Shogi King

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Castles

Step through how each castle is built, one move at a time. Only the builder's moves are shown — the opponent stands still — so you can see the shape form. In a real game you play these between your opponent's moves, and the order bends to what they do.

Yagura castle

Yagura 矢倉

yagura · Fortress

The classic castle when both players play static rook: a tall wall of three generals in front of the king.

Strong
Attacks from the front — exactly where a static-rook opponent comes.
Weak
Slow to build, and open from the side and from the bishop's diagonal while it is going up.

Move order

  1. Open the bishop's diagonal and start the wall.
  2. The left silver heads for g3.
  3. Room for the gold to climb to f3.
  4. The central pawn frees e3 for the bishop's route out.
  5. The right gold starts across.
  6. The left gold takes its final square.
  7. Gold to f3: the first half of the wall.
  8. Silver to g3: the wall is complete.
  9. The king starts its walk.
  10. The bishop steps back out of the king's way…
  11. …and out to d4, the classic Yagura bishop square.
  12. King to g1.
  13. King to h2. The Yagura is built.

Why castles matter and how to choose one: the castles lesson · see which castles players here actually reach in the opening explorer.