Nakabisha Buraicho: The Heretical Shogi Player Who Devours Edo

Prologue: Awakening

When I opened my eyes, I smelled the earth.

What I felt against my back was not asphalt. It was damp ground. Looking up at the sky, there were no power lines. No signs. No contrails. Instead, wooden row houses lined the street, and I could hear the voices of peddlers in the distance.

"This... has to be a lie."

The man's name, let's call him "Natto-ya," was an ordinary adult male who lived at the foot of Mount Fuji. However, there was one thing that made him different from others.

He was exceptionally good at Shogi.

And he used only one strategy.

Chapter 1: Alone and Penniless

The mid-Edo period. It seemed to be the reign of the eighth shogun, Yoshimune.

Natto-ya was at a loss. His smartphone had become nothing more than a black slab, and the ten-thousand-yen bill in his wallet meant nothing to anyone. The clothes he wore were viewed with strange eyes as "strange fabric from the Southern Barbarians."

He hadn't eaten in three days.

As he crouched in front of the temple gate, a monk called out to him.

"Are you a traveler who has collapsed?"

"I... I have no memory."

That was no lie. He truly had no memories of this era.

He was allowed to stay at the temple. His days were spent chopping wood and cleaning in exchange for food. But even if his stomach was full, his heart was not.

One day, he caught sight of some young monks playing Shogi in the temple's backyard.

The shape of the pieces was slightly different. But the board was the same.

Natto-ya's fingers trembled unconsciously.

Chapter 2: Nakabisha, Initiated

"Would you mind playing a game with me?"

Facing the young monk, the natto seller swung his rook to the 5th file.

Nakabisha (Central Rook).

It is rarely seen in modern professional shogi. In this era of dominant static rook, it is considered a "force-based strategy that deviates from the main line."

But that is exactly what makes it good.

The system of standard openings in Edo-period shogi is completely different from today's. Neither Yagura nor Kakugawari are refined yet. What would happen if a modern amateur 6-dan player went on a rampage with Nakabisha in such an era?

The answer was simple.

Unrivaled.

After wiping out the young monks in five games, the temple's patrons, having heard the rumors, came to challenge him. Merchants, ronin, retired samurai. No matter who came, he crushed them with his Nakabisha.

"There is a monster at that temple."

The rumor spread in the blink of an eye.

Chapter 3: The Darkness of Gambling Shogi

Places called "Shogi Kaisho" (Shogi parlors) were scattered throughout the town of Edo. Ostensibly elegant places for recreation, gambling shogi was rampant behind the scenes.

One rainy night, the natto seller stepped into a Shogi Kaisho in Kanda.

"One game, two silver pieces."

Two silver pieces. In modern value, that is about 3,000 yen. It was the entire amount of his allowance from the temple.

His opponent was a regular at the parlor. A middle-aged merchant who called himself the "Demon of Kanda," specializing in the Static Rook Anaguma.

The natto seller silently placed his rook on the 5th file.

"Nakabisha, is it? How rare."

The demon laughed through his nose.

However, he was only able to laugh during the opening.

A rapid attack from the Nakabisha (Central Rook). Pushing the pawn on the 5th file and concentrating the power of the Rook and Bishop on a single point. This is the prototype of what would be called the 'Gokigen Nakabisha' in modern times. The shogi players of this era do not know this line of attack.

In thirty moves, the demon resigned.

"…One more game."

"With five Silver Generals as a handicap."

That night, the natto seller left the meeting hall with thirty silver coins.

Chapter 4: The Road to Yoshiwara

He had money now.

The natto seller first tidied up his appearance. He bought a neat kimono at a second-hand clothing store and had his hair re-tied. And then, one night—.

He crossed the embankment of Nihon-zutsumi and passed through the Great Gate.

Yoshiwara.

The largest pleasure district in Edo, and the highest cultural salon of the time.

To be honest, the natto seller had come with nothing but ulterior motives. But the moment he stepped inside, he was stunned.

This was not just a pleasure district.

Haiku gatherings were held at the teahouses, and the sounds of shamisen and singing echoed from the rooms. The courtesans exchanged waka poetry with their guests and competed in calligraphy. As for the Oiran, their education was not inferior to that of a daimyo's princess.

"Oh my, is this your first time here?"

The one who called out to him was a mid-ranking courtesan.

"You have a different look in your eyes for a samurai. Are you a gambler?"

"…I am a shogi player."

Shogi? Oh, how unusual. Our brothel owner likes shogi, too. Why don't you play a game with him sometime?

And so, the natto seller would come to infiltrate the inner circles of Yoshiwara through shogi.

Chapter 5: The Shadow of the Meijin

The rumors had grown too large.

There is a man of commoner status who keeps defeating samurai in gambling shogi matches.

This story reached the ears of the Ohashi family, the head of the shogi world.

The shogi world of the Edo period was controlled by three families: the main Ohashi house, the branch Ohashi house, and the Ito house. The title of Meijin was granted by these head families, and to them, a town gambling shogi player was no more than an insect.

However, reports came in that this insect was defeating the head family's disciples one after another.

One day, a messenger came to the natto seller.

The Ohashi family requests a match with you.

The natto seller's spine froze.

Being noticed by the head family—for a shogi player in the Edo period, that could mean either glory or ruin.

But he could not run away.

Because he could only play the Nakabisha (Central Rook) opening.

Chapter 6: The Imperial Match

The Ohashi family estate. A lacquered shogi board placed on the tatami mats.

Sitting across from him was a young prodigy of the Ohashi family. I will withhold his name, but he was a player of such skill that he would later be granted the rank of 7-dan.

Please go easy on me.

The natto seller took a deep breath.

The first move: 5-six pawn.

The declaration of the Nakabisha.

The young man across from me widened his eyes slightly. He must have never seen such an opening. Naturally. In this era, the strategy of shifting the rook to the center is classified as a 'trick move'.

However, trick moves have their own strengths.

They are not in the opponent's research. They are not in the standard theory. They don't know how to respond.

The essence of the Nakabisha lies in dragging the opponent into a 'game of shogi they don't know'.

In the middle game, the natto seller unleashed techniques learned from the modern era. A barrage of pawns from the 5th file, the repositioning of the rook, and indirect attacks using the bishop's line. It was a structure that a shogi player of the Edo period had never seen before.

However—.

The young man was strong.

While receiving unknown attacks, he accurately identified the vital points. Even in positions he had no experience with, he found the best moves through pure reading ability.

Is this the power of the head of the house?

In the endgame, the natto seller played each move as if walking on thin ice.

And then—.

'...I resign.'

It was the young man who bowed his head.

Final Chapter: The Heretical Path of Shogi

After the match against the Ohashi family, the natto seller was approached with a recommendation for the 'Oshiro Shogi' (official matches played before the Shogun).

He refused.

'I am fine being a town shogi player.'

If he entered the protection of the head of the house, he would gain a stable life. But at the same time, that would mean following the style of the head of the house. He would be required to learn the standard theories of Ibi-sha and play shogi in accordance with formality.

That, he could not do.

I have nothing but the Nakabisha.

It is not orthodox. It is not the main line. No top professional plays it.

But that is fine.

Playing the best move does not necessarily mean living the best life.

Continuing to fight on one's own terms is the only strategy to survive this era—no, any era.

The natto seller swings his rook to the 5th file at the Kanda meeting hall again today.

With the silver he earns, he occasionally crosses the banks of Yoshiwara.

He teaches shogi to courtesans, passes on the Nakabisha to young monks, belonging to no one, fawning over no one.

Under the sky of Edo, that heretical move echoes on the board again today.

—End—

[Author's Note]

This story is a work of fiction.

The shogi strategies and Edo-period culture and systems that appear have been reconstructed as a story while referencing historical facts.

Furthermore, while the Nakabisha is rarely seen in modern professional shogi matches, it is a legitimate, orthodox strategy that is still loved by many enthusiasts in amateur shogi today.

—Co-authored with a machine/Draft—