shogi , also known as Japanese chess, is a strategy board game for two players. It is one of the most popular board games in Japan and is in the same family of games as Western chess, ''chaturanga, Xiangqi'', Indian chess, and '' janggi''. ''Shōgi'' ...

, King's Head Vanguard Pawn or King's Side Vanguard Pawn (玉頭位取り ''gyoku tō kuraidori'') is a

Static Rook Static Rook (居飛車 ''ibisha'') openings in shogi typically have the player's rook at its start position, which is the second file (on the 28 square) for Black and the eighth file (on the 82 square) for White. Explanation Static Rook is a ...

opening Opening may refer to: * Al-Fatiha, "The Opening", the first chapter of the Qur'an * The Opening (album), live album by Mal Waldron * Backgammon opening * Chess opening * A title sequence or opening credits * , a term from contract bridge * , ...

. This opening utilizes a

Boat castle In shogi, castles ( ja, 囲い, translit=kakoi) are strong defensive configurations of pieces that protect the king ( ja, 玉). In contrast to the special castling move in western chess, shogi castles are structures that require making multiple ...

in which the king (if played by Black) is positioned on 78 square. The pawn referred to then is the one on the seventh file that is originally at the head of the castled king (77). The term vanguard pawn (位取り ''kuraidori'', literally "position taking") refers to a positioning of a pawn advanced to the middle rank supported by generals as a

phalanx The phalanx ( grc, φάλαγξ; plural phalanxes or phalanges, , ) was a rectangular mass military formation, usually composed entirely of heavy infantry armed with spears, pikes, sarissas, or similar pole weapons. The term is particularly use ...

-like attacking formation. This pawn becomes a vanguard pawn by advancing to the middle rank 5 (75 square) supported by the left silver at the 76 square.

Overview

In the case of Black, the silver takes position at the 7th file, and is placed at 76. If the game is played well, it will be difficult for the

ranging rook Ranging Rook or Swinging Rook (振り飛車 ''furibisha'') openings in shogi position the rook to the center or left of the player's board to support an attack there. Ranging Rook strategies used in Ranging Rook vs Static Rook are among the old ...

side to make progress in castling and to utilize the right knight. On the other hand, the static rook's king will have wide room, and it will be in a thick formation that cannot be easily defeated, and there will be no shortage of attacks available from the position. In actual play, as seen in the diagram, there are cases in which the game is also played from the 8th or 6th files. The winning pattern of this strategy is basically to avoid fighting in the opening of the game and to keep the positions alive from the middle-game to the endgame. If multiple positions are gained, then the player can show an attack on the king's head to put pressure on the opponent while gathering pieces for the endgame. However, it is said to have the disadvantage that it takes a lot of moves until the formation is completed, and the king's line is unstable in the middle of the move, allowing a

Fourth File Rook In shogi, Fourth File Rook (四間飛車 ''shikenbisha'') is a class of Ranging Rook openings in which the rook is initially positioned on the fourth file if played by White or the sixth file if played by Black. History The earlie ...

to attack first with S-44 and P-55, and allowing a

Third File Rook In shogi, Third File Rook (三間飛車 ''sangenbisha'' or ''sankenbisha'') is a class of Ranging Rook openings in which the rook is positioned on the third file if played by White or the seventh file if played by Black. Types There are two ba ...

to switch to Ishida style, and also allowing Ranging Rook to set up a position to its advantage. To escape the pressure, building an Anaguma castle is also a strong countermeasure. Although it is very similar to a

Static Rook Anaguma In shogi, Bear-in-the-hole Static Rook or Anaguma Static Rook (居飛車穴熊 ''ibisha anaguma'') is a Static Rook opening that utilizes a Bear-in-the-hole castle. It is typically played against Ranging Rook opponents. vs Fourth File Rook, ...

as a tactic that prevents a sudden turnover once it becomes advantageous, it is also a fact that Anaguma, which has the characteristic of being very hard to checkmate, can simplify the reading at the endgame. When the superiority of

became apparent, it became relatively obsolete, and the number of times King's Vanguard Head appears in professional tournaments has decreased drastically. During the heyday of the

Fujii System In shogi, the Fujii System (藤井システム ''fujii shisutemu'') is a set of Fourth File Rook strategies used against various Static Rook strategies. It was created as a way to attack Static Rook Anaguma castle positions. It is named after Ta ...

, there was a possibility that it would become popular again as an endurance strategy for Static Rook, but it never regained its mainstream position as an endurance strategy due to the decline of the Fujii system.

Introduction

The King's Head Vanguard Pawn position uses a High Silver

Fortress castle Fortress or Yagura (矢倉囲い or 櫓囲い ''yaguragakoi'') is a castle used in shogi. It is considered by many to be the strongest defensive position in shogi in Double Static Rook games. The most common form of Fortress is the Gold Fortres ...

Bibliography

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External links

* Commentary Of Shogi Game's YouTube channel: *
#6 Static Rook King's Head Vanguard Pawn vs Central Rook
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#13 Static rook King's Head Vanguard Pawn vs Fourth file Rook
* Fédération Belge de Shogi
King's Head Vanguard Pawn vs Ranging Rook
* Yamajunn's Basic Shogi Opening: *

§B. Jikyusen lines: (1) Gyokutou Kuraidori *

§Jikyusen lines: (3) Gyoku tou Kurai dori * Yamajunn's Shogi News
Gyokutou Kuraidori
* 戦法図鑑: (list of animated opening diagrams) *

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{{Shogi openings Shogi openings Static Rook openings

Overview

Introduction

See also

Bibliography

External links