Openings · UFO銀
UFO Silver.
In the Double Wing, pull the rook back to 2h, bring the right silver out through 2g to 3f, and once White has defended, castle instead of rushing on.
The idea
The UFO Silver is a Climbing Silver that does not climb straight.
With the rook pulled all the way back to 2h, the right silver goes 3h, 2g, 3f, and from 3f it threatens to jump to 2e and break through on the 2nd file with the rook behind it. ja.wikipedia’s point is that the threat matters more than the attack: White has to defend with the bishop on 3c, the silver on 2b and the gold on 3b, and against that defence the silver jump is held by a pawn pushed to 3e.
So Black stops, leaves the silver on 3f and castles in the Strawberry, having fixed White’s setup first. Shogi Wars adds that the silver on 3f stands ahead of its own pawn and may need to come back to 4g. ja.wikipedia says it appeared in three of the six games of the 2008 Meijin match.
The first fifteen moves here are in two sources; the order of the last twelve has one, and the Wikipedias give the idea and White’s defence in words. Another silver that heads for 3f, from 4g, is the Kusarigama Silver.
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 | △８四歩 8c8d | The rook pawn first. White pushes its rook pawn too: a Double Wing. |
| 3 | ▲２五歩 2f2e | △８五歩 8d8e | The pawn to 2e. White’s to 8e. |
| 5 | ▲７八金 6i7h | △３二金 4a3b | The gold to 7h guards the bishop’s head. White’s gold to 3b guards its own. |
| 7 | ▲２四歩 2e2d | △同歩 2c2d | The pawn on to 2d, to exchange it. White takes. |
| 9 | ▲同飛 2h2d | △２三歩 P*2c | The rook takes back. White drops a pawn on 2c, at the rook. |
| 11 | ▲２八飛 2d2h | △８六歩 8e8f | The rook goes all the way back to 2h: the form for a silver attack. White exchanges its rook pawn. |
| 13 | ▲同歩 8g8f | △同飛 8b8f | Take back with the pawn. White’s rook takes back. |
| 15 | ▲８七歩 P*8g | △８四飛 8f8d | A pawn dropped on 8g pushes the rook away. White floats the rook on 8d, from where it guards its rank as far as 2d. |
| 17 | ▲３八銀 3i3h | △３四歩 3c3d | The right silver to 3h. White opens its bishop’s diagonal. |
| 19 | ▲２七銀 3h2g | △７二銀 7a7b | The silver to 2g. White’s right silver to 7b. |
| 21 | ▲３六銀 2g3f | △３三角 2b3c | The UFO Silver: on to 3f, not straight up the file. From 3f it threatens to jump to 2e. White’s basic defence, the bishop to 3c. Now a silver on 2e would be met by the pawn to 3e. |
| 23 | ▲７六歩 7g7f | △２二銀 3a2b | So build instead: open the bishop’s diagonal. White’s left silver to 2b. |
| 25 | ▲６八玉 5i6h | △４二玉 5a4b | The king to 6h. White’s king to 4b. |
| 27 | ▲５八金 4i5h | The right gold to 5h: the Strawberry, the king on 6h guarding both golds. |
The plan once you are set up
- After the exchange on the 2nd file, pull the rook all the way back to 2h.
- Let White exchange on the 8th file, and drop a pawn on 8g.
- Bring the right silver out: 3h, 2g, then 3f.
- If White ignores it, jump the silver to 2e and push the pawn to 2d.
- If White defends with the bishop to 3c, open your own diagonal and castle: the king to 6h, the right gold to 5h.
What to watch for
- The silver jump against the bishop on 3c. It is met by a pawn pushed to 3e, with White’s rook guarding along its rank, and the attack stops.
- White’s floating rook on 8d guards its whole rank; ja.wikipedia says White usually floats the rook against this attack.
- The silver on 3f stands ahead of its pawn. If White pushes it back, return it to 4g, Shogi Wars says.
What it is played against
White floats the rook on 8d, then plays the bishop to 3c and the silver to 2b with the gold already on 3b, so that the silver jump to 2e can be met by the pawn to 3e.
Against a White who castles first and leaves the 2nd file alone, the silver goes in and the rook breaks through.
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.