Tateishi Fourth File Rook.

Ranging rook, played by White · castles into Silver Mino, on White’s side · 立石流四間飛車 Tateishi-ryū shikenbisha

The idea

This line is White’s. It begins like any Fourth File Rook: your bishop’s diagonal is closed by the pawn on 4d, the rook goes to 4b, and the king walks right into a Mino on 8b. Then you open the diagonal with the pawn to 4e, and when Black pushes 2e you push 3e instead of guarding with the bishop on 3c.

After the bishops come off, the rook floats up to 4d and moves across to 3d, behind pawns on 3e and 4e: an Ishida, built from a Fourth File Rook. The left gold goes to 3b against bishop drops, and the left silver takes the long way round, to 2b, back to 3a, then 4b, 4c and 5b, where it joins the castle.

The finished king, silvers and gold stand on the squares of the Silver Mino turned round; no source names the castle, so that name is ours. The opening is an amateur’s, Tateishi Katsumi’s, and it won him a special Masuda Kōzō Award, announced in 2004. ja.wikipedia says it drew attention as an answer to the Static Rook Anaguma.

The line follows a 2026 Mynavi column, which calls the final position White’s ideal setup and says Black can play the opening the same way.

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

• Swing the rook to 4b with the diagonal closed and castle: king to 8b, right silver to 7b. Leave the left silver on 3a.
• Open the diagonal with the pawn to 4e. When Black pushes 2e, push 3e rather than guarding with the bishop on 3c.
• Put the left gold on 3b, trade bishops yourself on 7g, and bring the silver to 2b.
• Float the rook to 4d, jump the knight to 3c, walk the silver round by 3a, 4b and 4c to 5b, and move the rook to 3d.
• With the Ishida built, the column’s attack starts on the third file with the pawn to 3f.

What to watch for

• A rapid attack. shogi-joutatsu advises a normal Fourth File Rook instead when the static rook goes for one.
• Black trading bishops first and dropping one on 7g, which stops the rook from floating to 4d. The column’s answer is to bring the gold up to 4c and 3d instead.
• Black exchanging rook pawns on the second file. The column answers with the rook to 2d, offering a trade Black usually declines.
• Time. The silver’s trip and the bishop trade cost moves. The plan works because Black, in a slow castle, has few useful moves while you build.

What it is played against

A slow static rook: the column’s example is a Silver Crown, and ja.wikipedia names the Static Rook Anaguma as the setup it drew attention against.

The column’s main counter for Black is to trade bishops first and drop one on 7g. ja.wikipedia adds that static rook players later found ways to keep their golds on the bottom rank, after which professionals played it less.