Rules of Tsume
Imagine a shogi game where black is about to lose. White is one move away from winning the game. If black does not keep white in check or checkmate, white immediately wins. That is the background for tsume puzzles.
Tsume rules are exactly the same as shogi. Keep the following in mind.
- Black moves first.
- The black king need not be shown.
- White may not use futile interpositions, such as dropping when capturing the drop still results in checkmate.
- Black will have no pieces in hand when mate is accomplished.
- Black must place white in checkmate as soon as possible.
- Black must place white in check or checkmate on every move.
- White's reserve consists of all tokens not on the board or in black's reserve.
- Black loses if white is ever not in checkmate after black's turn.