Iijima Bishop Pullback
In shogi, Iijima Bishop Pullback or Iijima-style Back Bishop (飯島流引き角 Iijima-ryuu hiki kaku) is a less common Static Rook (居飛車) opening (戦法) used against a Ranging Rook (振り飛車) opponent. It has been used in Black (先手) and White (後手) positions.
It is characterized by not opening the bishop's diagonal (角道) with a pawn (歩) push (P-3d or P-7f) and instead moving the bishop (角) back (to 3a if played by White or 7i if played by Black) so that it can then exit one's camp via the central (5th) file, which has been opened by advancing the central pawn. With the bishop out of way, it possible to castle the king (玉) into a Left Mino castle.
The opening is named after professional player Eiji Iijima (飯島栄治) who has won a shogi award for developing such tactics.
The example here is an Iijima Bishop Pullback position played by White against a Central Rook (中飛車) position played by Black.
White first suggests their intention to play a Static Rook position while Black hints at a Central Rook position.
After pushing their rook (飛) pawn the mid rank, Black shows their clear intention for Central Rook.
From this point, White starts the Iijima Bishop Pullback development by moving their left silver (銀) straight up to make way for a space in which to pull back their bishop. Black starts castling their king rightward, and White pulls back their bishop to the a rank, which allows for a possible pawn and bishop exchange on the eighth file.
In later development, White's left silver and right gold have been moved to construct a Left Mino castle.
White's Iijima Bishop Pullback
△ pieces in hand: 歩
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In the last diagram, both players have (1) finished moving their kings into their castles, (2) developed their attacking silvers further, and (3) exchanged their central file pawns.
See also
References
Bibliography
- 勝又, 清和 (2014). 新手ポカ妙手選: 居飛車編. マイナビ出版. ISBN 978-4-83995-058-3.
