Opening
The opening of shogi is generally slower than that of chess, due to the larger board and less mobile pieces. But since a quick offense will leave a player's home territory open to drop attacks as soon as pieces are exchanged, the aim of the opening is to build up defenses for the king, typically by moving the king to the side in a castle with three generals. Leaving a king on its original square (居玉 igyoku or "sitting king") is a particularly dangerous position.
Both players can move the rook pawn forward, or, more commonly, advance the pawn above and to the right of the bishop. The former is known as a rook opening and the latter a bishop opening. With a bishop opening, it's common to exchange bishops by having one capture the other. This allows each player to put their newly captured bishop into play anywhere on the board. However, it is not advantageous to exchange bishops if your opponent has a better defensive setup, or more lines of attack.
Openings are also classified as static rook (居飛車 ibisha) openings, where the offense is supported by the rook in its original position, and ranging rook (振り飛車 furibisha) openings, where the rook moves to the center or left of the board to support an attack there, typically with the idea of allowing the opponent to attack while arranging a better defense and aiming for a counterattack. However, as the most powerful piece on the board, the rook invites attack, and in most cases, especially for weaker players, it is a good idea to keep the king well away from the rook.
Many common opening attacks involve advancing a silver, and ideally a pawn, along a file protected by the rook. This is the climbing silver attack. Because silvers have more possibilities for retreat, while golds better defend their sides, silvers are generally considered superior as attacking pieces, and golds superior as defensive pieces. It is common practice to defend the king with three generals, two golds and a silver.
Because defense is so important, and because shogi pieces are relatively slow movers, the opening game tends to be much longer in shogi than in International Chess, commonly with a dozen or more moves to shore up defenses before the initial attack is made. There are several strong defensive fortifications known as castles. There are many variations and types of castles which can be used, but it is essential to understand which ones are useful in the current situation and how to compensate for its weak points.
Read more about this topic: Shogi Strategy And Tactics
Famous quotes containing the word opening:
“Nay, be a Columbus to whole new continents and worlds within you, opening new channels, not of trade, but of thought.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“His reversed body gracefully curved, his brown legs hoisted like a Tarentine sail, his joined ankles tacking, Van gripped with splayed hands the brow of gravity, and moved to and fro, veering and sidestepping, opening his mouth the wrong way, and blinking in the odd bilboquet fashion peculiar to eyelids in his abnormal position. Even more extraordinary than the variety and velocity of the movements he made in imitation of animal hind legs was the effortlessness of his stance.”
—Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)
“With two sons born eighteen months apart, I operated mainly on automatic pilot through the ceaseless activity of their early childhood. I remember opening the refrigerator late one night and finding a roll of aluminum foil next to a pair of small red tennies. Certain that I was responsible for the refrigerated shoes, I quickly closed the door and ran upstairs to make sure I had put the babies in their cribs instead of the linen closet.”
—Mary Kay Blakely (20th century)