Snowroof

In shogi, Snowroof (雁木 gangi, lit. 'goose-wooden') is a less common Static Rook opening that characteristically uses a Snowroof castle.

Snowroof was invented during the Edo era by Koreyasu Higaki (檜垣是安).

It is named after an architectural roofing feature (雁木造) of buildings in Niigata Prefecture.

Characteristics

Snowroof Castle
△ pieces in hand: –
987654321 
         a
         b
         c
         d
         e
  歩歩歩    f
歩歩 銀銀    g
 角金 金    h
香桂 玉     i
▲ pieces in hand: –

For Black (先手), this castle positions the king on the 6i square while two golds are at the ears of king (7h, 5h) and the two silvers are on 6g and 5g. The Snowroof castle is strong from headlong attacks from above especially headlong attacks around the central file.

Naitō notes that the Snowroof was once very popular and had a reputation for being very difficult for a Yagura opponent to defeat. However, by 1981, the Snowroof had become less popular because after the Snowroof's opponent trades off their rook pawn, the head of Snowroof player's bishop is vulnerable as it is only defended by an adjacent gold.

One way to improve upon the Snowroof castle's weakness is to develop it into a Silver Yagura. A Silver Yagura is also structurally more flexible than the typical Gold Yagura. However, building a Silver Yagura from a Snowroof castle takes several moves. Thus, taking this Snowroof to Silver Yagura approach will probably leave a player to having a strictly defensive position.

The basic Snowroof formation can transition to a Right King-like structure in which the king and right gold move upward to the fourth file.

Initially, the bishop (角) remains on its starting square, 8h. In attack development, this bishop is often moved to the 2f square via three moves passing through B-7g and B-5i.

Attacking on the fourth file is common by moving the rook to that file supporting an advancing right silver. However, it is also possible to attack on the third file (Sleeve Rook).

Double Snowroof

Double Snowroof
△ pieces in hand: 歩
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香桂   王 桂香a
 飛  金金角 b
    銀銀   c
歩 歩歩歩歩歩 歩d
         e
歩 歩歩歩歩歩 歩f
 歩 銀銀    g
 角金 金  飛 h
香桂 玉   桂香i
▲ pieces in hand: 歩

The Double Snowroof (相雁木 ai-gangi) opening has both players utilizing Snowroof castles.

This is an older opening used in the 20th century up until the end of World War II after which it lost popularity.

Double Snowroof can be developed from an older variant of the Double Wing Attack opening that uses advanced pawns on the central file supported by the right silver.

Manga

The Snowroof castle is depicted in the manga 81Diver as used by Nicogami, an old man who, in the story, once beat a pro with it. Later on, the Snowroof is used by the protagonist Sugata, as a weapon to "fight" other shogi shinkeshi.

See also

Bibliography

References

  1. ↑ https://shogidb2.com/games/ea97545f8046ae1bb6b09c9323cee76ece1d45e8


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