Openings · 菅井流三間飛車
Sugai Third File Rook.
Start like the Sakata Opposing Rook, take back on 3c with the gold, then put the rook on 3b behind it instead of on 2b.
The idea
This line is White’s, and it begins exactly like the Sakata Opposing Rook: after Black’s 7f, 2f and 2e you play the left gold to 3b and the bishop to 3c, and when Black trades bishops you take back with the gold. The Sakata Opposing Rook now swings the rook to 2b; Sugai Tatsuya swung it to 3b, behind the gold.
The plan the sources give is to push the pawn to 3e, bring the gold up to 3d and the knight to 3c, and win Black’s pawn on 2e. ja.wikipedia says that whether that gold becomes active decides the game.
Sugai played it in game 5 of the 2017 Ōi title match against Habu Yoshiharu, the game that won him his first title, and ja.wikipedia notes that Sekine Kinjirō had tried the shape in 1936.
Sugai has many ideas called 菅井流; this is the one Shogi Wars awards under this name, and the open-diagonal Third File Rook with the centre pawn pushed, from the same title match, is a different opening. No source gives a line for both sides beyond the swing, so the page stops there.
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 trades bishops. The gold takes back: the gold on 3c, as in the Sakata Opposing Rook. |
| 9 | ▲６八玉 5i6h | △３二飛 8b3b | Black’s king steps to 6h. The rook swings to 3b, behind the gold and guarding it. The Sakata Opposing Rook goes to 2b here. |
The plan once you are set up
- Answer 7f, 2f and 2e with the left gold to 3b and the bishop to 3c.
- Take back with the gold when Black trades on 3c.
- Swing the rook to 3b.
- Push the pawn to 3e, then bring the gold to 3d and the knight to 3c, aiming at Black’s pawn on 2e.
- Castle on the right, with the king toward 8b, as the sources’ later diagrams show.
What to watch for
- The gold and the rook are in each other’s way until the pawn and the gold move up. thirdfilerook.jp calls untangling them the hard part.
- The gold has to earn its place: ja.wikipedia says the game turns on whether the gold on 3d becomes active.
- Which 菅井流. The open-diagonal Third File Rook with the centre pawn pushed is another opening.
What it is played against
A static rook that has pushed the rook pawn to 2e early and trades bishops on 3c, as against the Sakata Opposing Rook. ja.wikipedia: Black then plays for White’s king, while White plays on the second to fourth files.
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.