Shogi Vault will be moving on to advanced strategies. These strategies, however, will not emcompass the entirety of latest shogi systems. The coming articles will feature strategies that are proven effective even in professional shogi, but they will target a wide audience – from novice-intermediate players to advanced players. The emphasis will be on a sense of clarity and unity in the thinking process. Therefore, each series of articles will feature just one strategy as the main weapon, with probably a couple of sub-weapons to complement its effectiveness.
System 1: Gokigen Central Rook & Opposing Rook
System 2: Static Rook with Emphasis on Knight
System 3: Masuda Ishida & 3rd File Rook
System 4: Static Rook with Emphasis on Silver
System 5: 4th File Rook and Opposing Rook
2008年11月20日
2008年11月13日
Strategy Recommend
In shogi, there are players who prefer Static Rook, and similarly there are players who specialize in Ranging Rook. And even among Static Rook specialists, there are players who never play Side Pawn. As for Ranging Rook, there are players who just play a certain type of Ranging Rook.
The ideal is probably to play all kinds of systems to acquire the varying "senses" required in each system. There are many cases in which applying the "sense" required in one formation leads to the discovery of a good move in another.
The difficulty of playing all formations is that you need to spend time studying each and every significant sequence. A single weakness in a given system forces you to avoid that formation whenever possible. In addition, there is the element of playing style. If you favor one system over another, it makes sense to use the former more often than the latter.
Now, if you are a novice-intermediate player in shogi, what you might want to do is continue using a certain system. This minimizes the time needed to study openings, which allows you to focus more on developing your tactics from the middle-game to end-game. It's never too late to study the various openings afterwards.
In my previous post, I talked about some of the criteria that makes for a system fit for specialization. Effective is a given, and clear-cut is another. You never want to be unsure of what to do during the middle game. In other words. you want your system to have a clear vision.
A system fit for specialization needs a sense of unity. You need to be able to apply your system regardless of what opening formation your opponent chooses.
And one of the systems that meets the requirements above is:
Gokigen Central Rook (alt. Opposing Rook)
Notice that the strategy is for Ranging Rook. If you are to become a specialist in one system, I would recommend Ranging Rook before Static Rook.
With Static Rook, one must learn the Yagura, Bishop Swap, Side Pawn, Wing Attack (just naming the Static Rook openings). You also have to play against Ranging Rook: Central Rook, 4th File Rook, 3rd File Rook, Opposing Rook. That makes eight big categories that you need to study.
With a Ranging Rook strategy like Gokigen, however, all you need to study is mainly Gokigen, and sometimes Opposing Rook and Orthodox Central Rook as alternatives.
For the following couple of months, I hope to concentrate on writing articles on Gokigen Central Rook. Hopefully they come useful.
The ideal is probably to play all kinds of systems to acquire the varying "senses" required in each system. There are many cases in which applying the "sense" required in one formation leads to the discovery of a good move in another.
The difficulty of playing all formations is that you need to spend time studying each and every significant sequence. A single weakness in a given system forces you to avoid that formation whenever possible. In addition, there is the element of playing style. If you favor one system over another, it makes sense to use the former more often than the latter.
Now, if you are a novice-intermediate player in shogi, what you might want to do is continue using a certain system. This minimizes the time needed to study openings, which allows you to focus more on developing your tactics from the middle-game to end-game. It's never too late to study the various openings afterwards.
In my previous post, I talked about some of the criteria that makes for a system fit for specialization. Effective is a given, and clear-cut is another. You never want to be unsure of what to do during the middle game. In other words. you want your system to have a clear vision.
A system fit for specialization needs a sense of unity. You need to be able to apply your system regardless of what opening formation your opponent chooses.
And one of the systems that meets the requirements above is:
Gokigen Central Rook (alt. Opposing Rook)
Notice that the strategy is for Ranging Rook. If you are to become a specialist in one system, I would recommend Ranging Rook before Static Rook.
With Static Rook, one must learn the Yagura, Bishop Swap, Side Pawn, Wing Attack (just naming the Static Rook openings). You also have to play against Ranging Rook: Central Rook, 4th File Rook, 3rd File Rook, Opposing Rook. That makes eight big categories that you need to study.
With a Ranging Rook strategy like Gokigen, however, all you need to study is mainly Gokigen, and sometimes Opposing Rook and Orthodox Central Rook as alternatives.
For the following couple of months, I hope to concentrate on writing articles on Gokigen Central Rook. Hopefully they come useful.
2008年11月12日
Shogi Vault - Advanced Strategy
Greetings.
It's been a year since I've launched Shogi Vault. I've always wanted to give it a try with an English shogi site, partly because shogi has never gained the international attention that it deserves.
Within Shogi Vault, there is still a lot of topics left to cover in the fundamentals department, like piece tesuji, tsumeshogi, position evaluation, etc, etc. However, I have come to think that there is a greater demand for articles on advanced strategies, especially among players overseas.
Instead of serving one hors d'oeuvre after another, I've decided to start cooking the meat. For the past few weeks, I've been preparing stuff for articles on shogi strategies.
And that's when a big question struck me: where to start? Well, the traditional way to study shogi in Japan is to begin with Climbing Silver or Fourth File Rook. But somehow, I get this feeling that the two aren't the best systems for players to start with.
Climbing Silver is a two-step strategy that requires you to reconstruct your attack force during the middle game. Your first attack wave is not meant to crush the opponent; it is actually a preparatory process to launch a heavier assault afterwards.
Fourth File Rook is a system that takes a lot of patience and endurance. Against opponents who choose to attack quickly, you may need to be on the defensive for a long sequence. Against strong castles like the Static Rook Anaguma, you must be careful not to allow the opponent the initiative (Stronger Castle + Initiative = Advantage).
Both Climbing Silver and Fourth File Rook are definitely two very effective systems. However, the two strategies force you to deal with, or worry about, several factors occurring simultaneously. It just seems like too much trouble to go through when you want to concentrate on developing your game. To tell the truth, extremely strong players, even professionals, tend to avoid using Climbing Silver and 4th File Rook for the same reasons. It wears the player out to use systems that require complicated thinking. Everyone wants to think simple if it's effective enough.
Of course, if you are to begin studying shogi, you would like to use a system that actually "works," even against advanced players. Simplicity and Effectiveness will be two important conditions in choosing a strategy. I will continue talking about such strategies in my next post.
It's been a year since I've launched Shogi Vault. I've always wanted to give it a try with an English shogi site, partly because shogi has never gained the international attention that it deserves.
Within Shogi Vault, there is still a lot of topics left to cover in the fundamentals department, like piece tesuji, tsumeshogi, position evaluation, etc, etc. However, I have come to think that there is a greater demand for articles on advanced strategies, especially among players overseas.
Instead of serving one hors d'oeuvre after another, I've decided to start cooking the meat. For the past few weeks, I've been preparing stuff for articles on shogi strategies.
And that's when a big question struck me: where to start? Well, the traditional way to study shogi in Japan is to begin with Climbing Silver or Fourth File Rook. But somehow, I get this feeling that the two aren't the best systems for players to start with.
Climbing Silver is a two-step strategy that requires you to reconstruct your attack force during the middle game. Your first attack wave is not meant to crush the opponent; it is actually a preparatory process to launch a heavier assault afterwards.
Fourth File Rook is a system that takes a lot of patience and endurance. Against opponents who choose to attack quickly, you may need to be on the defensive for a long sequence. Against strong castles like the Static Rook Anaguma, you must be careful not to allow the opponent the initiative (Stronger Castle + Initiative = Advantage).
Both Climbing Silver and Fourth File Rook are definitely two very effective systems. However, the two strategies force you to deal with, or worry about, several factors occurring simultaneously. It just seems like too much trouble to go through when you want to concentrate on developing your game. To tell the truth, extremely strong players, even professionals, tend to avoid using Climbing Silver and 4th File Rook for the same reasons. It wears the player out to use systems that require complicated thinking. Everyone wants to think simple if it's effective enough.
Of course, if you are to begin studying shogi, you would like to use a system that actually "works," even against advanced players. Simplicity and Effectiveness will be two important conditions in choosing a strategy. I will continue talking about such strategies in my next post.