Openings · 腰掛け銀
Reclining Silver.
Trade bishops, then seat both right silvers on the fifth file, 5f and 5d, and build the same camp on both sides of the board.
The idea
One of the three plans that grow out of the Bishop Exchange, beside the Climbing Silver and the Rushing Silver, and one the source says professionals play often between static rook players. After the bishops come off, each side brings its right silver to the fifth file on its own fourth rank, 5f for Black and 5d for White: a silver sitting there, as if on a chair, is the name.
Both kings then walk to mirror squares, 7i and 3a, the knights come up to 3g and 7c, and the two camps end as mirror images of each other. The source’s summary of what follows is short: Black attacks and White defends, and the fight begins when Black pushes a pawn to be taken.
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 | △８四歩 8c8d | Open the bishop’s diagonal. White pushes the rook’s pawn: White plays static rook. |
| 3 | ▲２六歩 2g2f | △３二金 4a3b | |
| 5 | ▲２五歩 2f2e | △８五歩 8d8e | |
| 7 | ▲７七角 8h7g | △３四歩 3c3d | The bishop steps up to 7g, where it can be taken once White opens its diagonal. |
| 9 | ▲８八銀 7i8h | △７七角成 2b7g+ | The silver comes to 8h so the recapture is ready. White takes on 7g: the Bishop Exchange. |
| 11 | ▲同銀 8h7g | △２二銀 3a2b | The silver takes back. Both sides now hold a bishop in hand. |
| 13 | ▲７八金 6i7h | △３三銀 2b3c | |
| 15 | ▲３八銀 3i3h | △７二銀 7a7b | |
| 17 | ▲４六歩 4g4f | △６四歩 6c6d | The fourth-file pawn goes up to make a path for the right silver. |
| 19 | ▲４七銀 3h4g | △６三銀 7b6c | The silver to 4g, one step from its seat. |
| 21 | ▲５八金 4i5h | △５二金 6a5b | |
| 23 | ▲３六歩 3g3f | △７四歩 7c7d | |
| 25 | ▲６八玉 5i6h | △５四銀 6c5d | The king starts toward 7i. White’s silver takes its seat on 5d. |
| 27 | ▲５六銀 4g5f | △９四歩 9c9d | And Black’s on 5f: both silvers on the fifth file. |
| 29 | ▲９六歩 9g9f | △１四歩 1c1d | |
| 31 | ▲１六歩 1g1f | △４二玉 5a4b | |
| 33 | ▲７九玉 6h7i | △３一玉 4b3a | The king arrives on 7i. |
| 35 | ▲３七桂 2i3g | △７三桂 8a7c | The knight up to 3g. And White’s to 7c. The camps are mirror images; this is where the source’s line stops. |
The plan once you are set up
- Finish the shape first. In the source’s order both kings, both knights and all four edge pawns are in place before anything happens.
- As Black you are the attacker: the fight starts when you push a pawn to be taken, to open a file for the pieces behind it.
- As White you are the defender. The source’s summary is that Black attacks and White receives, and that players choose it partly by which of the two they enjoy.
- Both bishops are in hand. Every loose square in your camp is a drop square, the lesson of the Bishop Exchange carried on.
What to watch for
- The bishop drop. With a bishop in each hand, a gold or silver that leaves its post can be caught in a fork.
- Symmetry cuts both ways: any plan you have against White’s camp, White has against yours.
- Theory. The source lists named variations of the symmetric position, the Tomioka line among them; what is above is the shape, not a repertoire. An older line of the same opening, worked out all the way to White’s resignation, is the Kimura Joseki.
What it is played against
Another static rook, and only through the Bishop Exchange: both players have to go along with the trade.
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.