Openings · ２手目△３二飛
Second Move Rook-32.
White swings the rook to 3b on move two, before opening its own bishop’s diagonal, and meets Black’s bishop drop on 6e with one of its own on 7d.
The idea
This is White’s opening. After Black’s 7f you swing the rook straight to 3b, the third file from your left, with your own bishop’s diagonal still closed. Until 2007 this was thought impossible, because Black can push the rook pawn straight at 2c. The answer the sources give is to step the king right, to 6b, first, and to open the diagonal only after Black’s 2e.
If Black then trades bishops and drops one on 6e, hitting 8c and 4c, you drop your own bishop on 7d, which covers 8c and aims down the diagonal at 4g. Both sides make a horse, and the king on 6b keeps the 5c pawn guarded. If Black leaves the bishops alone, the king walks on to 7b and you build an Ishida without the move a White Ishida usually loses.
Imaizumi Kenji worked out the king move while still an apprentice, and it won the 35th Masuda Kōzō Award, the first time the prize went to an apprentice. English sources write it 1... R-32. Black’s version, with the rook going to 7h on move one, is the First Move Rook-78.
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 | △３二飛 8b3b | Black opens the bishop’s diagonal. Your rook goes to 3b on move two, the diagonal still closed. |
| 3 | ▲２六歩 2g2f | △６二玉 5a6b | Black pushes the rook pawn. Imaizumi’s move: the king steps right, to 6b, where it can guard 5c later. |
| 5 | ▲２五歩 2f2e | △３四歩 3c3d | Black pushes on to 2e. Only now do you open the diagonal. |
| 7 | ▲２二角成 8h2b+ | △同銀 3a2b | Black trades bishops. Your silver takes back. |
| 9 | ▲６五角 B*6e | △７四角 B*7d | Black’s bishop dropped on 6e hits 8c and 4c at once. Your answer: a bishop on 7d, covering 8c. |
| 11 | ▲４三角成 6e4c+ | △４七角成 7d4g+ | Black takes on 4c and makes a horse. You make one too, on 4g. The king on 6b keeps the 5c pawn guarded. |
| 13 | ▲５八金右 4i5h | △７四馬 4g7d | Black’s right gold to 5h, against your horse. Your horse goes back to 7d. |
The plan once you are set up
- Swing the rook to 3b at once, after Black’s 7f, and keep your diagonal closed.
- Step the king right to 6b before you open the diagonal, so it can guard 5c.
- Open the diagonal with 3d only after Black has pushed to 2e. If Black trades and drops on 6e, drop your bishop on 7d.
- If Black leaves the bishops alone, walk the king on to 7b and build an Ishida, or dig into an Anaguma.
What to watch for
- Today’s fourth move is the silver to 4b (Satō Yasumitsu, 2011). It ends the bishop-drop problem at once, but an Ishida is then almost impossible, and White keeps the diagonal open behind a low setup instead, ready for a bishop exchange.
- Research around 2010 turned against the king to 6b, and the sources say it has not appeared in big professional games since. It is the line every source prints, and the one that won the prize.
What it is played against
Black can answer with the edge pawn on move three, which the sources think leaves White slightly worse after White’s own edge pawn, or with the bishop to 7g, heading for a Double Ranging Rook.
Fujii Takeshi notes that a first move of 2f instead of 7f rules the opening out.
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.