Openings · ４四歩パックマン
Pac-Man.
Leave the fourth-file pawn for Black’s bishop on move two, swing the rook to 4b at the bishop that took it, then drop a bishop on 9e with check.
The idea
This line is White’s, and it is a trap. On move two you push the pawn to 4d, where Black’s bishop can take it: the bishop eats a free pawn, as in the video game. If it does, the rook swings to 4b and attacks it, and after the bishop escapes by promoting on 5c you open your own bishop’s diagonal with the pawn to 3d, aiming at the lance on 9i.
When Black trades the horse for the rook and guards the corner with the silver on 8h, you drop a bishop on 9e with check. Most blocks lose material: the gold to 6h and the king to 4h both cut the rook off from the silver on 8h, which then falls to your other bishop, and the silver to 7g gives up three pieces for a bishop.
The right block is to drop the rook Black has just won on 7g. Six top professionals agreed in 2007 that taking the pawn is good for Black, and shogi-rule.com calls the position after the rook drop even, with Black two pawns up; Shogi Wars still notes that strong amateurs play it.
The line plays the refutation through: after the knight to 3c, ja.wikipedia’s move for Black is the king to 6h, before the edge pawn.
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 | △４四歩 4c4d | Black opens the bishop’s diagonal. The free pawn on 4d: the name. |
| 3 | ▲同角 8h4d | △４二飛 8b4b | Black’s bishop takes it. The rook swings to 4b and attacks the bishop. |
| 5 | ▲５三角成 4d5c+ | △３四歩 3c3d | The bishop escapes by promoting on 5c. You open your own bishop with the pawn to 3d. It now aims down the long diagonal at the lance on 9i. |
| 7 | ▲４二馬 5c4b | △同銀 3a4b | Black gives the horse for your rook. The silver takes back. |
| 9 | ▲８八銀 7i8h | △９五角 B*9e | Black guards the lance’s diagonal with the silver on 8h. The trap: a bishop dropped on 9e, with check. |
| 11 | ▲７七飛 R*7g | △３三桂 2a3c | The right answer: block with the rook Black has just won, on 7g. You keep the tension with the knight to 3c instead of taking on 7g. |
| 13 | ▲６八玉 5i6h | And Black steps the king to 6h before pushing the edge pawn. ja.wikipedia says Black stands fine. |
The plan once you are set up
- After Black’s 7f, push the pawn to 4d and leave it.
- If the bishop takes, swing the rook to 4b; after it promotes on 5c, open your own bishop with the pawn to 3d before anything else.
- If Black trades the horse for the rook and plays the silver to 8h, drop a bishop on 9e with check.
- After the rook block on 7g, keep the pressure with the knight to 3c; the sources castle the king into a Mino later.
- If Black plays the silver to 8h at once instead of trading, take on 4g with the rook and promote it.
What to watch for
- You are two pawns down after the main line, and the sources call the result even or better for Black.
- Black can simply decline the pawn with the rook pawn to 2f, and the game goes on as an ordinary opening.
- For the player facing it: block the bishop check with the rook, then play the king to 6h before the edge pawn. Pushing the pawn to 9f first lets White in: the bishop takes the rook on 7g, and after the silver takes back, the knight jumps to 4e.
What it is played against
Taking the pawn is what the professionals recommend.
After the bishop takes on 4d, the rook to 4b, the promotion on 5c, the pawn to 3d, the horse for the rook, the silver to 8h and the bishop check from 9e, block with the rook on 7g and answer the knight to 3c with the king to 6h: Black keeps two extra pawns and stands fine.
If Black plays the silver to 8h without trading the horse, ja.wikipedia’s strong reply to the rook promoting on 4g is the horse to 7e. A player who wants none of it ignores the pawn with the rook pawn to 2f.
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.