Shogi opening sequences

Below is a list of the more common initial opening move sequences found in professional shogi games.

First move

Out of the 58,214 recorded professional games on Kyokumenpedia (局面ペヂィア), 78% started with a bishop pawn opening (P-7f) and 20% started with a rook pawn opening (P-2f).^[1]

A less common first move (1% of Kyokumenpedia games) is the king's pawn (P-5f).

Other first moves are relatively rare.

Second move

1. P-7f

Out of professional games with the bishop pawn push as the first move (1. P-7f), 57% had White respond by advancing their bishop pawn (P-3d) and 42% responded by advancing their rook pawn (P-8d).

All other second moves occur 1% of the time.

1. P-2f

Out of the rook pawn (1. P-2f ) first move games, 51% had a rook pawn advance as White's response and 49% had a bishop pawn response.

All other second moves occur less than 0.5% of the time.

First 2-move sequence probabilities

To state it in a different way, the probabilities of these 4 common first two-move sequences are the following:

Sequence	p
1. P-7f P-3d	0.443
1. P-7f P-8d	0.332
1. P-2f P-8d	0.102
1. P-2f P-3d	0.098

Third move

1. P-7f P-3d

Out of the 1. P-7f P-3d professional games, for the third move, Black:

• advances their rook pawn (P-2f) 64% of the time,
• advances their sixth file pawn (P-6f) 21% of the time,
• continues pushing their seventh file pawn (P-7e) 5% of the time,
• advances their left edge pawn (P-9f) 3% of the time,
• advances their right edge pawn (P-1f) 2% of the time, and
• advances their right silver to the fourth file (S-4h) 1% of the time.

All other third moves occur 3% of the time.

Playing 1. P-7f P-3d, 2. P-2f ... results in the same board position as a 1. P-2f P-3d, 2. P-7f ... sequence. (See: Transposition (chess).)

The 1. P-7f P-3d, 2. P-6f ... sequence suggests that Black may play a Ranging Rook opening (Opposing, Third File, or Fourth File). (Yagura also may be possible.)

The 1. P-7f P-3d, 2. P-7e ... sequence suggests that Black may play an Ishida opening (Third File, Ranging Rook).

Both the 1. P-7f P-3d, 2. P-9f ... and 1. P-7f P-3d, 2. P-1f ... sequences are relatively noncommittal initial moves. Here, it's as if Black is asking White to determine which opening to play. (These moves also recall the shogi proverb: 手のない時には端歩を突け te no nai toki wa hashifu o tsuke "When there's no (good) move, push an edge pawn".)

1. P-7f P-8d

Out of 1. P-7f P-8d games, common third moves for Black include:

• (S-6h) advancing their left silver to the sixth file (28%),
• (P-2f) advancing their rook pawn (21%),
• (P-5f) advancing their central pawn (15%),
• (R-7h) moving their rook to the seventh file (12%),
• (P-6f) advancing their sixth file pawn (8%),
• (R-6h) moving their rook to the sixth file (6%), and
• (S-7h) advancing their left gold to the seventh file (3%),
• (P-1f) advancing their right edge pawn (3%), and
• (B-7g) advancing their right edge pawn (2%).

All other third moves occur 3% of the time.

Playing 1. P-7f P-8d, 2. P-2f ... results in the same board position as the uncommon 1. P-2f P-8d, 2. P-7f ... sequence.

The 1. P-7f P-8d, 2. S-6h ... sequence suggests that Black might play a Yagura opening (Static Rook).

1. P-2f P-8d

Out of 1. P-2f P-8d games, common third moves for Black include:

• (P-2e) further advancing their rook pawn (93%) and
• (P-7f) advancing their bishop pawn (6%).

Other third moves occur less 0.5% of the time.

Playing the uncommon 1. P-2f P-8d, 2. P-7f ... sequence results in the same board position as the more common 1. P-7f P-8d, 2. P-2f ... sequence.

1. P-2f P-3d

Out of 1. P-2f P-3d games, common third moves for Black include:

• (P-7f) advancing their bishop pawn (88%) and
• (P-2e) further advancing their rook pawn (11%).

Other third moves occur 1% of the time.

Playing 1. P-2f P-3d, 2. P-7f ... results in the same board position as a 1. P-7f P-3d, 2. P-2f ... sequence. (See: Transposition (chess).)

First 3-move sequence probabilities

Below are the joint probabilities of these common 3 move sequences. The following table collapses different sequences that result in the same board position.

Sequence	p
1. P-7f P-3d, 2. P-2f ... / 1. P-2f P-3d, 2. P-7f ...	0.371
1. P-7f P-3d, 2. P-6f ...	0.092
1. P-7f P-3d, 2. P-7e ...	0.020
1. P-7f P-3d, 2. P-9f ...	0.014
1. P-7f P-8d, 2. S-6h ...	0.178
1. P-7f P-8d, 2. P-2f ... / 1. P-2f P-8d, 2. P-7f ...	0.056
1. P-7f P-8d, 2. P-5f ...	0.037
1. P-7f P-8d, 2. S-7h ...	0.026
1. P-2f P-8d, 2. P-2e ...	0.095
1. P-2f P-3d, 2. P-2e ...	0.011

Fourth move

1. P-7f P-3d, 2. P-2f ... / 1. P-2f P-3d, 2. P-7f ...

Out of the 1. P-7f P-3d, 2. P-2f ... / 1. P-2f P-3d, 2. P-7f ... professional games, for the fourth move, White

• advances their fourth file pawn (P-4d) 54% of the time,
• advances their rook pawn (P-8d) 19% of the time,
• advances their central pawn (P-5d) 12% of the time, and
• moves their left gold toward the bishop (G-3b) 9% of the time.

Other fourth moves occur 6% of the time.

The 1. P-7f P-3d, 2. P-2f P-4d and 1. P-2f P-3d, 2. P-7f P-4d sequences suggest that White will play a Ranging Rook opening.

The 1. P-7f P-3d, 2. P-2f P-8d and 1. P-2f P-3d, 2. P-7f P-8d sequences suggest a Side Pawn Capture opening (Double Static Rook).

The 1. P-7f P-3d, 2. P-2f P-5d and 1. P-2f P-3d, 2. P-7f P-5d sequences suggest White will play a Central Rook opening (Ranging Rook).

The 1. P-7f P-3d, 2. P-2f G-3b and 1. P-2f P-3d, 2. P-7f G-3b sequences suggest White wants to play a Bishop Exchange opening (Double Static Rook).

1. P-7f P-3d, 2. P-6f ...

Out of 1. P-7f P-3d, 2. P-6f ... games, common fourth moves for White include:

• (P-8d) advancing their rook pawn (40%),
• (S-6b) moving their right silver toward the center (23%),
• (R-3b) ranging their rook to the third file (9%), and
• (P-3e) further advancing their bishop pawn (8%).

Other fourth moves occur 19% of the time.

The first three moves already suggest that Black will play a Ranging Rook opening.

The 1. P-7f P-3d, 2. P-6f S-6b sequence suggests that White will play a Static Rook opening.

Both the 1. P-7f P-3d, 2. P-6f R-3b and 1. P-7f P-3d, 2. P-6f P-3e sequences suggest that White will also play a Ranging Rook opening (Double Ranging Rook), in particular Third File Rook.

1. P-7f P-3d, 2. P-7e ...

Out of 1. P-7f P-3d, 2. P-7e ... games, common fourth moves for White include:

• (K-4b) castling their king toward the bishop (21%),
• (P-8d) advancing their rook pawn (17%),
• (P-5d) advancing their central pawn (14%), and
• (S-6b) advancing their silver up (14%).

Other fourth moves occur 35% of the time.

1. P-7f P-8d, 2. S-6h ...

Out of 1. P-7f P-8d, 2. S-6h ... games, White usually (99%) advances their bishop pawn (P-3d).

Other fourth moves occur less than 0.5% of the time.

This 4-move 1. P-7f P-8d, 2. S-6h P-3d sequence appears to still be a Yagura opening (just like the first 3 moves) with White threatening Black's bishop.

1. P-7f P-8d, 2. P-2f ... / 1. P-2f P-8d, 2. P-7f ...

Out of 1. P-7f P-8d, 2. P-2f ... / 1. P-2f P-8d, 2. P-7f ... games, common fourth moves for White include:

• (P-8e) further advancing their rook pawn (62%),
• (G-3b) moving their left gold toward the bishop (32%), and
• (P-3d) advancing their bishop pawn (5%).

The 1. P-7f P-8d, 2. P-2f P-3d sequence results in the same board position as the 1. P-7f P-3d, 2. P-2f P-8d; 1. P-2f P-3d, 2. P-7f P-8d; and 1. P-2f P-8d, 2. P-7f P-3d sequences – all of which suggest a Side Pawn Capture opening (Static Rook).

The 1. P-7f P-8d, 2. P-2f G-3b and 1. P-2f P-8d, 2. P-7f G-3b sequences suggest the possibility of a Bishop Exchange opening (Double Static Rook).

1. P-7f P-8d, 2. P-5f ...

Out of 1. P-7f P-8d, 2. P-5f ... games, common fourth moves for White include:

• (P-8e) further advancing their rook pawn (59%),
• (P-5d) advancing their central pawn (22%), and
• (P-3d) advancing their bishop pawn (18%).

Other fourth moves occur 2% of the time.

1. P-7f P-8d, 2. S-7h ...

Out of 1. P-7f P-8d, 2. S-7h ... games, White usually (98% of the time) advances their bishop pawn (P-3d).

Other fourth moves occur 2% of the time.

1. P-2f P-8d, 2. P-2e ...

Out of 1. P-2f P-8d, 2. P-2e ... games, White usually (96% of the time) further advances their rook pawn (P-8e).

Other fourth moves occur 4% of the time.

This sequence suggests a Double Wing Attack opening (Static Rook). (It's possible that this could also transition to other Static Rook openings.)

1. P-2f P-3d, 2. P-2e ...

Out of 1. P-2f P-3d, 2. P-2e ... games, White usually (97% of the time) moves their bishop to the third file (B-3c).

Other fourth moves occur 3% of the time.

First 4-move sequence probabilities

Below are the joint probabilities for these 4-move sequences.

Sequence	p
1. P-7f P-3d, 2. P-2f P-4d / 1. P-2f P-3d, 2. P-7f P-4d	0.1990
1. P-7f P-3d, 2. P-2f P-8d / 1. P-2f P-3d, 2. P-7f P-8d / 1. P-7f P-8d, 2. P-2f P-3d / 1. P-2f P-8d, 2. P-7f P-3d	0.1084
1. P-7f P-3d, 2. P-2f P-5d / 1. P-2f P-3d, 2. P-7f P-5d	0.0430
1. P-7f P-3d, 2. P-2f G-3b / 1. P-2f P-3d, 2. P-7f G-3b	0.0341
1. P-7f P-3d, 2. P-6f P-8d	0.0372
1. P-7f P-3d, 2. P-6f S-6b	0.0213
1. P-7f P-3d, 2. P-6f R-3b	0.0087
1. P-7f P-3d, 2. P-6f P-3e	0.0075
1. P-7f P-3d, 2. P-7e K-4b	0.0042
1. P-7f P-3d, 2. P-7e P-8d	0.0034
1. P-7f P-3d, 2. P-7e P-5d	0.0028
1. P-7f P-3d, 2. P-7e P-6b	0.0027
1. P-7f P-8d, 2. S-6h P-3d	0.1771
1. P-7f P-8d, 2. P-2f P-8e / 1. P-2f P-8d, 2. P-7f P-8e	0.0350
1. P-7f P-8d, 2. P-2f G-3b / 1. P-2f P-8d, 2. P-7f G-3b	0.0182
1. P-7f P-8d, 2. P-5f P-8e	0.0216
1. P-7f P-8d, 2. P-5f G-3b	0.0079
1. P-7f P-8d, 2. P-5f P-3d	0.0064
1. P-7f P-8d, 2. S-7h P-3d	0.0255
1. P-2f P-8d, 2. P-2e P-8e	0.0913
1. P-2f P-8d, 2. P-7f P-8e	0.0041
1. P-2f P-8d, 2. P-7f G-3b	0.0021
1. P-2f P-3d, 2. P-2e B-3c	0.0107

References

Bibliography

• "Kyokumenpedia" 局面ペディア [Kyokumenpedia]. Kyokumenpedia (in Japanese). Team ISCube. 2016. : Many shogi games (professional, online, AI) put into a decision tree structure with user-generated commentary and references and some opening classifications.