Sitting King

Sitting King (居玉 I-gyoku) is a formation where a player keeps the king on its original square, without making a castle.

It is used in many rapid openings, where there is not enough time to make defenses or when the center is safer than the side. E.g. Don't put the king in Yagura playing against Yagura Destroyer formation.

Old proverb used to say "Sitting King is like a duck" (easy to be hunted). But in modern times this has been changing and in professional games we see more of this type of shogi. Especially in Bishop Exchange Opening.