What is the white move after the Black make a first move

Now you know what to do if you are Black (Sente:先手). Then what is the first move by White(Gote:後手)?

White (Gote:後手) basically use the same logic for his first move. Let's take a look

For example. Gote plays 3四歩 after Sente plays 7六歩

This play may look scary.   Yes, you can exchange Bishop any time now.

 

However, look at this board closely. This is after the Black initiated the Bishop exchange. The White's Silver is at 2二, Each pawn at the Bishop path are advanced one square and each has a Bishop on hand. In another word, the Black wasted a turn and now White is ahead of the game by one turn! This kind of thought process is very important in Shogi play.

 

"But," you may ask. "I can then drop my Bishop at 4e. Now it is guaranteed that I can pick up the pawn at 3d, Picking up a pawn is an advantage isn't it?"

That's a good question. Be aware though the Bishop dropped at Non-bishop diagonals (Think about it. The original Bishop location is one line off ) are more difficult to utilize. Also, you need to be very careful about your move from there on. See the next diagram.

OK, you will not be that careless. But remember the bishop on hand at the game beginning is more threatening than the one already on the board.

 

This page was originally created 13 years, 11 months ago and last updated 11 years, 6 months ago