Bonanza Castle: A Defense Inspired by Software
| Your Strategy | Static Rook |
| Opponent’s Strategy | Ranging Rook |
| Pros | Strong against attacks from the sides. |
| Cons | Weak against attacks from above. |
| Move count | 6 |
Are you familiar with Bonanza? The Bonanza Castle got its name because it was frequently used by the shogi software Bonanza in the past. However, in more recent versions of Bonanza, this strategy seems to be rarely used.
This castle isn’t very practical in real games and is almost never played by professional shogi players.
How To Build A Bonanza formation
- Open the bishop’s diagonal and initiate a bishop exchange.
- Advance the silver general to block the open path and defend against bishop attacks.
- Position the king in the castle’s key location.
- Place two gold generals next to the king.
The Bonanza Castle is designed for bishop exchanges. After creating the Boat Castle, one option is to move to the Bonanza Castle once the exchange occurs. It’s important to be careful not to give your opponent any chances to drop their bishop while building your defense.
In the Bonanza Castle, the two gold generals are placed next to each other, resembling the Kinmusou Castle formation (aka Gold Excelsior or Peerless Golds) used in the Double Ranging Rook strategy.
Why do we set them up like this? It’s to prevent the opponent from having any opportunities to drop their bishop.
Keep in mind that the pieces in the Bonanza Castle are arranged in an L-shape.
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