Against a Silver in front of its Pawn, defend with a Pawn.

(Fugoshi-gin niwa Fu de taikou.)


Vocabulary: Fugoshi-gin= Silver that sits directly before its Pawn, niwa= as for, Fu= Pawn, de= with, taikou (taikou-suru= to oppose)

(1)

The Silver on 6d in Diagram 1 is the Fugoshi-gin. Normally a Silver had better be behind its Pawn, but a seemingly rash Silver like this one leads to a certain line of attack, which can be surprisingly fast and effective. It would be useful to know how to cope with it.

White in hand: nothing
  9  8  7  6  5  4  3  2  1
+---------------------------+
|wL wN  *  *  * wK  * wN wL |a
| * wR  *  *  *  * wG wB  * |b
|wP  *  * wP  * wG wS wP wP |c
| *  *  * wS wP wP wP  *  * |d
| * wP wP  *  *  *  * bP  * |e
| *  * bP bP bP bP bP  *  * |f
|bP bP bS bG  * bS  *  * bP |g
| *  * bG  *  *  *  * bR  * |h
|bL bN bB bK  *  *  * bN bL |i
+---------------------------+
Black in hand: nothing
Diagram 1. Up to ... P7e
From Diagram 1, White aims to play P7e to push his Silver even further towards Black's camp. Black should not respond with Px7e. If he does, there will follow Sx7e, P*7f, P8f, Px8f, Sx8f, only to please White.

After Diagram 1:
P6e
Against the rash Silver, align your Pawns up front first. Then counter with a Pawn-push on another file. See for yourself how good it looks when Black plays P6e from Diagram 1, which is the tesuji you should remember.

Moves thereafter:
.....      Sx6e
Px7e     (Diagram 2)

White in hand: P 
  9  8  7  6  5  4  3  2  1
+---------------------------+
|wL wN  *  *  * wK  * wN wL |a
| * wR  *  *  *  * wG wB  * |b
|wP  *  * wP  * wG wS wP wP |c
| *  *  *  * wP wP wP  *  * |d
| * wP bP wS  *  *  * bP  * |e
| *  *  *  * bP bP bP  *  * |f
|bP bP bS bG  * bS  *  * bP |g
| *  * bG  *  *  *  * bR  * |h
|bL bN bB bK  *  *  * bN bL |i
+---------------------------+
Black in hand: P 
Diagram 2. Up to Px7e.
If White plays Sx6e, Black's Px7e will make a famous Silver pincer. Whatever White may play next, Black's P*6f will claim the Silver.

White should not have played Sx6e in the first place. Px7f would have been better. Suppose you are Black, how would you play after White's Px7f? 

Moves thereafter:

Gx7f      S7c
P*7e      (Diagram 3)

White in hand: P 
  9  8  7  6  5  4  3  2  1
+---------------------------+
|wL wN  *  *  * wK  * wN wL |a
| * wR  *  *  *  * wG wB  * |b
|wP  * wS wP  * wG wS wP wP |c
| *  *  *  * wP wP wP  *  * |d
| * wP bP bP  *  *  * bP  * |e
| *  * bG  * bP bP bP  *  * |f
|bP bP bS  *  * bS  *  * bP |g
| *  * bG  *  *  *  * bR  * |h
|bL bN bB bK  *  *  * bN bL |i
+---------------------------+
Black in hand: nothing
Diagram 3. Up to P*7e.
In Diagram 3, Black has two vanguard Pawns on 6th and 7th files. Very gratifying.

To sum it up, against the Fugoshi-gin, arrange your Pawns in a line so that you can resort to counter Pawn push.

(2)

Diagram 1 below shows where White has just played B3a to reinforce the line of attack described in the above section. If Black plays N3g, a rather aimless move, White's P7e will gather momentum.

White in hand: nothing
  9  8  7  6  5  4  3  2  1
+---------------------------+
|wL wN  *  *  * wK wB wN wL |a
| * wR  *  *  *  * wG  *  * |b
|wP  *  * wP  * wG wS wP wP |c
| *  * wP wS wP wP wP  *  * |d
| * wP  *  *  *  *  * bP  * |e
| *  * bP bP bP bP bP  *  * |f
|bP bP bS bG  * bS  *  * bP |g
| *  * bG  *  *  *  * bR  * |h
|bL bN bB bK  *  *  * bN bL |i
+---------------------------+
Black in hand: nothing
Diagram 1. Up to ...B3a.
After the Diagram, if Black responds with P6e, hoping the Sx6e-Px7e attack will work, White will then play Bx7e.

So, from Diagram 1, Black's move should be B5g, which will hold the square 7e in its path, making the power balance on 7e even. 

Moves thereafter:

.....     P7e
P6e    Sx6e
Px7e   Diagram 2

White in hand: P 
  9  8  7  6  5  4  3  2  1
+---------------------------+
|wL wN  *  *  * wK wB wN wL |a
| * wR  *  *  *  * wG  *  * |b
|wP  *  * wP  * wG wS wP wP |c
| *  *  *  * wP wP wP  *  * |d
| * wP bP wS  *  *  * bP  * |e
| *  *  *  * bP bP bP  *  * |f
|bP bP bS bG bB bS  *  * bP |g
| *  * bG  *  *  *  * bR  * |h
|bL bN  * bK  *  *  * bN bL |i
+---------------------------+
Black in hand: P 
Diagram 2. Up to Px7e.
If White persists in playing the same line of attack starting from P7e, Black can apply the same tesuji: P6e. In Diagram 2 above, White's Silver on 6e is about to be captured.

A rash Silver which comes before its Pawn could be beguilingly effective, but there should be a way to cope with it. Be sure to take a good look at the opponent's formation before deciding on your next move.

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