Yagura.

Static rook · castles into Yagura · 矢倉 yagura

The idea

When both players keep their rooks on the right, both castle on the left, and the natural castle there is the Yagura. So a Yagura opening is really a whole game type: two symmetrical fortresses, ten quiet moves each, and then an attack on the side where the pieces are. It has been the main battleground of professional shogi for a century and the move orders are studied to great depth. For a beginner the lesson is simpler: build the castle without losing time, and bring the right silver up to 3g to attack.

How it goes together

Every move of the line, with reasons

#	Black	White	Why
1	▲７六歩 7g7f	△８四歩 8c8d
3	▲６八銀 7i6h	△３四歩 3c3d	The left silver first: it will become the 7g wall.
5	▲６六歩 6g6f	△６二銀 7a6b	Closing the bishop diagonal.
7	▲５六歩 5g5f	△５四歩 5c5d
9	▲４八銀 3i4h	△４二銀 3a4b
11	▲７八金 6i7h	△３二金 4a3b	The gold that will stand beside the king.
13	▲６九玉 5i6i	△４一玉 5a4a	The king heads left, one step at a time.
15	▲７七銀 6h7g	△７四歩 7c7d	The front wall.
17	▲７九角 8h7i	△３三銀 4b3c	The bishop steps back out of the king’s way.
19	▲５八金 4i5h	△５二金 6a5b
21	▲６七金右 5h6g	△７三銀 6b7c	The second gold joins the wall on 6g.
23	▲６八角 7i6h	△３一角 2b3a	The bishop settles on 6h, looking down the long diagonal.
25	▲７九玉 6i7i	△４四歩 4c4d
27	▲８八玉 7i8h	△６四歩 6c6d	The Yagura is complete: king 8h, gold 7h, gold 6g, silver 7g.
29	▲３六歩 3g3f	△１四歩 1c1d
31	▲３七銀 4h3g		And the attack begins: the right silver comes up to 3g.

The plan once you are set up

• Build in the order that keeps you safe at every step: silver 6h, golds 7h and 6g, king last. A king that arrives early in a half-built castle is a target.
• Then attack on the right with the pieces that are not in the castle: silver to 3g and 4f, knight to 3g, pawn to 3e. The 4f silver and 3g knight attack is the classic beginners’ plan.
• Trade the bishops only if your castle is finished and theirs is not.
• Attack the opponent’s Yagura where it is thin: the head of the 7g silver, the edge file, the 8f square.

What to watch for

• Move order. Yagura players lose games in the first fifteen moves by playing a natural-looking move a turn too early. Learn one order and keep to it.
• The 6f pawn. Once you have pushed it you cannot easily exchange bishops on your terms.
• A ranging rook opponent. If the rook swings left, the Yagura is the wrong castle; go to a Mino on the left, or into the corner.

What it is played against

Another static rook. Against a ranging rook the same moves lead somewhere else, so check where the opponent’s rook is by move five.