Openings · きmきm金
Kimokimo Gold.
Against Black’s Ishida, march the left gold up the board, 3b, 3c, 4d and 3e, then swing the rook to 2b and aim at the second file.
The idea
This line is White’s, an amateur’s answer to the Ishida that grew up on the video site Niconico. Its creator is the amateur マント, and the name comes from the gold’s strange route: きもきも is slang for creepy. When Black pushes the pawn to 7e on move three, you play the left gold to 3b.
If Black swings the rook at once, the bishop trade on 8h and a bishop dropped on 4e give you the easier game, because the gold already guards 4c and Black has no bishop drop on 7f in reply. So Black closes the diagonal with the pawn to 6f first, and the gold keeps marching, to 3c and 4d.
Staying a static rook would leave your king too thin, so the bishop goes to 3c and the rook to 2b: a Double Ranging Rook game. Against Black’s Mino the gold goes on to 3e and the bishop comes to 4d, both aimed at the second file, and the gold on 3e also stops the Mino from growing into a High Mino; against the Gold Twins the gold goes to 5d instead.
Shogi Wars sums it up: golds can move sideways. The line follows a 2026 Mynavi column; from move 9 it has that one source.
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 | △３二金 4a3b | Black pushes on to 7e: an Ishida is coming. The left gold to 3b. Now the rook to 7h at once would lose to the bishop trade and a bishop dropped on 4e. |
| 5 | ▲６六歩 6g6f | △３三金 3b3c | So Black closes the diagonal first. The gold on to 3c. |
| 7 | ▲７八飛 2h7h | △４四金 3c4d | Black swings the rook to 7h. And the gold to 4d: the creepy gold, already on the fourth rank. |
| 9 | ▲６八銀 7i6h | △３三角 2b3c | Black’s silver to 6h. The bishop to 3c. |
| 11 | ▲６七銀 6h6g | △２二飛 8b2b | Black’s silver on to 6g. The rook swings to 2b: a Double Ranging Rook. |
| 13 | ▲４八玉 5i4h | △２四歩 2c2d | Black’s king starts walking right. The second-file pawn to 2d. |
| 15 | ▲３八玉 4h3h | △２五歩 2d2e | Black’s king on to 3h. And your pawn on to 2e. |
| 17 | ▲２八玉 3h2h | △４二銀 3a4b | Black’s king reaches 2h. The left silver to 4b. |
| 19 | ▲３八銀 3i3h | △３五金 4d3e | Black’s silver to 3h: a Mino. The gold to 3e. The column notes that it also stops the Mino from becoming a High Mino. |
| 21 | ▲５八金左 6i5h | △４四角 3c4d | Black’s left gold to 5h. The bishop to 4d: gold and bishop both aimed at the second file. |
The plan once you are set up
- After Black’s 7f and 7e, play the left gold to 3b.
- When Black closes the diagonal, push the gold on: 3c, then 4d.
- Bishop to 3c and rook to 2b; push the second-file pawn to 2e.
- Against a Mino: the gold to 3e and the bishop to 4d, then break on the second file.
- Against the Gold Twins: the gold to 5d and then 6d, to stop the Ishida.
What to watch for
- Your own king. Shogi Wars warns about the thin king in the endgame; in this line it never leaves 5a.
- Which castle Black builds. The Mino line and the Gold Twins line need different gold squares.
- The rook to 7h before the pawn to 6f. Answer with the bishop trade and a bishop dropped on 4e; the column calls the result easier for White.
What it is played against
Black’s Ishida, with the pawn to 7e on move three.
The best Black can do in the sources is to close the diagonal before swinging, and to meet the attack on the second file with the Gold Twins rather than a Mino: the Gold Twins are strong on that file, and there a pawn dropped on 2g is not check.
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.