Bishop handicap (kaku-ochi)
One big man off, and a game in which nobody has to think about the bishop exchange.
Updated
What changes
Every rule of the even game applies: drops and the hand, nifu, the dead-drop bar, uchifuzume, optional promotion in the far three ranks with the usual compulsory cases, sennichite at the fourth repetition with the perpetual-checker losing, and the twenty-four point impasse count.
The changes are to the set-up alone. Gote’s bishop on 2b is removed before play, and gote moves first. This site seats uwate — the stronger player, giving the odds — as gote, and shitate as sente with a complete army, so gote opens the game.
Playing shitate
You own the only bishop on the board. That is worth more than the bare material, because a diagonal that nobody contests is a diagonal you can build on. Open your bishop early with a pawn push, keep the long diagonal towards uwate’s camp clear, and look for the moment when the bishop can slip in and promote to a horse. A horse near an enemy castle is very hard to dislodge and is often the whole game.
Do not trade the bishop for a silver just because the silver is defended and the tactics work. Do not park it where a silver or a gold can march up and hit it. And because your opponent has no bishop, you can leave diagonals through your own camp open with far less fear than usual — there is nothing to punish them.
Playing uwate
Without a bishop you cannot fight on the diagonals, so fight on the files. A ranging rook opening suits the position: swing the rook, castle solidly on the other side, and play for a slow game in which shitate has to come to you. You may also push your pawns more freely than usual, because there is no enemy bishop trade you have to time and no diagonal of your own to keep clear.
Your practical hope is the classic one at any odds: shitate over-values his extra man, attacks before the castle is finished, and hands you material. Build a wall, take everything that is offered, and wait for the bishop to wander onto a square where two generals can chase it.
Sources
Everything on this page is written from scratch. These are the works it leans on, and what each one settles.
Nihon Shogi Renmei (Japan Shogi Association) handicap ladder
Fixes the bishop handicap as the removal of uwate’s bishop — the 2b bishop as this site seats the players — and the convention that uwate takes the first move.