Ibisha Anaguma Guide: Deepest Static Rook Castle
| Your Strategy | Static Rook |
| Opponent’s Strategy | Ranging Rook |
| Pros | There are no open squares around the king, so it can’t be checked easily. |
| Cons | There are no escape squares for the king and few attacking pieces. |
| Move count | 15 |
The Ibisha Anaguma /居飛車穴熊 (aka The Static Rook Bear-in-the-Hole) is a defensive shogi castle designed to protect the king by moving it deep into the corner of the board, resembling a bear hiding in a hole.
How To Build A Ibisha Anaguma formation
- Open the bishop’s diagonal.
- Advance the right silver and make sure to prepare it for deployment to the battlefield.
- Move the bishop up and bring the king closer to the innermost part of the castle.
- Coordinate the left gold and silver generals to build the castle.
- Move the right gold general up to the second rank to strengthen the position.
As the name “Bear-in-the-Hole” suggests, this strategy involves moving the king deep into the corner of the board and shielding it with gold and silver generals. While the idea is simple, setting it up takes quite a few moves.
The early stages are the same as those for the Funa Gakoi (Boat Castle), so it can be useful to decide whether to switch to the Anaguma or stay with the Boat Castle based on the opponent’s speed of attack.
In Static Rook vs. Ranging Rook battles, one of the most solid castles is the Anaguma.
However, one challenging aspect of building the Anaguma castle is that the bishop blocks the king’s path, so you need to move it out of the way. Moving it to 6-6 or 5-5 makes it easy for the opponent to exchange, so it’s best to move it to 7-7.
If the bishop exchange happens before your Anaguma is fully set up, the opponent might take advantage of that opening. Of course, you will have their bishop as well. This situation is where your strategic skills come into play. So, how will you respond?
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