Exploring Kyokumen.jp
Let's see how non- Japanese readers can utilize the site data using our site as an entry point. Several of our site pages have button
The snapshot below is a current (as of July 2024) page configuration for Shogi opening collection (link).
When you open this page, the Shogi board with initial set up will be drawn and there is a dropdown menu from which you can select one of many opening tactics.
Let's say you want to learn about “Happy Center Rook” opening, which is the one listed first on the list.
Once you select it, the board will be loaded with the movement data.
The board is set up to advance several moves to show enough signature of the center rook opening.
You can move forward or backward to see how this formation is created or how the game will be played out. However, for this exercise, let's click on “Search Kyokumen.jp” button instead.
The web browser will open kyokumen.jp in the new tab. If you look at the diagram at the top of the page, you will see the diagram is identical to the board pattern you just clicked from.
Page without user login
Page with user login - More on user login later
First and foremost, note that this site is called "Kyokumen Pedia" and just like Wikipedia, The site articles are of user contributions. This page has a load of information thanks to those contributors.
The text, naturally is in Japanese. you can "try" turning on your browser's language translation on to see what happens. while some text may make sense,all diagrams,kifu notation and Shogi specific terms turns into garbage.
So go back to original Japanese display and we will digest it section by section. Later,we will use chatGPT to get meaningful translation of contents, but not for the wholel page.
First section
The first section shows a diagram and basic summary. It displays strategy used, past game results and computer evaluation of the position as shown. The table is formated as follows.
I will explain what Floodgate" is shortly.
分類 Category | 手合割 Handicap | 平手 Even |
戦型 Opening | ゴキゲン中飛車 Happy Center Rook | |
手番 Turn | 先手番 Sente | |
棋譜統計 サマリー Kifu Stats summary |
最頻到達手(戻る) (return to) Most likely previous move |
6手目 △5二飛まで 6th move △ R-5b |
有名局 Popular games |
▲919勝 - △832勝 |
|
オンライン道場 Online Dojo |
▲695勝 - △555勝 |
|
Floodgate |
▲720勝 - △574勝 |
|
局面評価サマリー Position Evaluation Summary |
現在の結論 Current conclusion |
Current conclusion |
評価値平均 Evaluation summary |
+205 |
Second part Shows game record stats.
These radio buttons select statistics from 3 area.
有名局 | Popular games. This is from Professional and high ranked amateur players games |
オンライン道場 | Online Dojo. These are game record from 81dojo.com of 5 Dans and up. |
Floodgate | This is computer software game exchange. Computer software developers are using this site to train their computer software 24/7 by competing each other |
次の手 Next Move |
採用数 Occurrence |
次の局面 Next Position |
This table shows what was played in next move and its frequency. It also has a link to next position.
From this table, (partially shown below) you can easily see the most popular moves for Sente are S-4h, B+2b,G-7h and G-5h.
|
The table at the right column shows game records.
先手 Sente(Black) | 後手 Gote(White) | 対局日 Date | 棋戦 Event | 次の手 Next Move | 棋譜 Record | ||
東 和男 八段 | ● | ○ | 野島進太郎 アマ | 2018-02-03 | 第31期竜王戦6組ラン... | ▲7八金 | 棋譜 |
Note that game score link is disabled unless you are logged in to the site. See the end of this page for the registration information.
The white circle indicates win. The black circle indicates lost. So, in the case above, Gote won.
The third Section contains commentaries
Now we get into the meat of the page. This is where you need to enlist a help from chatGPT.
Copy the entire section of the commentary section
paste it to chatgpt's "message chatGPT window" Dont hit the up Arrow yet. add the following prompt at the top of the text
Please translate the below Japanese text about game of Shogi into English. Note that these words that follows ☗ and ☖ are Shogi move notation
This prompt tells AI that instead of normal translation, the context of text is Shogi and also make it aware of move notation. Magically, ChatGPT will look inside its knowledge base and figure them out!
Now hit the up arrow. It will start translating.
Diagram Explanation The diagram above shows the basic position of the Cheerful Central Rook strategy. The sequence of moves leading to the diagram is (from the opening move): ☗P-7f ☖P-3d ☗P-2f ☖P-5d ☗P-2e ☖R-5b, etc. Since the opponent has reserved the move ☖B-3c, it appears that the first player can exchange pawns along the rook's file starting with ☗P-2d in the diagram above, but this is a trap.
Candidate Moves
- ☗P-2d: The standard move in the "☗P-2d Early Attack" variation. Leads to a rapid confrontation.
- ☗G-5h: The standard move in the "☗G-5h Super Rapid Attack" variation. Leads to a rapid confrontation.
- ☗G-7h: The standard move in the "☗G-7h Formation" variation. Leads to a more positional battle.
- ☗Bx2b+: The standard move in the "Maruyama Vaccine" variation. Leads to a more positional battle.
- ☗S-4h: The standard move in the "Ultra-Quick ☗S-3g" and "Direct Anaguma" variations.
Cheerful Central Rook Strategy The Cheerful Central Rook strategy is classified as a bishop exchange Ranging Rook opening that doesn't block the bishop's path, making it a pioneering strategy. Despite being a second-player strategy, it has maintained a winning rate of over 50%, causing a major boom in the shogi world. The creator, Masakazu Kondo, was awarded the Masuda Award for recognizing the excellence of this strategy.
Features The main advantage of this strategy is that it can seamlessly transition into a Central Rook with a pawn push to ☖P-5e, making it difficult for the opponent's bishop to be effective. Additionally, when the pawn is advanced to ☖P-5f at the right moment, both the rook and bishop can be active simultaneously, enhancing offensive power. Although it seems like there is a vulnerability for a pawn exchange on the 2nd file, there are countermeasures prepared, such as the bishop exchange followed by ☖B-3c. Therefore, if the opponent insists on a pawn exchange on the 2nd file, there are strategies like ☗G-7h, ☗G-5h, allowing a pawn exchange on the 4th file, or the Maruyama Vaccine (☗Bx2b+) to neutralize the position.
Links to Various Strategies Against the Cheerful Central Rook, the first player can choose between rapid and positional battles, each with its own set of standard moves.
- Rapid Battle
- ☗P-2d Early Attack (favorable for the second player)
- ☗G-5h Super Rapid Attack (no definitive conclusion)
- Morishita's Two Silver Rapid Attack (favorable for the second player)
- Ultra-Quick ☗S-3g (no definitive conclusion)
- Positional Battle
- ☗G-7h Formation (playable for the second player)
- Maruyama Vaccine (no definitive conclusion)
- Direct Anaguma (no definitive conclusion)
Footnotes
- Modern Ranging Rook Navigation: A blog that provides detailed explanations of various strategies.
- Reserving the pawn advance to ☗P-2f is a key point in this rapid attack, so while it is not an immediate attack from the diagram, it is a strong rapid attack against the Cheerful Central Rook and is included in the list.
As you can see, with proper prompting technique, chatGPT can give you pretty good translation. Only thing missing here is somehow it lost reference [1] and [2] for footnotes. You need to mentally add it back.
The Fourth major section is a reference section
This reference section lists two tables. The first table is a list of publication (books) that references this board position along with the link to amazon.jp for purchase.
The second table is position evaluation by various Shogi AI. It lists software name, when the software was tested, what move the software has returned as the best move and depth of evaluation and number of board patterns it evaluated.
評価値 |
ソフト名 |
確認日 Check Date | 最善手 Beset Move | 確認環境 Settings used |
+169 | GPSfish 0.2.1+r2837 | 2015年1月 | ☗4八銀 | 探索深さ:29/40 探索局面数:527,990,986 |
+204 | YaneuraOu KPPT 4.80/aperypaq | 2019年7月 | ☗9六歩☖5五歩 | 探索深さ:34/44 探索局面数:652,385,893 |
+181 | YaneuraOu KPPT(?) 4.80/aperypaq | 2018年3月 | ☗6八玉☖9四歩 | 探索深さ:36/50 探索局面数:884,716,247 |
+266 | dolphin 1/illqha 1.1 | 2019年7月 | ☗4八銀☖9四歩 | 探索深さ:34/49 探索局面数:523,409,974 |
The fifth major section is a listing of Other Kyokumen.jp pages that mentions current page.
By clikcing on each diagram, you will be taken to other pages related to this page
The last section is user notes
You need to be logged in as a member to use this part. You can create your own notes relating to this page.
If you are logged in, you can click on 新規作成 to create a new note.
Site registration for Kifu score links.
You can use this site without log in as a user. However, you will not be able to see links to game scores. Those links takes you to Kifu record for further study. Account registration is free.
On top right corner of the page, you will see the Account registration and |Login link as shown below.
The first link is registration (second link is for log-in). When you click it, the registration page will open. It is pretty much a standard registration page. You can use Browser's ‘translate this page' for easier entry.
Conclusion
Using Google Translator and similar tools, the translation of the page may not be perfect. Therefore, we enlisted the help of ChatGPT, which handled the correct translation of move notation and most Shogi-related terms without any major issues. While it may still not be publication-worthy, in my judgment, it is very close. With this tool in hand, you will gain a lot of insight from this site.
Note also,you can generate SFEN string and copy into clipboard from any Shogiboard on this site (even without search button) by simply clicking copy icon. You can then paste this string in Kyokumen.jp's search page's SFEN input box to search the site.
Note: The idea of using ChatGPT as bolstered translator came from a reddit user cauliflowerthrowaway
This page was originally created 3 months ago and last updated 3 months, 1 week ago