If you’ve ever played chess and thought, “This is fun, but what if my captured pieces could come back and help me?” …then welcome to shogi.
Shogi is often called Japanese chess, but it has one big twist that makes it feel totally different: when you capture an opponent’s piece, it becomes yours and you can drop it back onto the board later. That one rule creates a lot of cool surprises.
Let’s walk through the rules in a simple, easy way. (more…)
Shogi (将棋) is the Japanese version of an ancient Indian game that became Chess in Europe and xiangqi in China. In fact, Shogi is frequently referred to as Japanese chess in the English speaking world.
Shogi is played on a 9×9 board, unlike the 8×8 board of Western chess. Shogi has some pieces that are very similar to Western chess, a king, pawns, rook, bishop, and knight. Shogi also has pieces that are not found in Western chess such as gold generals, silver generals and the lance.
The most interesting difference between shogi and chess is that when opposing pieces are captured in shogi, they become loyal to the player that captured them. These captured pieces are then dropped back on the board to continue the game. (more…)
By Japanese author Koda Rohan, from his essay collection Shogi Zatsuwa, section 4, 「玉将につきての俗説」 (“Folk Beliefs About the King Piece”). This short essay discusses traditions around the shogi king. (more…)
Kōda Rohan wrote this shogi essay about shogi-piece calligraphy in January 1901 for Taiyō magazine; it later appeared as Section 3 of his collection Shōgi Zatsuwa. (more…)
Kōda Rohan wrote this as Section 2 of his shogi essay collection Shōgi Zatsuwa (将棋雑話, often “Shogi Chatter”). It is known as 王と玉と (Ō and Gyoku / King and Jade). The short shogi essay discusses the history of the shogi king piece. (more…)
Written by Kōda Rohan, from his shogi essay collection Shōgi Zatsuwa (“Shogi Chatter”). The topic is the use of the name of Shogi lance in historical settings. (more…)
If you’ve ever played shogi online, there’s a good chance you’ve heard of Shogi Club 24, also called “24”, or “ni-yon” in Japan. It’s the plain-looking site that still manages to feel like a real dojo: serious games, strong opponents, and a rating that people actually respect. It also has 300,000+ registered members, and you can register and play for free.
And now for the part that makes your stomach drop, …
Shogi Club 24 is scheduled to shut down on December 31, 2025.
Yes. That Shogi Club 24–the one that helped shape online shogi for more than two decades–is about to become history. (more…)
Shogi is one of the most forgiving strategy games ever… and also one of the strictest.
Forgiving, because you can bring captured pieces back into the game. Strict, because one illegal move can end your game on the spot.
In Japanese, an instant-loss violation is usually talked about as 反則負け (hansoku-make), or the “loss by foul.” The Japan Shogi Association (日本将棋連盟) even has a full list of actions that count as “you lose immediately.”
Today, let’s walk through:
If you’ve played even a few games of shogi, you’ve probably heard someone say “nifu!” in a slightly panicked voice.
Maybe it happened to you. You’re feeling clever. You have a pawn in hand. You see a good square. You drop it… and then the game ends right there because it’s illegal.
That’s rough. So today I want to talk about the nifu rule, including what it is, why it matters, and the coolest part: how far back we can trace it in shogi history using Japanese sources.
And yes, we’ll also look at a few “pawn-related” rules that are basically nifu’s cousins. (more…)
So you’ve learned the pieces (or you’re working on it), and now you’re watching a shogi video or playing an app… and suddenly people are saying things like “sente,” “gote,” “oute,” and “tsumi.”
Don’t worry—shogi has its own little “starter dictionary,” and once you know a handful of terms, everything starts making way more sense.
This post is a friendly guide to simple shogi-related vocabulary for English speakers: what the words mean, how to say them, and when you’ll hear them. (more…)
If you’re new to shogi (Japanese chess), the pieces can feel like little mystery wedges covered in symbols. Those symbols are kanji—Chinese characters used in Japanese writing—and each one tells you what the piece is.
The good news: you don’t have to “know Japanese” to get comfortable with them. In this post, I’ll show you the most common kanji you’ll see on shogi pieces, what they mean, and how to pronounce the piece names out loud. (more…)