Openings · 都成流
Tonari.
Let Black exchange rook pawns, answer with the gold to 3a, then bring the bishop to 4d and the silver to 3c, drop a pawn on 2f and swing the rook to 2b.
The idea
This line is White’s, Tonari Ryūma’s trap from his days as an apprentice professional. Itodani Tetsurō presented it in a broadcast, and en.wikipedia calls it the Tonari opening. After Black’s 2f and 2e you play the silver to 3b rather than the bishop to 3c, and let Black exchange on 2d. Then, instead of guarding with a pawn, the gold moves to 3a, where it covers 2a and 2b.
If Black’s rook takes the side pawn on 3d, ja.wikipedia calls the bishop to 4d the key move; after the rook goes back to 2d and you bring the silver to 3c, the rook retreats to 2h, a pawn dropped on 2f shuts it in, and your rook swings to 2b to take the file back. ja.wikipedia’s conclusion, after Iizuka Hiroki’s 2014 book, is that no answer makes it good for Black: correct defence gives a normal game.
The moves have that one source; a guide to the Shogi Wars item confirms the plan in words. It is a different line from Tonari’s form of the Direct Opposing Rook, by the same player.
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 | ▲２六歩 2g2f | △３四歩 3c3d | Black pushes the rook pawn. You open the bishop’s diagonal. |
| 3 | ▲２五歩 2f2e | △３二銀 3a3b | Black pushes on to 2e. The silver to 3b, not the usual bishop to 3c. |
| 5 | ▲２四歩 2e2d | △同歩 2c2d | Black pushes to 2d. You take. |
| 7 | ▲同飛 2h2d | △３一金 4a3a | Black’s rook takes back. The opening’s defining move: the gold to 3a, covering 2a and 2b, instead of a pawn drop. |
| 9 | ▲３四飛 2d3d | △４四角 2b4d | Black’s rook takes the side pawn on 3d. The key move, ja.wikipedia says: the bishop to 4d. |
| 11 | ▲２四飛 3d2d | △３三銀 3b3c | The rook goes back to 2d. The silver to 3c. |
| 13 | ▲２八飛 2d2h | △２六歩 P*2f | The rook retreats to 2h. A pawn dropped on 2f shuts it in. |
| 15 | ▲７六歩 7g7f | △２二飛 8b2b | Black opens the diagonal at your bishop on 4d, offering the trade. The rook swings to 2b and takes the second file back. |
The plan once you are set up
- After Black’s 2f and 2e, play the silver to 3b and let Black exchange on 2d.
- The gold to 3a.
- If the rook takes the side pawn, the bishop to 4d, then the silver to 3c.
- When the rook retreats to 2h, drop a pawn on 2f.
- Swing the rook to 2b.
What to watch for
- If Black promotes the rook on 2c after the silver to 3c, a pawn dropped on 2d and the gold to 2b catch the dragon, but Black gets a tokin and your gold and silver for it.
- If Black plays the pawn to 7f instead of taking the side pawn, trade bishops on 8h, then the silver to 3c, a pawn on 2g after the rook retreats, and a bishop dropped on 4e.
- For the player facing it: the Shogi Wars guide’s advice is not to charge in, but to retreat the rook and build up calmly.
What it is played against
ja.wikipedia, after Iizuka’s book, gives Black the rook promotion on 2c after the silver to 3c: White traps the dragon, but Black’s tokin wins the silver as well, so the rook goes for a gold and a silver.
The Shogi Wars guide recommends calm development instead. Neither source shows White ending up better against correct play.
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.