Bishop Exchange

In shogi, Bishop Exchange (角換わり or 角換り kakugawari) is a Double Static Rook Bishop Exchange
☖ pieces in hand: 角
opening in which each player's bishop is captured relatively early so that they keep their
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
bishops in hand. 桂香 王金 香桂
1
金 銀飛
2
歩歩銀歩歩歩歩 歩
3
歩
4
Contents 歩
5

1 White's bishop trade with☖85-Pawn 歩 歩 6

1.1 Classic vs modern 歩歩銀歩歩歩歩 歩 7

1.1.1 Modern delayed rook pawn 金 銀飛 8
1.1.2 Classic Bishop Exchange 香桂 玉金 桂香 9
1.2 Transpositions ☗ pieces in hand: 角
1.3 Variations
2 Black's bishop trade with☖22-Bishop ☖32-Gold ☖42-Silver
3 Black's bishop trade with☗25-Pawn
4 See also
5 Notes
6 Bibliography
7 References
8 External links

White's bishop trade with ☖85-Pawn

1. P-76. Black chooses the flexible option of Bishop Exchange Bishop Exchange
activating their bishop. up to move 2 up to move 3
☖ pieces in hand: – ☖ pieces in hand: –
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
1... P-24. White pushes their rook pawn 香桂銀金王金銀桂香 香桂銀金王金銀桂香
1 1
showing their intent to play Static Rook. 角 飛 角 飛
2 2
歩歩歩歩歩歩歩 歩 歩歩歩歩歩歩歩 歩
3 3
Note that if White had opened their bishop 歩 歩
4 4
diagonal (1...P-34) instead of 1...P-24, then a
5 5
Bishop Exchange opening would no longer be
possible since Bishop Exchange openings 歩 6 歩 歩 6

have Black's bishop positioned on 77 followed 歩歩 歩歩歩歩歩歩 7 歩歩 歩歩歩歩 歩 7

by their left silver positioned on the same 77. 角 飛 8 角 飛 8

If White's bishop diagonal is open before the 香桂銀金玉金銀桂香 9 香桂銀金玉金銀桂香 9

☗ pieces in hand: – ☗ pieces in hand: –
Black's bishop has moved to 77, then Black
will not be able to position their silver on 77 in
recapturing White's bishop.

2. P-26. Black mirrors White in activating their rook with a rook pawn push. Thus, the game can now be seen as a Double Static
Rook game.

Bishop Exchange
up to move 4
2... P-85. After the third move by Black, White has a choice between advancing their rook ☖ pieces in hand: –
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
pawn further (2...P-85) or defending the head of their bishop with a gold (2...G-32) from 香桂銀金王金銀桂香
1
Black's possible second file pawn attack. 角 飛
2
歩歩歩歩歩歩歩 歩
The rook pawn option (shown here) is more suggestive of a Bishop Exchange opening 3

since White is threatening to exchange eighth file pawns before Black exchanges pawns on 4
歩
the second file which may lead to White gaining the initiative. 5

歩 歩 6
While Black could advance their rook pawn on the second file as well in response to 歩歩 歩歩歩歩 歩 7
White's 2...P-85, doing so is more suggestive of a Side Pawn Capture opening in 角 飛 8
professional play since modern Bishop Exchange openings generally delay a second file 香桂銀金玉金銀桂香 9
pawn push for later in the game. Therefore, Black's most common response to the White's ☗ pieces in hand: –
rook pawn push is to move their bishop to the seventh file preventing White's pawn
exchange, which usually leads to a Bishop Exchange opening.

White's other option for their second move is 2...G-32. This move is somewhat more flexible than 2...P-85 as the opening at that point
would still be ambiguous between a Bishop Exchange opening (1. P-76 P-84, 2. P-26 G-32, 3. G-78 P-25, 4. B-77 P-34, 5. S-88 ...)
and Side Pawn Capture opening (1. P-76 P-84, 2. P-26 G-32, 3. G-78 P-34 4. P-25 P-85 5. P-24 ...).

Classic vs modern
After White's rook pawn (2...P-85), Black now has two options. The older option found in Classic Bishop Exchange games was to
advance Black's rook pawn (3. P-25) since White's bishop head is unprotected. (See
§ Classic Bishop Exchangebelow.)

However, this move has been replaced in more recent Bishop Exchange games (see § Modern Bishop Exchange (Delayed rook pawn
push) below) where the P-25 option is delayed. Instead, Black protects the eighth file with their bishop (3. B-77).

, a few professional players have played these positions 2015–2017.[1]

Nonetheless, although disfavored and currently not as popular

Modern delayed rook pawn

3. B-77. In modern Bishop Exchange openings, Black moves their bishop to the 77 square
Bishop Exchange
up to move 5
in order to prevent White from exchanging pawns on the eighth file instead of P-25. This ☖ pieces in hand: –
delay of advancing their rook pawn is known as 飛 車 先 保 留 (hishasaki ryūgata) in 9 8
香桂銀金王金銀桂香7 6 5 4 3 2 1
1
Japanese.[a] 角 飛
2
歩歩歩歩歩歩歩 歩
3
4
歩
5

歩 歩 6

歩歩角歩歩歩歩 歩 7

飛 8

香桂銀金玉金銀桂香 9
☗ pieces in hand: –

3. ...P-34. White opens their bishop diagonal Bishop Exchange Bishop Exchange
up to move 6 up to move 7
attacking Black's bishop on 77, which is a ☖ pieces in hand: – ☖ pieces in hand: –
vulnerable position since Black's bishop 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
香桂銀金王金銀桂香 香 桂 銀 金 王 金 銀桂香
1 1
diagonal is also open. 角 飛 角 飛
2 2
4. S-88. Black moves their left silver to
歩歩 歩歩歩歩 歩 歩歩 歩歩歩歩 歩
3 3
defend the bishop. If the bishop is captured,
歩 歩
4 4
then the silver can move to 77 and still keep
歩 歩
5 5
歩 歩 歩 歩
 歩 歩 歩 歩
White from exchanging pawns on the eighth 6 6

file. This is the quintessential position of the 歩歩角歩歩歩歩 歩 7 歩歩角 歩 歩 歩 歩 歩 7

Bishop Exchange opening. 飛 8 銀 飛 8

香桂銀金玉金銀桂香 9 香桂 金玉金銀桂香 9
Black's bishop positioned on 77 is only ☗ pieces in hand: – ☗ pieces in hand: –
defended by their left knight (before moving
the silver). If White were to capture the bishop now (4. ...Bx77+), then Black's knight would be forced to capture (5. Nx77). This
would leave the eighth file unprotected from White's rook pawn attack. Therefore, defending the bishop with the silver is important
for defense.

Classic Bishop Exchange

3. P-25. In Classic Bishop Exchange openings, the natural move after White's P-85 was to
Classic Bishop Exchange
up to move 5
likewise advance Black's rook pawn. Since White must defend their bishop head from this ☖ pieces in hand: –
threat, Black need not immediately protect their eighth file with B-77 and could instead 9 8 7
香桂銀金王金銀桂香 6 5 4 3 2 1
1
make 3. P-25. However, the rook pawn push at this early juncture is now becoming 角 飛
2
disfavored by professional shogi players. 歩歩歩歩歩歩歩 歩
3
4

歩
歩
5

歩 6

歩歩 歩歩歩歩 歩 7

角 飛 8

香桂銀金玉金銀桂香 9
☗ pieces in hand: –
Classic Bishop Exchange
3. ...G-32. Since White's bishop diagonal is closed, White must protect their bishop head
up to move 5
(the 23 square) from Black's second file pawn attack by moving their gold to the third file. ☖ pieces in hand: –
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
If White failed to protect 23, then after a pawn exchange, Black can drop their pawn on 23
香桂銀 王金銀桂香
1
capturing White's bishop in a later move. (Cf. the similar case: Double Wing Attack §
角金 飛
2
Blunder: White's failure to defend bishop.)
歩歩歩歩歩歩歩 歩
3
4

歩
歩
5

歩 6

歩歩 歩歩歩歩 歩 7

角 飛 8

香桂銀金玉金銀桂香 9
☗ pieces in hand: –

Transpositions

Variations
After the initial opening, the Bishop Exchange opening has several possible variations that follow:

Reclining Silver
Climbing Silver
Rushing Silver
Each of these use a different right silver strategy

There are also other variations that use different opening move sequences:
 Tempo Loss
Wrong Diagonal
Other variations:

Tomioka Bishop Exchange (富岡流 tomioka-ryuu)

Black's bishop trade with ☖22-Bishop ☖32-Gold ☖42-Silver

A less common variation has White move ☖B22 ☖G32 ☖S42 Black trades bishops
☖ pieces in hand: – ☖ pieces in hand: –
their left silver from the 31 square (where was
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
defending the bishop on 22) to the 42 square 香桂 王金銀桂香
1
王 金 銀桂香 香桂
1
instead of making a bishop trade themselves. 角金銀 飛
2
金銀 飛
馬 2
This positioning leaves the bishop only 歩歩 歩歩歩歩 歩
3
歩歩 歩歩歩歩 歩
3
defended by the gold on 32. If Black does not 歩
4
歩
4
respond to this configuration now, White can 歩
5
歩
5
reject a Bishop Exchange opening with their 歩 歩 6 歩 歩 6
next move by moving the silver up to 33 歩歩角歩歩歩歩 歩 7 歩歩 歩歩歩歩 歩 7
where it forms the initial construction of a 銀金 飛 8 銀金 飛 8
Yagura castle leading to White's likely Yagura 香桂 玉金銀桂香 9 香桂 玉金銀桂香 9
opening where a early bishop trade is no ☗ pieces in hand: – ☗ pieces in hand: 角
longer possible. Since Black's structure is
basically a Bishop Exchange form, transposing to a Yagura position can be awkward. Thus, Black usually initiates the bishop trade at
this point. Although this trade losses tempo, White usually must move their gold from 22 back to 32 for proper defense and must,
therefore, loss a tempo with this move as well resulting in no overall gain in tempo.

Black's bishop trade with ☗25-Pawn

Although Bishop Exchange openings are ☗P25 Black trades bishops
☖ pieces in hand: – ☖ pieces in hand: –
typically characterized by White advancing
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
their rook pawn to the middle rank with P-85, 香桂 王金銀桂香
1
香桂 王 金 銀 桂香
1
which is the move that triggers Black's B-77 銀金 飛
2
銀金 飛
2
defense in the first place, there is a sort of 歩歩角歩歩歩歩 歩
3
歩歩 歩歩歩歩 歩
馬 3
reverse Bishop Exchange opening where 歩 歩
4
歩 歩
4
Black advances their rook pawn up the second 歩 5 歩 5
file to the 25 square, which similarly triggers 歩 6 歩 6
White's to move their bishop to 33. In this 歩歩 歩歩歩歩 歩 7 歩歩 歩歩歩歩 歩 7
case, it is Black (instead of White) that 角金 銀 飛 8 金 銀 飛 8
initiates the bishop trade. 香桂銀 玉金 桂香 9 香桂 銀 玉金 桂香 9
☗ pieces in hand: – ☗ pieces in hand: 角

See also
Bishop Exchange Reclining Silver
Bishop Exchange Climbing Silver
Bishop Exchange Rushing Silver
Tempo Loss Bishop Exchange
Wrong Diagonal Bishop
Static Rook
Notes
a. Note: this delay is also found in modern DoubleYagura games as well even to the point of not moving the rook pawn
up to 26 early (under the term飛車先不突き矢倉 hisha saki futsuki yagura).

Bibliography
Fairbairn, John (1986).Shogi for beginners (2nd ed.). Ishi Press. ISBN 978-4-8718-720-10.
Hosking, Tony (1996). The art of shogi. The Shogi Foundation.ISBN 978-0-95310-890-9.
Kitao, Madoka (2011). Joseki at a glance. Translated by Kawasaki, Tomohide. Nekomado. ISBN 978-4-9052-2501-0.

References
1. http://kyokumen.jp/positions/126994

External links
HIDETCHI's YouTube videos:

Bishop Exchange #1
Bishop Exchange #2
Bishop Exchange #3
Yamajunn's Basic Shogi Opening:

Classical Kakugawari Opening

Kakugawari
Yamajunn's Shogi Opening Traps:

Classical Kakugawari Opening Part 1

Classical Kakugawari Opening Part 2
Classical Kakugawari Opening Part 3
Yet Another Shogi Site:Bishop Exchange: Basics
Shogi in English: Bishop Exchange

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This page was last edited on 27 October 2017, at 01:07.

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