The Japanese cousin of chess, played on a nine-by-nine grid where captured pieces can return to fight for you.
Shogi is the Japanese branch of the chess family, and its most famous feature is the drop. When you capture an enemy piece, it switches sides and waits in your hand. On a later turn, you can place it back on the board as one of your own.
The pieces here are the traditional five-sided tiles marked with kanji, each pointing toward the opponent. Promoted pieces appear with their own characters, so you can tell them apart at a glance.
The goal
Checkmate the enemy King. Black, also called Sente, sits at the bottom of the board and makes the first move. A King is checkmated when it is in check and cannot step away, block the attack or take the attacker.
How a turn works
On every turn you choose one of two actions. You can move a piece already on the board, or you can place one of your captured pieces on any open square. A captured piece loses its promotion when it joins your hand. Counts of the captured pieces each player holds are shown in a row above the board and a row below it.
Drops come with a few limits so that pieces never get stuck. Pawns and lances may not be placed on the farthest row, and a knight cannot go on the last two. You also cannot drop a pawn into a column that already has one of your unpromoted pawns. Finally, dropping a pawn to deliver checkmate is not allowed, though you can still drop one to give check.
How the pieces move
Most Shogi pieces are short-range. The Gold and Silver generals each move a single square, but only in certain directions. The Knight leaps two squares forward and one to the side, and the Lance runs straight ahead as far as it likes. The Rook and Bishop slide in long lines.
Any move that touches the three rows nearest your opponent, whether entering, leaving or moving inside them, gives you the option to promote, and the game asks you each time with Promote and Don’t promote buttons. A promoted Rook or Bishop gains a one-step move in the directions it was missing, while the lesser pieces take on the movement of a Gold general. If a piece could never move again without promoting, it promotes automatically.
Strategy notes
Before you attack, protect your King. Shift it a few files toward one side and wall it in with your generals to form a castle.
Respect the pieces in hand. Once captured, a Silver can be placed directly next to the enemy King, so trades are rarely even in Shogi. Every empty square near your own King is a possible landing spot for an enemy drop.
Pushing a pawn to trade it opens a file for your Rook and gives you a pawn to drop later. When a Silver or Knight reaches the promotion zone, take a moment to decide. Sometimes staying unpromoted fits your attack better. On Easy the computer chooses at random. Medium thinks one turn into the future, while Hard explores a little further and considers drops as well as ordinary moves.
Controls
| Action | Keyboard | Mouse | Touch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Move a piece on the board | Tab to the board, arrow keys to reach a square, Enter on your piece and again on the target | Click your piece, then the square it should move to | Tap your piece, then the target square |
| Drop a captured piece | — | Click the piece in your hand row, then an empty square | Tap the piece in your hand row, then an empty square |
| Decide on promotion | — | Click "Promote" or "Don't promote" when asked | Tap "Promote" or "Don't promote" when asked |
| Choose side and opponent | — | Pick the side and a level, then click "New game" | Pick the side and a level, then tap "New game" |
| Undo or resign | — | Click "Undo" or "Resign" | Tap "Undo" or "Resign" |
Shogi FAQ
Can I play Shogi on a phone or Chromebook?
Yes. Tap or click a piece and then its destination, and tap a piece in your hand row to drop it. On a Chromebook keyboard, Tab to the board, move with the arrow keys and press Enter on the piece and again on the target. The tall layout suits a phone held upright.
Is it one player or two?
Both. You can take either side against a computer opponent with three levels, or play a friend on the same device by passing it back and forth after each move.
Does the game save if I close it?
Yes. The game in progress is saved automatically, so you can come back to the same position later. Undo lets you take back a move, and Resign ends a game you no longer want to play.
How do I win a game of Shogi?
Checkmate the enemy King. That means it is under attack and has no way to escape, block the attack or capture the attacker. A game can also end in a draw if one position comes up a fourth time with identical hands and the same side on move.
