Openings · 阪田流向かい飛車
Sakata Opposing Rook.
Put the bishop on 3c, take back with the gold when Black trades, and swing the rook to 2b behind it: the gold leads the attack up the file.
The idea
This line is White’s, and it starts as a double static rook game. After Black’s 7f, 2f and 2e you play the left gold to 3b and the bishop to 3c. When Black trades bishops, you take back with the gold, a shape that usually looks bad, and swing the rook to 2b to face Black’s.
Then the gold climbs the file with the rook behind it: the pawn to 2d, the exchange, and the gold takes on 2d. A Mynavi column sums the opening up as a gold-led attack from the pawn to 2d, the Climbing Gold.
The name comes from Sakata Sankichi, who played it against Doi Ichitarō in May 1919 and won, in what the column says was his only game with it; ja.wikipedia traces the line to an Edo-period book, where Black plays it. Professionals including Itodani Tetsurō and Watanabe Akira have played it as White.
The line follows that column from move one; moves 9 to 15 have 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 | ▲２六歩 2g2f | △３二金 4a3b | Black pushes the rook pawn. The left gold to 3b: so far, a double static rook start. |
| 5 | ▲２五歩 2f2e | △３三角 2b3c | Black pushes on to 2e. The bishop to 3c, guarding 2d. |
| 7 | ▲同角成 8h3c+ | △同金 3b3c | Black takes the bishop. The gold takes back. The gold on 3c is the shape the opening is built on. |
| 9 | ▲８八銀 7i8h | △２二飛 8b2b | Black’s silver to 8h. The rook swings to 2b, facing Black’s: the Sakata Opposing Rook. |
| 11 | ▲６八玉 5i6h | △４二銀 3a4b | Black’s king steps to 6h. The left silver to 4b. |
| 13 | ▲７七銀 8h7g | △５二玉 5a5b | Black’s silver on to 7g. Your king steps to 5b. The column says walking it on to 7b is also possible, but gives Black time to defend. |
| 15 | ▲３八銀 3i3h | △２四歩 2c2d | Black’s right silver to 3h. The attack: the pawn to 2d. |
| 17 | ▲同歩 2e2d | △同金 3c2d | Black takes. The gold takes back on 2d, with the rook behind it guarding it: the Climbing Gold. |
The plan once you are set up
- After Black’s 7f and 2f, play the left gold to 3b, and answer 2e with the bishop to 3c.
- Take back with the gold when Black trades on 3c.
- Swing the rook to 2b.
- Bring the left silver to 4b and the king to 5b, or walk the king on to 7b for a slower game.
- Attack with the pawn to 2d and recapture with the gold.
What to watch for
- A bishop dropped on 5f, Black’s usual reply once the gold has gone up. It aims at 8c and at the pawn on 3d. The column’s answer is the silver to 7b, which stops the promotion on 8c, and it calls the game even.
- ja.wikipedia reports that Toyokawa Takahiro, in a 2010 booklet on the opening, wrote that these quick attacks often fail against strong players.
- A slower king walk to 7b gives Black time to defend the second file with the pawn to 3f and the knight to 3g.
What it is played against
A static rook that pushes the rook pawn to 2e early and takes the bishop on 3c. Black’s usual answer in the sources is the bishop dropped on 5f once White’s gold reaches 2d.
The column shows two White plans from there: letting the bishop promote on 8c while the gold presses on, which it presents as the surprise-attack way, and the silver to 7b, which it calls an even game.
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.