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Hey everyone, this is hirohiigo, back with another Shogi Proverbs video.
This proverb is separated into two parts, so I'm going to present each part one at a time.
And then, at the end, I'll show an in-game example of how to apply the whole proverb to a shogi game.
The first part is, "Defend the King with 3 Generals;" a silver and two golds.
There are 2 major reasons for keeping these pieces in your own camp.
The first reason is, since they have a very limited movement range,
if you try to bring them all into your opponent's camp,
it'll take too long, and you'll simply give your opponent the initiative.
The second reason is because, although they have limited movements, they have
a wide local defense range,
meaning they can defend a wide area around themselves.
So, in its initial position, the golds can defend these areas.
Along with covering the squares around the King, the Generals also do a good job of defending each other.
If you look at the most popular castles (Yagura, Mino, and Anaguma),
you'll find that they all fulfill this proverb perfectly.
So, in Yagura,
See, 3 Generals.
In Mino Castle...
Same thing.
And, of course, in Anaguma Castle.
Same thing.
The next part of the proverb is, "Attack with the Rook, the Bishop, the Silver, and the Knight."
Once again this also serves two purposes.
Firstly, although the Rook, Bishop, and Knight have a pretty wide movement range,
(they can move pretty far),
they don't defend enough squares - I'm sorry - they don't attack enough squares
in order to serve as a proper defense.
The Silver works as an attacker because although it's a general,
it can move between the pawns like this very easily,
unlike the gold, which just gets stuck here and can't go to these squares.
The second reason for attacking with these pieces is because it leave you with less idle pieces
as the game progresses.
The Knight is especially susceptible to your opponent's Bishop if it remains an idle piece.
Okay, let's go on with the in-game example.
This game is proceeding with Yagura Opening.
For a detailed explanation of Yagura Opening, you should watch HIDETCHI's video
in his great video series, "Shogi Openings," which I will link to in this video's description.
Now this castle is actually called Crab Castle, and some games can be played using just this.
You see, it fulfills proverb's requirement of 3 Generals.
And, although this Silver looks like it's doing a job of defense, it's actually simply preparing for an attack
on the second file, like this.
Like this.
And now the defensive part of the opening is finished, and they're preparing for the attack.
As you can see, both sides are utilizing both parts of the proverb.
The Knight has lept to here, the silver is preparing to attack,
the Bishop is preparing to attack along with the Silver, and the Rook is bearing down in this file.
I'm sorry - on this file.
And the same thing is being done with White's pieces.
You see, the Rook is attacking here, the Knight has lept to here,
the Bishop is attacking here and also here.
And the Silver is just waiting for this Knight to move.
There are very few exceptions to this proverb.
For example, if with Fujii's System or castling into Right-Hand King, the strategies don't exactly work like this.
However, that's an advanced line of play, and you should stick to the basics for now.
Like the last few, this proverb should be used - I'm sorry - this proverb should be memorized before you start playing shogi.
That's all for today, thanks for watching, and I hope to see you next time.