Side Pawn Capture.

Static rook · no castle, on either side · 横歩取り yokofudori

The idea

The name of this opening is a move: the rook capturing the pawn that stands on the side of the board with nothing defending it. It only exists because of what came just before — both rook pawns are exchanged, White has spent two moves capturing on the eighth file, and that is exactly the time Black uses to take the pawn. So Black is a pawn up and behind in development, White is a pawn down with a rook on an open file, and neither king has moved. That last part is the point rather than an oversight: castling costs moves that neither side has to spare. It is the sharpest opening in shogi, and whole systems in it are named after single moves.

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.

The plan once you are set up

• Know one line properly or play something else. This is the one opening here where a half-remembered move order loses on the spot.
• Guard the bishop’s head before anything opens. In a position with no castle, 7g and 3c decide most of the games.
• Spend the extra pawn on tempo rather than on greed. The pawn you captured is worth a move; a second one usually costs two.
• When the position settles, get the king somewhere. A middlegame king on 5i with both rooks active is how these games are lost.

What to watch for

• Bishop drops, on both sides. Once the pawns come off, both bishops have open diagonals and both players usually have a pawn in hand.
• The rook on 3f. It looks safe, and it is the target of half the theory in this opening.
• Your own move order. Swapping two moves here is not an inaccuracy, it is often a lost rook.

What it is played against

Another static rook, and only by agreement: White can decline at several points and often should. Watch a few games before playing one, because this is the professionals’ battleground rather than a beginner’s opening.