bishop, silver on 7h, golds on 6i and 5h.

Then Black plays the same attack as from a Boat. ja.wikipedia says that with a castle as good as White’s, the same moves leave Black better. Here the right silver climbs to 4f, the 3rd-file pawn breaks, the rook swings to 3h, and the bishops come off.

The source calls the final position unclear, where from a Boat it would favour White, and adds that the king on 8g often wins the race when the attack comes from the side. The name is Shogi Wars’; it is not the Static Bishop Left Mino Rapid Attack, which attacks a Yagura. Both sides’ moves have one source; ja.wikipedia’s diagram has Black’s pieces on the squares of move 29.

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.

Start position987654321abcdefghi 香香 桂桂 銀銀 金金 王王 金金 銀銀 桂桂 香香 飛飛 角角 歩歩 歩歩 歩歩 歩歩 歩歩 歩歩 歩歩 歩歩 歩歩 歩歩 歩歩 歩歩 歩歩 歩歩 歩歩 歩歩 歩歩 歩歩 角角 飛飛 香香 桂桂 銀銀 金金 玉玉 金金 銀銀 桂桂 香香 their handin hand
Start position

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
#BlackWhiteWhy
1▲７六歩 △３四歩 Open the bishop’s diagonal. White opens its own.
3▲２六歩 △４四歩 The rook pawn. White closes its diagonal with the pawn to 4d.
5▲４八銀 △４二飛 The right silver to 4h. White swings to 4b: a Fourth File Rook.
7▲６八玉 △９四歩 The king to 6h. White pushes the edge pawn.
9▲９六歩 △７二銀 Black answers. White’s silver to 7b.
11▲７八玉 △６二玉 The king to 7h. White’s king to 6b.
13▲５六歩 △３二銀 The centre pawn. White’s left silver to 3b.
15▲５八金右 △７一玉 The right gold to 5h. White’s king to 7a.
17▲５七銀 △４三銀 The right silver to 5g. On its own this usually means a slow game. White’s silver to 4c, the standard guard of the bishop’s head.
19▲３六歩 △８二玉 The 3rd-file pawn. White’s king to 8b.
21▲２五歩 △３三角 The rook pawn to 2e. White’s bishop to 3c.
23▲８六歩 △５二金左 The 8th-file pawn to 8f: the floor of the Tenshukaku. White’s gold to 5b.
25▲８七玉 △６四歩 The king climbs to 8g, above the bishop. White pushes 6d.
27▲７八銀 △７四歩 The left silver to 7h: the Tenshukaku Mino is complete. White pushes 7d.
29▲４六銀 △５四歩 The right silver attacks: 4f. White pushes the centre pawn.
31▲３五歩 △３二飛 The break: the pawn to 3e. White’s rook to 3b, the standard reply.
33▲３四歩 △同銀 The pawn on to 3d. White’s silver takes.
35▲３八飛 △４五歩 The rook to 3h. White’s pawn to 4e hits the silver on 4f and opens White’s bishop.
37▲３三角成 △同飛 Black trades bishops at once. White’s rook takes back.
39▲５七銀 △４三銀 The silver goes back to 5g. White’s silver goes back to 4c.
41▲３三飛成 △同桂 The rooks come off: Black takes on 3c and promotes. White’s knight takes the dragon.
43▲３四歩 △同銀 A pawn dropped on 3d, at the knight. White’s silver takes.
45▲３一飛 △４三銀 A rook dropped on 3a. White’s silver goes back to 4c.
47▲１一飛成 △２七飛 The rook takes the lance on 1a and promotes. White drops its rook on 2g. The source calls the position unclear: from a Boat it would favour White, and the king on 8g often wins the race.

The plan once you are set up

  • Start like any static rook against a Fourth File Rook: king to 7h, right gold to 5h, right silver to 5g, and the edge pawn against White’s.
  • Wait for White’s silver to go to 4c, then push the pawns to 3f and 2e.
  • Build the castle: the pawn to 8f, the king to 8g, the left silver to 7h.
  • Silver to 4f, then the pawn to 3e. After White’s rook to 3b, the pawn to 3d, the silver taking it, the rook to 3h and White’s pawn to 4e, trade bishops on 3c.
  • Bring the silver home to 5g and break through on the 3rd file with the rook.

What to watch for

  • White’s silver on 3b. Then the pawn to 4e refutes the silver to 4f; play the silver to 5e instead and turn to the Four-Piece Mino.
  • White’s pawn to 4e after the rook to 3h. It hits the silver and opens White’s bishop; trade bishops at once.
  • A counter on the king’s head. The king on 8g stands just behind the pawn on 8f, and White’s 7th- and 6th-file pawns are already pushed toward it.

What it is played against

A Fourth File Rook with a Mino and the silver on 4c. White meets the break with the rook to 3b and the pawn to 4e, or keeps the silver on 3b to stop the silver to 4f.

The source adds that the Fujii System later dealt this kind of Left Mino a heavy blow, by attacking it before it is complete.

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.

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