Openings · 横歩取り△３三桂
Side Pawn Knight-33.
Block Black’s bishop trade with the knight on 3c instead of the bishop, and keep the bishop for later.
The idea
This line is White’s. After Black’s rook takes the side pawn you have to stop the bishop trade on 2b. The knight on 3c does it and leaves your bishop on its diagonal: when the knight later jumps to 4e, the bishop’s line opens all at once, Shogi Wars says.
Your rook, bishop and knight are harder to use than in the Bishop-33 line, which is why it was long seen as a surprise opening, until Kitamura Masao took it up in 1981 (it is also called the Kitamura line) and Yashiki Nobuyuki beat Morishita Taku with it in the 1990 Kisei match.
Against Black’s rook back to 3f you can pull your rook back to 8d and build a game like the Twisting Rook. The modern answer, the king to 5h, keeps Black’s rook on 3d, so your rook can no longer come back to 8d and the knight jump is gone; ja.wikipedia calls it the strong answer. Shogi Wars says the line declined after Black found the attack on the edge shown here.
From Black’s edge pawn push on, the moves rest on two amateur blogs, which agree up to the lance on 1e; the last three moves, your rook given for the bishop and your bishop dropped on 1f, are one blog’s.
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 | △８四歩 8c8d | Black pushes the rook pawn. You push yours. |
| 5 | ▲２五歩 2f2e | △８五歩 8d8e | Black’s pawn to 2e. Yours to 8e. |
| 7 | ▲７八金 6i7h | △３二金 4a3b | Black’s gold to 7h guards the bishop’s head. Your gold to 3b guards yours. |
| 9 | ▲２四歩 2e2d | △同歩 2c2d | Black pushes the pawn on to 2d, to exchange it. You take. |
| 11 | ▲同飛 2h2d | △８六歩 8e8f | Black’s rook takes back. You exchange on your side too. |
| 13 | ▲同歩 8g8f | △同飛 8b8f | Black takes. Your rook takes back. |
| 15 | ▲３四飛 2d3d | △３三桂 2a3c | Black’s rook takes the side pawn on 3d. It now threatens to trade bishops on 2b, winning a gold or making a dragon. The opening’s move: the knight to 3c blocks the trade, and your bishop waits behind it on 2b. |
| 17 | ▲５八玉 5i5h | △１四歩 1c1d | Black’s strong answer: the king to 5h. The rook stays on 3d, so your rook cannot come back to 8d, and the knight jump to 4e is gone. The edge pawn to 1d, opening a way out for the bishop through 1c. |
| 19 | ▲１六歩 1g1f | △６二玉 5a6b | Black pushes its edge pawn, aiming at the pawn to 1e. Your king to 6b, away from the edge. |
| 21 | ▲１五歩 1f1e | △同歩 1d1e | Black pushes on to 1e. You take. |
| 23 | ▲１二歩 P*1b | △同香 1a1b | A pawn dropped on 1b, at the lance. The lance takes. |
| 25 | ▲１三歩 P*1c | △同角 2b1c | Another pawn dropped, on 1c. The bishop takes, not the lance: a lance in Black’s hand could be dropped on 8g, at your rook. |
| 27 | ▲１五香 1i1e | △８八飛成 8f8h+ | Black’s lance runs up to 1e, at the bishop. You give the rook for Black’s bishop on 8h, promoting. |
| 29 | ▲同銀 7i8h | △１六角 B*1f | Black’s silver takes back. A bishop dropped on 1f, behind the lance, at the rook on 3d and the gold on 4i. One blog calls it your hoped-for counter, and its own continuation ends unclear. |
The plan once you are set up
- After Black’s rook takes the side pawn, jump the knight to 3c.
- If Black plays the rook to 2d instead of a king move, look at the knight jump to 4e at once.
- Against the king to 5h, push the edge pawn to 1d to give the bishop a way out through 1c.
- Move the king to 6b, away from the edge.
- When Black attacks the edge, take with the bishop, then give your rook for Black’s bishop and drop a bishop on 1f.
What to watch for
- The rook to 2d and the knight to 4e: ja.wikipedia says the knight jump leaves Black badly off, but another source answers with the rook to 2e and calls Black slightly better.
- The edge attack. Take the pawn on 1c with the bishop, not the lance: a lance in Black’s hand could be dropped on 8g, at your rook.
- The silver to 4b instead of the king move guards the knight on 3c; Black then plays the rook to 2d first and comes back to the edge later.
What it is played against
Black steps the king up to 5h and leaves the rook on 3d, then pushes the edge pawn and drops pawns on 1b and 1c to pull your pieces onto the edge before the lance runs up. Black can also pull the rook back to 3f for a quiet game.
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.