Pac-Man (shogi)

The opening has an early pawn gambit made by White on the fourth file which may be metaphorically eaten by Black's bishop as if by Pac-Man.

If Black takes the pawn with their bishop without careful thought, then the trap may succeed.

Six professional shogi players – Yoshiharu Habu, Yasumitsu Satō, Toshiyuki Moriuchi, Kōji Tanigawa, Akira Watanabe, Takeshi Fujii – agreed that the opening puts White at a disadvantage.

In response to this check, ▲68 Gold or ▲48 King will eliminate the rook's side effect, and △88 Bishop Promote will take the silver.

▲77 Silver will also move up, but △77 Bishop Right Promote ▲Same Knight △Same Bishop Promote ▲68 Gold △99 Horse (Diagram 3) will result in Black winning.