Beginners Blind Spots

Cover Page.
Beginners Blind Spots
Articles from Shogi magazine.
July 2022
. ..
Table of Contents
[3] Introduction
[8] Good Shape and Bad Shape
[40] Pawns
[62] Good Checks and Bad Checks
[80] Impulsive Moves
[98] The Endgame
[117] Glossary of Shogi Terms
[126] Computer Shogi
[139] Shogi Equipment
[143] Bibliography and other Shogi Resources
This document is free and available to all from https://tinyurl.com/RogersShogiArchive.

You should not, under any circumstances pay for this document!
Please do not upload this document to any website whose owners make a charge for
downloading documents. Thank you.
. ..
Introduction.
This document is an edited compilation of a series of

articles1 aimed at low-kyu players from Shogi magazine.
The articles are by Teruichi Aono (trans. John
Fairbairn). The theme is ‘blind spots’, and the articles
concentrate on acquiring a feel for a position rather than
rote learning of difficult and unnecessary details.
I am grateful to the copyright owners for granting

permission to make this compilation available to a wider
audience.
The rationale for creating the document in the first place

was that I wished to gather together in one convenient
place, otherwise scattered material in order that I could
easily carry the material around with me when traveling.
My editing has been as ‘light’ as possible:
In order to achieve a consistent and ‘sensible’ layout in

this document, I have made some changes in the
numbering and position of the diagrams in the original
texts – within each section, diagrams are numbered:
Figure 1, Figure 2, Variation 1, Variation 2, etc. In some
cases, I have introduced additional diagrams (in
particular where alternatives to the main line are
1 Material adapted from Shogi magazine issues 7-9, 14, 17. Originally published by George Hodges
from 1976-1980. Shogi magazine is available as a zipped download. Details from:
https://tinyurl.com/ShogiPriceList.
. ..
explored) – these are labeled: Figure 1a, Figure 1b, etc.
I have also used introduced a little more Japanese
terminology than in the originals, though not I hope to
excess (see p.i117 for a glossary of Japanese terms).
For the purposes of clarity, I have taken some long

sequences of moves out of the text, numbered them, and
presented them separately. I have numbered sequences
of moves individually, in order to facilitate playing
through the sequences with a Shogi program such as
Shogidokoro (see page 126). Playing through sequences
of moves using Shogidokoro enabled me to detect some
errors in the diagrams in the original texts (see next
paragraph).
Where sequences of moves are left in situ, (usually

alternatives to the main line), they are usually flagged
with a ☗ (Sente), or a ☖ (Gote) rather than numbered. I
have (silently) made some textual changes in order to
clarify the meaning while at the same time trying to
retain the sense of the original text. I have corrected the
very few textual errors I discovered, and also corrected
a few mistakes in the accompanying diagrams (these are
usually explained in an accompanying footnote).
I have added some general information about Shogi –

Computer Shogi, Glossary, Bibliography, equipment
suppliers, etc.
. ..
A significant resource used to create this document has
been the Shogi diagram generator at:
http://wormz.free.fr/kifugen/
John Fairbairns original brochure, Shogi – How to play;

his book Shogi for Beginners, and Tony Hoskings The
Art of Shogi were also consulted while compiling this
material. The book Shogi for Beginners is still in print,
and is a must for the library of any Shogi enthusiast.
This also applies to Tony Hoskings The Art of Shogi.
The late George Hodges published Shogi magazine from

1978-1986. A complete run of the 70 issues of the
magazine is now available as a zipped download. To get
details of how to access these magazines, go to:
https://tinyurl.com/ShogiPriceList
and use the contact details you will find there.
This is a very valuable archive of Shogi material in

English.
Not used for this document, but also of great interest to

aspiring Shogi players is Tony Hosking’s ‘other’ book –
4 Great Games – a survey of Shogi, Chess, Go and
Xiang-chi – highly recommended!
. ..
Full details of all sources can be found in the
bibliography (see p.i143).
I have used Open Office to prepare the document in

PDF format as this is likely to afford the greatest
portability across devices. The document should be
easily readable on Windows PCs, Android tablets, Apple
laptops iPads, and e-book readers such as the Amazon
Kindle. Whichever PDF reader you elect to use, 2 it will
almost certainly have a ‘View Bookmarks’ facility
which will display a Table of Contents at the side of the
display window, allowing easy navigation through the
document. The ‘hand-crafted’ (partial) Table(s) of
Contents are provided for the benefit of anyone who
chooses to print the document,3 but they are ‘active’,
and clicking on a page number from within a PDF
reader will navigate you to the desired page.
If you read this document and find any errors, typos, or

other howlers, please let me know at:
rjhare@outlook.com.
2 I use Sumatra – it is small and fast. Available from the PortableApps web site.
3 Try printing 4-up, double sided to save paper...
. ..
Finally, the image on the cover page is a Giga-e (Comic)
image from the series of woodblock prints ‘Parodies of
Shogi, Japanese Chess’ (Koma kurabe shôgi no
tawamure) by Kuniyoshi Utagawa (1798-1861).
Publisher: Gusokuya Kahei; Censor: Fukatsu Ihei.
Roger Hare
. ..
Good Shape and Bad Shape.
(Shogi magazine No. 7, 32 – Nakaharo Makoto)
In this section, the emphasis is on acquiring skill at
assessing positions in terms of ‘good shape’ and ‘bad
shape’.
Figure 1
Figure 2
Consider Fig.i1 and Fig.i2. Even beginners should be

able to see something wrong in these positions – the
. ..
reason that you can is that these are examples of bad
shape.
Before reading the explanatory text, it is worth while

spending a few minutes trying to discover exactly where
and why the shape is bad, and suggesting how each
player might improve his bad shape.
First though, we should define what is meant by good

shape. Once you know that you will obviously also
understand its opposite, bad shape.
There are four conditions for good shape:
1. There should be an overall balance between the

attacking or fighting pieces (Rook, Bishop, Knights
and one Silver) and the defending pieces, ie: those
surrounding the King (Golds and the other Silver).
2. The attacking pieces should all be working together
and be aiming at the opponent’s vital points.
3. The King should be on the opposite side to his Rook
(because wherever the Rook is that is where the
fighting will be) and the defending pieces should all
have good mobility.
4. The Pawns, the vanguard of the attack must be
arranged in such a way that they can be properly
utilised.
. ..
There are other factors, but the above four are the main
things to look for. Now, look at Fig.i1:
Figure 1
Considering Sente’s position first we can we can see that

the King is in a poor position. Because of its proximity
to the Rook it is bound to get involved in skirmishes and
it should be moved at least some distance away.
In addition, unless the Bishop on 9g is pulled back to 7i

it is not working in collaboration with the Rook on 2h
and the Silver on 3g against the opponent’s King.
. ..
To achieve the necessary balance the Bishop has to be
pulled back to 7i, the King brought across to 6i (on its
way to 8h later) and the Gold on the right transferred to
5h. This will satisfy the basic requirement of attacking
with Rook, Bishop, Knights and Silver and defending
with Golds and Silver.
In Gote’s case there are too many pieces around his

King. He has no attack going and his defensive forces
include the Bishop and both Silvers. There is no proverb
recommending that course of action!
If Gote simply concentrates on solidifying his defences

and does not use any of his pieces for attack, how can
he win? He has to move a Silver via 5c to 6d and bring
his Rook into play by pushing up his Pawn to 8d then
8e. This will constitute his main battery, or he can move
his Bishop to 7c via 4b and 5a. As things stand though,
Gote’s forces are unbalanced.
. ..
Figure 2
Fig.i2 shows much better shape than Fig. i1. This is

because both Kings are well-protected on opposite sides
to their Rooks, and in each case a Rook, Bishop, Silver
and Knight are working together. But there is still
something lacking. The Golds and Silver surrounding
each King are very restricted in their movement. In
other words although there are three pieces surrounding
the King, they are not acting like three separate pieces.
In this position, Sente should play the following

sequences so as to obtain the shape of Fig.i3.
. ..
1iP4e 2iPx4e │ 5iN5c+ 6iBx5c
3iNx4e 4iG3c-4d │ 7iP*4e see Fig.i3:
Figure 3 – up to 7iP*4e
These moves highlight the inability of the Gold to move

back diagonally and also exposes the ‘bad shape’ of the
original position of Gote’s Gold on 3c.
. ..
If it is Gote’s move in Fig.i2 he can try:
1i… 2iP8f │ 5iR8h see Fig. 4:

3iPx8f 4iBx8f │
Figure 4 – up to 5iR8h
Usually this move is a tesuji (a standard clever move

that best exploits that type of local position).
. ..
5i… 6iBx7g+ │ 9iNx7g 10iR*6i
7iRx8b+ 8iSx8b │ see Fig.i5:
Figure 5 – up to 10iR*6i
In view of the imminent check from the Bishop dropped

at 3i, Gote has the superior position. The Gold on 2g
and the Silver on 3h, pieces that are supposed to be
defending the King, are quite ineffectual here.
Everything so far should have been easily

understandable. Indeed, in Fig.i5, if we switch round
Sente’s Gold on 2g and his Silver on 3h, and similarly
transpose Gote’s Gold on 3c and his Silver on 3b, you
. ..
should recognise the resultant position as examples of
good shape from the Yagura (Gote) and Gin-kammuri
(Sente) openings (see Fig.i6).
Figure 6 – switching Silvers and Golds

gives good shape
. ..
It may be difficult to spot the bad shape in Sente’s set-up
in Fig.i7.
Figure 7
Fig. 7 shows an opening called the ‘Primitive

Nakabisha’ often used by beginners. Now although
Sente has two Silvers posted in the front line, in the face
of Gote’s row of Pawns he is bound hand and foot. If the
Pawn in hand is dropped at 5e, Gote would take it with
his own Pawn and then Sente would have no sensible
follow-up. If Sente plays 1iP7e, 2iPx7e; 3iSx7e, his
Silver comes under attack with 4iR7b. See Fig. 8:
. ..
Figure 8 – up to 4iR7b
Careful study of Fig.i7 shows that Sente’s pieces are

concentrated on the centre, but is the Gold on 4h an
attacker, or is it supposed to be defending? It is not
clear.
In this position we can definitely say that the following

three pieces have ‘bad shape’: the Silvers on 4f and 6f
and the Knight on 3g. The Silver on 6f at least has room
to retreat but the blocking of the Knight on 3g is
extremely bad. Sente can neither advance his Pawn to 3e
nor retreat with ☗S4f-5g (if he does, Gote plays ☖P3e),
. ..
and so long as the Silver is in the way the Pawn cannot
join the attack by moving up to 4e.
The Silver on 6f is not only obstructing the Bishop, but

it also has no option but to retreat in the face of the
inevitable ☖G6c~☖N7c~☖P6e by Gote.
. ..
In Fig.i9 the position has been altered only slightly.
Figure 9
The Silver on 6f has been transferred to 5f and the

Silver and Pawn on the 4th file have been switched
around. The shape looks much better now.
In contrast to Fig.i7 the Bishop has an open road ahead

of it, and also the defence around the King is more
substantial. The Knight on 3g is now well placed to
back up a Pawn push to 4e. Here the Pawns can be
utilised properly, and this, remember is one of the main
conditions for good shape.
. ..
Sente now has the following attack available:
1iP4e 2iPx4e │ 9iSx5e 10iP*5d

3iBx2b+ 4iKx2b │ 11iP*4d 12iS4cx4d
5iB*7g 6iB*3c │ 13iSx4d 14iSx4d
7iP*5e 8iPx5e │ 15iN2e see Fig.i10:
Figure 10 – up to 15iN2e
This sequence seems to have gone too well for Sente,

but if in response to 11iP*4d, Gote plays 12iPx5e, Sente
has 13iPx4c+ and then 15iN4e.
. ..
Also 14iBx4d is met by 15iBx4d, 16iSx4d; 17iB*7a.
See Fig. 11:
Figure 11 – up to 17iB*7a
Unlike the case where there was a Silver on 4f (see

Fig.i7), the Pawns here can be used to set up an
offensive. It is no exaggeration to say that an attack
without Pawns is not an attack at all.
In Fig.i9 a professional would not attack immediately

with ☗P4e, however. He would start with ☗P2f~☗P2e~
☗R2h, but since either way brings the Rook next to the
King, this poses difficulties for beginners, who would
. ..
be better advised probably to attack only after further
sheltering the King with ☗K2h and ☗G3h.
Fig.i12 shows a situation from a teaching game in which

a Rook and Bishop handicap were given.
Figure 12
The opening moves brought us to Fig.i12, then

followed:
. ..
1iS3f 2iG5b │ 11iB7i 12iN3c
3iS7g 4iP7d │ 13iL1g 14iP2d
5iS6f 6iG6c │ 15iR4h 16iP8d
7iR5h 8iP3d │ see Fig.i13:
9iN7g 10iP3d │
Figure 13 – up to 16iP8d
The first step by Sente (always the weaker player in

handicap games) on the downward path to bad shape
was 1iS3f. The Knight has to have room to get out and
so ☗P3f must come first. ☗S3f is good shape once this
Pawn has been advanced to 3e.
. ..
The second downward step was 5iS6f. Being the weaker
player Sente was probably trying to concentrate his
pieces on the centre, hence 1iS3f and 5iS6f, and
bringing the Rook across with 7iR5h all seem to
confirm this.
. ..
Gote however, once his Gold is on 6c and his Knight on
7c, can force the Silver back at any time with ☖P6e; but
after 9iN7g, the third poor move, this becomes even
better for Gote. Sente’s position is a perfect example of
bad shape.
Figure 13 – up to 16iP8d
Look at Fig.i13. Sente’s Kings defences are thin almost

to the extent of being non-existent, and on top of that,
the Silvers on 6f and 3f are likely to come under attack.
Play might proceed from Fig.i13 with: ☗P5e, ☖Px5e;

☗Sx5e. As soon as that happens Gote can aim at the
Knight’s head (the ‘head’ is the square in front of a
. ..
piece) with ☖P7e. If Sente continues from Fig.i13 by
moving his Rook, he will suffer through …, ☖P6e;
☗Nx6e, ☖Nx6e; ☗Sx6e, ☖P*6d!; This skilful way of
playing is perhaps difficult for beginners to follow, but
if you learn nothing else make sure that you remember
that the counterattack always comes just when you have
started to mobilise your forces.
Having got himself into a mess, Sente actually launched

the following attack:
. ..
17iP4e 18iPx4e │ 23iP7e 24iP*6d
19iBx2d 20iP6e │ 25iPx7d 26iGx7d
21iNx6e 22iNx6e │ see Fig.i14:
Figure 14 – up to 26iGx7d
Sente has broken through at 4e and he has won a Pawn,

but for all that we cannot say that his Rook, Bishop and
Silvers are co-operating in the attack. Furthermore,
having allowed Gote to break through at 6e he cannot
pull back his Silver, though he would like to. He was
unable to play 9iSx6e (capturing the Knight) because
his Silver would be stranded (a Pawn dropped at 6d
. ..
would capture it). It was easy to tell from Sente’s play
that he was receiving a handicap!
Figure 15 – from Fig.i12 in unspecified moves
If Sente had instead gone on from Fig.i12 to group his

forces as in Fig.i15, and we assume the continuation:
. ..
1iP4e 2iPx4e │ see Fig. 16:
3iNx4e 4iS4b │
Figure 16 – up to 4iS4b
(if 4iS5c-4d then ☗P2d, ☖Px2d; ☗Rx2d, ☖P2c;

☗Rx4d)
. ..
5iP*4d 6iS5b ; if 6iS3d then ☗S4f)
7iP3e see Fig. 17:
Figure 17 – up to 7iP3e
aiming next at attacking with ☗P3d, it is evident that

the attack is developing naturally, despite the smaller
number of pieces.
Good attacks grow from good shape. Bad shape leads to

clumsy attacks. What beginners often seem to overlook
(their blind spot) is that good attacks do not depend on
indiscriminately pouring pieces into the fray. Shape
comes first.
. ..
Now, a few more examples showing only the pieces
concerned rather than the full board. There is some
‘repetition’ here (eg: transposition of generals), but the
exact circumstances are different enough to warrant
such repetition.
Figure 18 – Good shape with Gold Fortress
Fig.i18 shows a Gold Fortress for Sente. This is a highly

efficient (therefore good) shape. Every one of the
generals can move if attacked, but will still be defending
the King if moved. The King can also move if need be.
In particular if Gote plays ☖N8e, Sente can play ☗S6h.
. ..
Figure 19 – Bad Shape with ‘Gold Fortress’
Fig.i19 shows a similar castle, but one where the shape

is very bad. Sente’s Silver can only move to 5h if
attacked, ie; well away from the King. Worse than that,
if Gote plays ☖N8e, to avoid capture of the Gold on 7g,
Sente has no option but to play ☗G8f, after which the
Gold has no sensible move (a Gold is normally worth
much more than a Knight). Gote can also exploit Sente’s
bad shape in another way: ☖P6e; ☗Px6e, ☖Nx6e;
☗G6f, ☖N5g+; promoting his Knight and, if necessary
winning Silver for Knight.
. ..
Figure 20
In Fig.i20, Gote has the Mino castle. He has good shape.

The Mino is chosen normally because it is strong from
the side, particularly against Rook drops. For instance
here if Sente plays ☗R*2a, Gote simply moves his
Bishop away unconcernedly.
Figure 21
But Gote would have every reason to be concerned

about ☗R*2a if he had misplayed his castle as in
Fig.i21. Here, the Bishop or Silver will be lost next
move.
. ..
Good shape does not only apply to castles. However.
Here is an example of good shape for the attacking
pieces.
Figure 22 – good shape for the attacking side
Again it is difficult to realise how efficient this shape is

until you see examples of attacks, but it is clear that the
pieces are flexible, especially the the Silver, and the
Rook can switch files.
Compare this with Fig.i23:
. ..
Figure 23 – poor shape for the attacking side
Awful shape. The Rook is a prisoner of its own side, the

Silver can move only one square, away from the action
and blocking its own Rook and Lance. The Gold is not
needed here: it should be helping the King.
. ..
Figure 24 – good attacking and defensive shape
Fig.i24 is good attacking shape too, but one that also

combines good defence.
The presence of the opponents pieces can never be

ignored: here the Bishop. Sente’s Rook has been pulled
back to 2i thus unpinning his Pawn on 4f and Knight on
3g (if either of these move the Rook would have been
exposed to the Bishop). The Rook on 2i as opposed to
2g also defends the Lance on 1i against the Bishop.
. ..
Also there are no drops possible here, even if the
Bishops were exchanged (if the Rook was on 2g a
Bishop drop at 4i might be nasty).
Compare this to Fig.i25:
Figure 25 – a Gold makes for poor attack and defence
Only the Silver has been changed for a Gold. To a

novice this seems so minimal a difference, but in fact
Sente now has very bad shape – enough to lose the
game.
. ..
This Gold is less efficient than the Silver in attack – for
example in the heat of battle it is liable to be attacked
itself, but then it can only retreat to one square whereas
the Silver can retreat to two.
But in this case the Silver would be an even better

defender than the Gold! There is a gaping hole on 3h for
either a Bishop or a Silver drop. Until that hole is
repaired Sente can give up any thoughts of attack, which
of course makes all his attackers redundant.
. ..
Pawns.
(Shogi No. 08)
Sometimes, when asked about the pieces they have in
hand, novices will list only the ‘major’ pieces, and not
mention any Pawns they may have in hand.
Strength in Shogi is directly linked with how high one’s

estimation is of the value of Pawns. Clearly,
underestimating the value of Pawns is a blind spot.
What follows is designed to increase your estimation of

the value of the humble Pawn.
. ..
If the Pawns are not working.
Fig.i1 shows one half of a position.
Figure 1
Gote has only one piece defending his 8c point – the

King. Sente has two Silvers, a Gold and a Rook poised
for the attack on this point and it seems obvious that
they will break through. In fact they can’t. Because of
the Pawn on 8g Sente is not allowed to drop a Pawn on
8d.
. ..
From Fig.i1, the attack might proceed as follows:
1 S9e-8d 2 Px8d
3 Gx8d 4 P*8b see Fig.i2:
Figure 2 – up to 4 P*8b
A Silver has been sacrificed for the breakthrough but the

Pawn on 8b has plugged the gap perfectly and the
sacrifice is in vain.
Most cases are like this. No matter how many pieces

you have in attacking positions, if the Pawns are not
working the attack falls flat.
. ..
In Fig.i3, the Pawns are working:
Figure 3
Unlike before there is no Gold on 8e, nor is there a

Silver on 9e. Nevertheless Pawns can be effective here
and for that reason alone it is easy to break through:
. ..
1 P*8d 2 Px8d │ 5 P*8c see Fig.i3a:
3 Sx8d 4 P*8b │
Figure 3a – up to 5 P*8c
In other words, one Pawn is worth more than a Gold and

Silver combined here.
Should Sente ever get into a position like Fig.i1, he has

no alternative but to pull back the Silver to 6f before
attacking with ☗P7f~☗P7e~☗P7d.
. ..
If only I had a Pawn.
Now let’s consider the Pawn from the defender’s point

of view. In Fig.i4 the King is in check from a promoted
Rook. ☗K8h leads to mate from ☖+R6h, any
interposing piece being captured next move.
Figure 4
If instead the normally so powerful Rook, Silver or

Gold is dropped on 6i, Gote captures the interposing
piece with his promoted Rook and then, if the King
retakes, mates very quickly by dropping the captured
. ..
piece at the head of the King (6h). If the Bishop is
dropped on 6i, ☖+R6h is mate.
At times like this, one hears the plaintive cry “If only I
had a Pawn to drop...”. The Pawn does indeed have less
value than any other piece, but for that very reason it is
the piece one can most afford to let the opponent
capture.
As the above two examples show, both in attack and

defence, the humble Pawn can at times do a job better
than any of the ‘superior’ pieces, and this you must
learn to appreciate.
. ..
A new proverb?
“Don’t be afraid of pieces that are less effective than

Pawns.”. Fig.i1 shows what this means
Figure 1
But an example from a two-piece handicap game

emphasises the point.
. ..
Moves from the beginning to Fig.i5:
1i… 2iS6b │ 9iBx5e 10iS5d

3iP7f 4iP5d │ 11iB8h 12iSx4e
5iP4f 6iS5c │ 13iR4h 14iS5d
7iP4e 8iP5e │ 15iP5f 16iS4b
. ..
Frustrating Sente.
In a two-piece handicap game the stronger player (Gote)

often plays ☖P5d in this game to disrupt the weaker
players joseki. Sente resolutely takes this Pawn and
pulls back his Bishop, finishing up with the
configuration shown in Fig.i5. Sente can now play
calmly, waiting for a chance to attack Gote’s Silver on
5d.
. ..
Continuing from Fig.i5:
17iP5e 18iS6e │ 23iG7h 24iS8e

19iP7e 20iP7d │ 25iP8f 26iSx8f
21iP6f 22iS7f │ 27iP*8b see Fig.i6:
Figure 6 – up to 27iP*8b
. ..
Following the proverb.
17iP5e is a good move, forcing the Silver out to 6e

(where it is not doing much), then 19iP7e blocks the
Silvers retreat.
Low-kyu players tend to worry about Sente’s position

since it is full of holes, but in reality it is quite safe.
Gote has his Pawns ineffectively located behind a lone
Silver so cannot drop those in hand except at, say, 5f, to
which Sente responds by bringing forward his Gold
from 4i to 5h, and the Pawn is likely to fall soon to
☗R4f. If Gote persists in leaving his Silver at 6e and
allows ☗R4f, he will be troubled by ☗N7g next, which
is why he tries to make an escape route with 20iP7d.
21iP6f, dragging the Silver forward, is another good

move. ☗S5f instead of 22iS7f is met by ☗G6h. ☗R4f
follows next and the Silver is dead, ie: cannot avoid
capture. After the move in the game (22iS7f) and
23iG7h, Gote cannot capture the Pawn on 7e. If he does
(☖Px7e), Sente pushes a pawn to 8f and ☗P*7g next,
again traps the Silver.
Although the Silver escapes with 24iS8e, Sente pulls it

forward again with 25iP8f. Even after the Silver takes
this Pawn, Sente has nothing to worry about, because
Gote cannot use his Pawns, and 27iP*8b initiates a
severe attack. The new proverb has been vindicated!
. ..
There is another way for Sente to attack from Fig.i5 if
Gote simply plays 20iS7f and omits P7d.
17iP5e 18iS6e │ 25iR5f 26iP*5g

19iP7e 20iS7f │ 27iS5h 28i+Sx6h
21iR4f! 22iSx6g+ │ 29iGx6h see Fig.i7:
23iP5d 24iK5b │
. ..
Figure 7 – up to 29iGx6h
Don’t worry about the promotion.
If Gote omits 20iP7d and moves his Silver to 7f instead,

☗G7h is good enough for Sente but ☗R4h, letting the
Silver promote is even better. If instead of 22iSx6g+,
Gote tries 22iSx8g+ (if 22iSx8g= then 23iB7g then
☗R8f), Sente gets the advantage with 23iB6f, 24i+S8f;
25iP*8b. Gote cannot replace ☖+S8f with a defensive
move such as ☖G7b, for ☗B4h then ☗P*8h ‘kills’ the
Silver.
. ..
Novices may feel uneasy about letting the Silver
promote at 6g, careful scrutiny will show that the
promoted Silver is ineffectual. Since only the 5th file is
open for a Pawn drop, the best Gote can do is merely to
exchange a promoted Silver for a Gold.
If you can learn not to worry about pieces that are, in a

sense, less effective than Pawns, you will be well on the
way to escaping from the ranks of the novices.
23iP5d is a good reply to Gote’s promotion of the Silver

on 6g. It threatens ☗P5c+, but this is extremely difficult
to defend against. 24iP*5b loses the Silver to 25iR4g
and 24iG4a-5b is met by 25iR2f.
Furthermore, 24iK6b is met with 25iP5c+!, 26iKx5c;

27iR5f, 28iP*5d; 29iP*6h (see Var.i1). The Silver is
dead again.
. ..
Variation 1 – up to 29iP*6h
Defending with the other Gold (24iG6b) is countered by

25iR8f, 26iG7b; 27iR5f and Sente gains a tempo.
That leaves the actual move – 24iK5b but 25iR5f

occupies a vital point while crowding in on Gote’s
promoted Silver (next, P*6h). Victory is only a short
way off.
Thus, there is nothing to worry about in spite of

allowing a piece to promote, all the variations being
designed quite simply to trap the Silver. However, it is
not the variations which should be learned, but rather
. ..
the weakness of pieces not backed-up by effective
Pawns.
. ..
How to use Pawns in attack.
Now, a way of using the Pawns in attack. The author

was Gote in the two-piece handicap game in Fig.i8:
Figure 8
Gote has just got a Gold into play with 1i…, 2iP7e;
3iPx7e, 4iGx7e. Joseki manuals give 5iS3e as Sente’s
usual next move, but what actually happened was:
. ..
5iP5e 6iPx5e │ 9iP*5d 10iSx5d

7iP*7b 8iKx7b │ 11iSx5e see Fig.i9:
Figure 9 – up to 11iSx5e
By playing 5iP5e instead of bringing out the Silver,

Sente is restricting the play of Gote’s Gold and Silver on
the left flank, and in this case this is a good way of
playing. Being forced to capture with 6iPx5e is not to
Gote’s satisfaction, but Sente is following the principle
of first sacrificing a Pawn for the breakthrough and then
disrupting the opponent’s shape with more Pawns.
. ..
In Fig.i9 Gote is in trouble and is forced to draw back
with ☖S6c. After this, however, Sente missed his
chance: he dropped a Pawn again on 5d, and while this
is not a bad move, ☗R5f instead would leave Gote
without adequate defence.
. ..
How to use Pawns in defence.
Fig.i10 shows a towards the end of the previous game.

Sente has just played ☗K6i, scurrying for shelter.
Figure 10 – up to ☗K6i
Gote was disturbed by the presence of a promoted Rook

inside his camp, so he defended with (from Fig.i10):
2 P*4a; 3 N*7e, 4 S7d; 5 +Rx1b, 6 P*3b.
This position is still difficult to assess but the Rook is

going to be sealed in with 8 B*1d (check) and the two
dropped Pawns.
. ..
Taking time off to defend like this is possible because it
involves Pawns – it can’t be done with other pieces.
We have just seen two brief examples of how to use

Pawns. Remember, the greatest mistake of novices in
relation to Pawns is to disregard them altogether.
. ..
Good Checks and Bad Checks.
(Shogi 09)
Once the endgame has started, some players are tempted
to check at every opportunity, and think:
While I’m checking I can’t lose, or:

Must check at least once before I lose.
And then go on with check after check...
It does feel good to give a check, and it is true that you

can’t lose while your opponent’s King is in check.
Nevertheless, the other side of the coin is that checks
without meaning allow the King to escape and remove
all potential (aji) from a situation.
Let’s therefore see which kinds of check are good and

which are bad.
. ..
From a two-piece handicap game.
An example from a teaching game. In Fig.i1, Sente has

learned his joseki well and is pursuing the tactic of
controlling the half-open 3rd file with his Rook. Gote
has just played ☖G6d.
Figure 1 – up to ☖G6d
. ..
1iP4d 2iP5e │ 9iRx6d 10iKx6d

3iR4f! 4iPx4d │ 11iB5e 12iK6c
5iSx4d 6iSx4d │ see Fig.i2:
7iRx4d 8iP*4c │
Figure 2 – up to 12iK6c
. ..
Rook on an open file.
With all his preparations complete it is only natural for

Sente to attack with 1iP4d. It would be bad for Gote to
answer this with 2iPx4d; 3iSx4d, 4iSx4d; 5iBx4d,
6iS*5c; 7iB2f. Sente is allowed to cope with things in
his own way in that case, so Gote chooses to block the
Bishop’s diagonal with 2iP5e as a defensive measure.
To this, however, 3iR4f was a good move and the

subsequent Silver exchange left the Rook on an open
file, making Gote’s moves look like overplays.
Sente’s attack has been splendid. In Fig.i2 Gote’s King is

stranded like a small boat in the ocean about to be
buffeted mercilessly by the storm. A quick mate looks
on.
. ..
13iS*6d 14iK5b │ 19iS5i 20iS1c

15iG*5c 16iK4a │ See Fig.i3:
17iS6c+ 18iR*3i │
Figure 3 – up to 20iS1c
An example of bad checks.

However, Sente continued crudely and played a perfect
example of a bad check – 13iS*6d. Bad moves are the
result of vulgar style and 15iG*5c was yet another bad
check, though perhaps this one was now inevitable.
. ..
In contrast Gote played a good check... 18iR*3i, taking
advantage of the fact that Gote already had a Pawn on
the centre file and forcing Sente to pull back either the
Silver or the Gold to block the Rook’s check. Gote can
now attack at his leisure. If he had omitted this check
and allowed Sente to play ☗K7i or or ☗G7i, his attack
would have been non-existent – Sente’s King would
surely escape to 8h or 7h.
When, finally, Gote plays 20iS1c it looks as if Sente’s

attack has run out of steam despite all the energy he put
into it.
How should Sente have played in Fig.i2? The answer is:

13iS*5d. This is good style, dropping at least one square
away towards the direction that the King wants to
escape in. Of course 14iKx5d invites 15iG*6d mate!
If Gote’s King runs away with 14iK5b Sente should

promote his Bishop with 15iBx7c+ (again avoiding the
check!) and Gote has no defence (see Var.i1).
. ..
Variation 1 – up to 15iBx7c+
16iK4a loses to 17iN*5c and 16iK4b to 17i+B6d.

15iG*5c instead of 15iBx7c+ would be yet another
instance of a bad check, allowing Gote’s King to draw
back with 16iK4a followed by 17iSx4c, 18iGx4c;
19iGx4c, 20iR*4i wins the Gold.
What about 14iK6b, guarding the Knight, in answer to

Sente’s best move 13iS*5d? 15iG*5c, 16iK5a;
17iP*4b!, 18iGx4b; 19iGx4b, 20iKx4b; 21iB6d, and
mate follows in short order. If, after 15iG*5c Gote plays
16iK7a, Sente’s answer is 17iBx7c+, and to 16iK7b, it is
17iS6c. Even if Sente is unable to mate Gote’s King on
. ..
the 7th or 8th file because of a lack of Golds or Silvers
in hand, the King is certainly not escaping. Such is the
difference between good checks and bad checks.
Returning to Fig. 3:
Figure 3 – up to 20iS1c
21iB6d 22iK3a │ 29i+S4b 30iP*5g

23iGx4c 24iK2b │ 31iGx5g 32iS*4h
25iGx3b 26iKx3b │ See Fig.i4:
27i+S5b 28iK2b │
. ..
Figure 4 – up to 32iS*4h
No checks.
It seems as if Gote’s King has got away but that is not to
say that things are going badly for Sente. However after
the B6d/K3a exchange 23iGx4c is a bad move, typical
of the “one more check before I lose” attitude. Just
dropping pieces and chasing the King is not the way to
construct an effective attack. And once Sente has
allowed Gote’s King to escape and the Silver to drop at
4h, it is too late for him to win in a handicap game.
Sente’s best policy in Fig.i3 would have been to defend

against the Pawn drop at 5g and the Silver drop at 4h by
. ..
moving the King – 21iK6h. If, in answer to this, Gote
played 22iK3a Sente can get at least something out of
his attack with 23iP*4d, 24iPx4d; 25iP*4c. Sente should
refrain from checking even after 21iB6d and 22iK3a –
the P*4d and P*3d tesuji is better here as well.
. ..
Now another two-piece game, but this time we are
going to look at proper checks by Sente. In Fig.i5 Sente
has adopted the Twin Silver opening and Gote has just
played ☖P6e.
Figure 5 – up to ☖P6e
1iP5e 2iPx5e │ 7iP*5e 8iP6f

3iSx5e 4iP*5d │ 9iPx5d 10iPx6g+
5iSx5d 6iSx5d │ see Fig.i6:
. ..
Figure 6 – up to 10iPx6g+
Confusion.
Sente’s attack starting with 1iP5e is a fairly standard
sequence. In this case, however, Gote thought it was
somewhat unreasonable in that his Gold is on 4b and
Sente’s Rook has not yet pulled back to 5i. Accordingly,
though Gote could have played 8iS*6i instead of 8iP6f,
he thought he could introduce an element of confusion
by promoting a Pawn.
. ..
11iP*6d! 12iK7b │ 17iP6c+ 18iK8c

13iP5f! 14iS*6e │ 19iSx5f 20iP*6f
15iP5c+ 16iSx5f │ and wins – see Fig.i7:
Figure 7 – up to 20iP*6f
Perfect sequence.
Gote has lost as soon as Sente dropped his Pawn –
12iP*6d! If, in answer to this, Gote plays 12iKx6d,
Sente stifles his resistance with 13iB5e, 14iK7e;
15iBx7c+, 16i+Px5h; 17iSx5h. 12iK5b is met by
. ..
13iS*5c, 14iK4a; 15iSx4b, 16iKx4b; 17iP5c+, 18iK3b;
19i+Px4c, 20iKx4c; 21iR5a+.
To the 12iK7b actually played however, 13iR5f was yet

another good move. It will not do for the Rook to fall to
a promoted Pawn and a check with ☗S*6c would be
extremely bad style.
The time for checks comes with 15iP5c+ and 17iP6c+.

It would then be very bad to capture the Knight on 7c.
To do so would be to eliminate (or “erase”) the potential
(aji) of the position – erasure of potential is known as
ajikeshi. Getting reserve pieces in hand with 19iSx5f is
best.
20iP*6f is intended to prevent ☗B5e but Sente again

refrains from check and takes the last strategic point
with 21iS*9e. There is no defence to this. It has been
perfect play by Sente – checking when he had to but
avoiding any checks that were unnecessary.
. ..
From an even game.
A game against a professional 4-dan – the author is
Gote. In Fig.i8, the game is in the endgame stage after a
Yagura opening. Gote’s Bishop has just moved to 8f.
Sente’s position seems to be somewhat inferior and the
subsequent moves are instructive.
Figure 8 – up to ☖B8f
. ..
1iL*8g 2iB6h+ │ 5iRx6h 6iR8g+
3iGx6h 4i+Px6h │ 7iP*8h see Fig.i9:
Figure 9 – up to 7iP*8h
Secret aim.
Attacking aimlessly in Fig.i8 with 1iLx1c+, 2iK3a;
3i+Px2a, 4iK4a; 5iBx7c+ is suicide – 6iS*6h; 7iGx6h,
8iBx6h+; 9iRx6h, 10iG*6i!! A better first move would
be 1iBx5g but Gote takes the lead with 2iB5i+.
Consequently Sente drops a Lance at 8g to attack the

Bishop. There is a secret aim behind this move. If Gote
continues in the conventional manner with 2iG*6h;
. ..
3iGx6h, 4iBx6h+; 5iRx6h, 6iPx6h; 7iBx6h, 8iR8g+;
Sente can play the devastating 9iBx1c+ (see Var.i2).
Variation 2 – up to 9iBx1c+
This works now because Sente has a Gold in hand and

mate is only a few moves away.
Gote therefore played so as not to give away a Gold and

promoted the Rook in a different way with 2iB6h+, etc.
This is like the sly fox fighting the wily badger.
When Sente dropped his Pawn at 8h (see Fig.i9) Gote

thought “How on earth am I going to mate in this
. ..
position?”, and it is indeed extremely difficult. 8iL*7g;
9iNx7g, 10i+Rx7g; 11iS*7h, 12iN*8g does not work
because Gote cannot afford to hand over a Gold (he is in
a ‘sudden death’ position).4 8iL*7h is another powerful
move but 9iRx7h, 10i+R6g; 11iS*5h, 12iG*5i (usually
good but not here); 13iL*6i, means that either the Rook
or the Gold will fall to Sente (…, 10iG*6i; 11iKx6i,
12i+R6g; 13iK5i and Gote cannot afford to capture the
Rook).
The only way to win in Fig.i9 is to desist from any

checks and to attack in a roundabout way with 8i+Rx4g.
In conclusion about half the checks in novice games are

bad. While they may make you feel good you must learn
to think twice about all checks.
4 Suddenly being mated by your opponent as you are in the process of trying to mate
him is known as tonshi – ‘sudden death’. ‘Suicide’ is often a more apt translation.
. ..
Impulsive Moves.
(Shogi 14, Teruich Aono)
Curing bad habits.
Among novices there are many people who
automatically take a Pawn as soon as it is offered and
who drop this Pawn as soon as an opponent’s piece
approaches.
This is a bad habit that should be eliminated, above all

by low- and middle-kyu players hoping to get into the
dan grades.
In the three examples which follow, the assumption is

made that it is Sente who has this bad habit. Make up
your own mind as to what is the best move.
. ..
Example 1: This game has only just begun. Normally
Gote would play 2iG3b here but instead he plays
2iP8f...
Figure 1 – up to 2iP8f
1i… 2iP8f │ 5iP*8g 6iR8d

3iPx8f 4iRx8f │
. ..
No benefit to Sente.
The usual development from here would be 2iG3b;
3iP2d, 4iPx2d; 5iRx2d, 6iP*2c; 7iR2f, Sente thus
denying Gote the exchange of the Rook Pawn for the
time being by getting his Rook to 2f.
In the line shown above, however, Sente allowed Gote

to complete the Rook Pawn exchange and got no benefit
from it. In fact 5iP*8g was an impulsive – and bad –
move. Sente should have counter-attacked with 5iP2d!.
If Gote takes this Pawn Sente can use his Pawn in hand
to win the Bishop with 7iP*2c (see Fig.i1a).
. ..
Figure 1a – up to 7iP*2c
Gote too can win back the Bishop with 8iP*8g, but then
9iPx2b+, 10iSx2b; 11iB*7e, 12iR8b; 13iBx5c+ gives
Sente the advantage of a promoted Bishop.
. ..
Example 2: Here Gote has taken up a position on the
3rd file against Sente’s Ranging Rook. Gote’s Bishop’s
diagonal is blocked and it is natural for him to want to
open it.
Figure 2 – up to ☗N7g
Moves from Fig.i2:
1i… 2iP4e │ 5iP*4f 6iS3d

3iPx4e 4iSx4e │ see Var.i2:
. ..
Variation 2 – up to 6iS3d
Gote’s superior strategy.

In Fig.i2 it might be thought that there can be no harm
in taking the Pawn proffered with 2iP4e but this is an
artless attitude. It is the kind of attitude that prevents
you from even trying to think of other moves.
It is no good thinking that Gote cannot do much harm

with just a Pawn in hand. For one thing the Pawn
exchange has opened up the Bishop’s diagonal (see
Var.i2) and this will restrict Sente greatly, but in fact the
Pawn in hand can also be used for an attack at the head
of the King.
. ..
Thus in Var. 1, Gote will reinforce his defence with K2b
and G3b and his superior strategy should then be
enough to win.
Perhaps Sente cannot avoid the Pawn exchange on 4e

but then he should desist from the Pawn drop on 4f and
play instead 5iP8f, 6iPx8f; 7iP*8e, 8iR8b; 9iRx8f (see
Fig.i2a).
. ..
Figure 2a – up to 9iRx8f
If Gote defends in Fig.i2a with 10iP*8c Sente could

now play P*4f, having already extracted an advantage
on the left flank from the Pawn exchange, but 11iS4f
would also be a strong move.
10iS6d instead of 10iP*8c does not work for Gote:

11iP8d, 12iSx7e; 13iR8e, pinning the Silver.
. ..
Example 3: Both sides have opted for a yagura strategy
but Gote’s castle is incomplete. He has tried the faster
S6d and Sente is about to bring his Bishop into the
attack on it via ☖B6h~☖B5i~☖B3g.
Figure 3 – up to ☗B7i5
5 In the original text, Fig. 3 and Var.i3, ☗R was missing – inserted at 2h.
. ..
1i… 2iP7e │ 9iSx8f 10iBx8f

3iPx7e 4iSx7e │ 11iP*8g 12iB4b
5iP*7f 6iP8f │ See Var.i3:
7iPx8f 8iSx8f │
Variation 3 – up to 12iB4b
Clear advantage for Gote.

In the first two examples Sente suffered a loss in
material or strategically through answering too directly.
This also applies in Fig.i3 if he plays the line taking the
game up to Var. 3. Gote has gained two Pawns in hand
. ..
and has opened up his Rook’s file, giving himself direct
access into Sente’s castle. This is clearly advantageous
for Gote. He is threatening 13i…, 14iP9e; 15iPx9e,
16iP*9g.
Now, if we ask ourselves where Sente went wrong, it

was in dropping a Pawn at 7f after exchanging Pawns
on 7e. There are many people who would play such
moves almost instinctively – by force of habit perhaps –
but a little thought would show that Sente has two
pieces, a Gold and a Silver, controlling the 7f point, so
that he has no need to play here. If this were the
endgame Gote might conceivably want to drop a Pawn
here as a sacrifice to break open Sente’s position, but so
early in the game as this, is just not the time for such
considerations.
. ..
Instead of 5iP*7f Sente should play 5iP6e, 6iP8f;
7iPx8f, 8iSx8f; 9iSx8f, 10iBx8f; 11iP*8g, 12iB4b;
13iS6f (see Fig.i4).
Figure 4 – up to 13iS6f
Gote has the same position as in Var. 3, but Sente’s is

different – most significantly in that he now has a Pawn
in hand.
If Gote attacks in Fig.i4 with 14iP9e, Sente clearly gets

the better game with 15iB4f, 16iP*7c; 17iP*7d. This
Pawn drop at 7d is, of course, only possible if Sente has
not already dropped at 7f!
. ..
The preceding three situations are all good examples of
grabbing a Pawn then impulsively dropping it as soon as
an opponent’s piece approaches.
It may well be that you spotted the three bad moves,

5iP*4f in Fig.i1, 5iP*4f in Fig.i3 and 5iP*7f in Fig.i3,
and if so, you are probably not a novice, yet it is a fact
that people who ought to know better do play such bad,
impulsive moves in actual games.
That apart, to escape from the ranks of the novices you

must learn to think how to avoid doing what your
opponent wants you to do and to counter-attack instead.
. ..
From an actual game.
Consider this example from one of the author’s own
games. Gote has just advanced his Silver to 5e – this is
of course the middle game. What this move is aiming at
is not to attack Sente, but to make him drop his Pawn at
5f. Once Sente does this he has no suitable means of
creating an attack, whereas Gote can eventually bring
his other Silver out to 5d via 5c to give himself good
shape.
Figure 5 – up to ☖S5e
. ..
Gote was about to play ☖P*5f, but instead tried the
unexpected and counter-attacked.
1iP1d 2iPx1d │ 5iS8f 6iLx1c

3iP*1c 4iN8e │ 7iN2e see Fig.i6:
Figure 6 – up to 7iN2e
. ..
Nothing to fear from the Silver on 5e.
Taking advantage of the Pawns in hand, Gote launched
an edge attack with 1iP1d and 3iP*1c. Naturally this
attack would have been impossible if Gote had
impulsively dropped a Pawn at 5f – you should learn
that there is a world of difference between having a
Pawn in hand and not having one!
Nevertheless, there is a prerequisite here and that is to

make sure that Gote cannot do anything on the 6th file.
If for instance, he did not have a Pawn on 6c, ☖N8e
could become quite dangerous, as it could with a Pawn
on 6e in Fig.i6. As it is however, the Silver on 5e is
effective only in the direction of 4e, away from the
King, so there is nothing to worry about.
In Fig.i6 Sente no longer has any pieces in hand, but

after he captures the Lance he can aim at ☗Lx1d, or
attack the Silver (which must fall) with ☗L*5i.
. ..
7i… 8iP*4e │ 13iNx2a+ 14iS*6i

9iNx1c=! 10iPx4f │ 15iN*5f 16iSx7h+
11iSx4f 12iSx4f │ 17iKx7h see Fig.i7:
Figure 7 – up to 17iKx7h
Gote counter-attacks in turn with 8 iP*4e but 9iNx1c= is

a good move: if the Knight promotes there is no good
follow-up. If Gote answers this with 10iNx1c there
comes 11iL*5i. Since this is bad for him Gote has to
play 10iPx4f but Sente sacrifices the Silver so as to
. ..
leave Gote with no prospects of promoting a Pawn, and
captures a Knight.
Looking at Fig.i7 we can see that Sente has won two

pieces for one (Lance and Knight for Silver) but in
addition Gote’s Bishop is en prise and Sente is aiming at
☗P*4d. In short, Sente is ahead.
We can now conclude that Sente dropping a Pawn at 5f

in answer to ☖S5e would have been an impulsive and
inferior move. You should be able to see that, although
such moves seem natural, there is usually another move
worth considering. If you can learn this you will
eliminate another blind spot.
. ..
The Endgame.
(Shogi 17, Teruich Aono, trans. John Fairbairn)
“In the endgame speed is more important than
material.”. So runs a proverb and what it means is that,
in the endgame, rather than thinking about picking up or
defending extra pieces you should be thinking how to
mate at least one move ahead of your opponent.
. ..
From the end of a two-piece game.
Fig.i1 shows the end part of a two-piece handicap game
where Gote has just dropped a Gold on 5, attacking the
Rook. This ☖G*5f is actually not a very good move, but
Gote has to do something desperate to avoid losing.
Figure 1 – up to ☖G*5f
Moves from Fig.i1:
1iR4i 2iGx6g │ 5iK9h 6iN*7d

3iK8h 4iNx7g+ │ see Fig.i2:
. ..
Figure 2 – up to 6iN*7d
All because it was a Rook.

If the piece on 4f in Fig.i1 had been anything but a
Rook or a Bishop, nobody would have moved it away.
But it was a Rook and Sente’s reaction was a frightened
‘Ahh!’ and so we ended up with Fig.i2. Gote’s Gold has
broken through, a Knight has been lost and Sente has no
hope now of winning. And how many novices would
put the blame on ☗R4i?
Look again at Fig.i1. It is the endgame. All that matters

now is mate or be mated. In such a position your
thoughts must be beyond simply saving a Rook.
. ..
Given that, the natural move in Fig.i1 is 1iNx6e. Of
course this leaves the Rook in danger but even if Gote
plays ☖Gx4f, it is not mate and Sente can think about
his own mating attack.
Continuing again from Fig.i1:
1iNx6e 2iGx4f │ 5iS*2b see Var.iA:

3iN*5d 4iK4a │
Variation A – up to 5iS*2b
. ..
Exquisite mate.
If Sente’s 1iNx6e is answered by ☖Px6e, that would be
the time to move the Rook out of harm’s way and Gote
has failed, (Gote is lost anyway once Sente drops the
Knight at 5d) because, whilst Gote can continue with
☖+Sx6g, after ☗K8i Gote has no attack left.
Notice how Sente desists from checking but drops the

Knight at 5d instead. Compared to 3iS*5c, 4iK4a;
5iB5a+, 6iK3a, the move chosen does not give Gote any
pieces in hand with which to complete his mating net.
If Gote answers 3iN*5d with 4iPx6e, Sente has a mate:

5iS*5c, 6iKx5d; 7iB6b, etc.
When Gote’s King slinks away to 4a, 5iS*2b is an

exquisite move.
Moves from Var. A:
5i… 6iR*6h │ 13iSx2a= 14iG3b

7iK8g 8iS*7h │ 15iN*3d 16iK3a
9iK9g 10iRx6g+ │ 17iSx3b+ 18iKx3b
11iK9h 12iG3a │ 19iG*2b see Var. B:
. ..
Variation B – up to 19iG*2b
Gote’s attack does not end in mate because he does not

have enough pieces in hand, and so he has to go back to
12iG3a. Sente continues with good endgame technique,
not giving Gote the required pieces in hand, by playing
the clever 13iSx2a=. S3b+ would give Gote the Silver
he needs and Gote’s mating attack would then be the
first to succeed.
If Gote, instead of 16iK3a plays 16iSx3d; Sente simply

plays 17iPx3d – the Knight is not enough for Gote to
mate with. It would be worth your while playing these
moves over on a board to really appreciate them.
. ..
Now of course if a novice was capable of such a precise
mating attack he wouldn’t be a novice at all, but he
should at least be able to appreciate what a difference of
one move means in the endgame, and should be
prepared to take some risks in order to improve, even if
it means losing a few games. Avoiding danger all the
time, as lots of people do, leads to a gradual decline in
skill.
. ..
From an even game.
One of the maxims we are taught about the endgame is:
“Attack the opponent’s most effective pieces”. This is
what we can look at in Fig.i3, which shows a position
from one of the author’s own games.
Figure 3 – up to ☖S4c
Gote has just played S4c and normally Sente would save
his promoted Rook with 1i+Rx5e but then his Knight
would be dislodged from the vital point 4e with
2iS4c-5d; 3i+R5f, 4i+B3f. Fig.i3 looks like a middle
game position but actually it is already the endgame and
now is the time to think about getting rid of the pieces
. ..
which are most effectively defending the opposing
King.
1iB*5c 2iSx4d │ 7iG*5c 8iK7b

3iBx4d+ 4iP*4c │ 9iS*6b see Fig.i4:
5i+Bx6b 6iKx6b │
Figure 4 – up to 9iS*6b
. ..
6b is the vital point.
The most important of Gote’s pieces can be considered
to be the Gold on 6b. The promoted Bishop, for the time
being has no effect, and the only pieces directly
defending the King are the Silver on 6c and the Gold on
6b. Thinking that way leads quite easily to the discovery
of 1iB*5c.
Figure 3 – up to ☖S4c
From Fig.i3, if, against 1iB*5c, Gote plays 2iG5b, a

mating position will come about after 3iS*4a, 4iSx4d;
5iSx5b+, or there is a mate resulting from 1iB*5c,
. ..
2iG6a; 3iS*6b, 4iG5b; 5iS7a+, 6iK8b; 7i+S6a! (see Var.
C). If Gote plays 2iG6a then 3iB7a+ is irresistible.6
6 The final highlighted sentence was originally “If Gote plays 2iG6a then 9iB7a+ is
irresistible.” This doesn’t make sense – the numbering of 9IB7a+ is surely wrong!?
3IB7a+ looks likely to be correct?
. ..
Variation C – up to 7i+S6a!
Continuing the discussion of the moves from Fig.i3:

Since there would be no defence to S5c or N5c+, Gote
plays 4iP*4c but 5i+Bx6b demolishes Gote’s defences,
in preparation for the mating attack 9iG*5c and
11iS*6b. 9iS*6a instead followed by 10iKx6a; 11iGx6c
is risky because it may not lead to mate.
Mate is still quite a few moves off even in Fig.i4 but

Sente’s King is thoroughly secure and with the
possibility of dropping the other Silver on 6a, victory is
certain for Sente.
. ..
From another two-piece game.
As the previous two examples have shown, speed is
more important than material in the endgame and we
also mentioned that the Rook and Bishop can be
abandoned in the interests of a quick mate. However,
among Shogi players, there must be those who think
“But that’s no guarantee that we’ll come up with clever
moves in real games.”. And that’s quite true. The
justification for giving up a major piece in Fig.i1 and
Fig.i3 was either that there was a mate or that saving the
major piece led to an inferior game. Consequently,
while you must learn to disregard material in the
endgame, you must also learn to play the simple move
and to find the simplest mate when that is what the
position calls for. That will be good enough.
. ..
In Fig.i5 Gote’s King has just been driven from 6b to 5b.
How should Sente mate from here?
Figure 5 – up to ☖K5b
1iS*5c 2iK4c
3iG*4b 4iK5d see Var.iD:
. ..
Variation D – up to 4iK5d
More haste less speed.

1iS*5c shows Sente is bent on mate and as the King is
chased around it seems only a matter of time, but when
the King arrives at 5d it becomes clear that his prison
has only three walls.
If Sente could only play ☗G5f it would be hisshi

(certain death), but ☖B*4g puts paid to that idea.
Moving the King out of checking range with ☖K7i
gives Gote time to block the Gold’s advance with
☖B*2i. Sente’s attack has fizzled out.
. ..
It is also deceptively strong to play from Fig.i5, 1iG*5c,
2iK4a; 3iiS*4c, but this attack too soon runs out of
steam: 4iK3a; 5iSx3d+, 6iGx3d; 7iS*2c, 8iG2d; 9iP*3b,
10iK2a (see Var.iE) (it is not permissible to mate by
dropping a Pawn).
Variation E – up to 10iK2a
No, Fig.i5 differs from Fig.i1 and Fig.i3 because there is

no need for urgency in this case. Sente’s King is more
secure and it would take several moves before Gote
could engineer a mate. ☖Px3g+ is one move, ☖+P4h is
two, ☖+Px5i (answered by ☗Sx5i) then ☖B*3g is three
. ..
and ☖Rx5i+ is four. Sente has four moves breathing
space to concoct a precise mate of his own.
Figure 5 – up to ☖K5b
. ..
Continuing again from Fig.i5:
1iP*4d! 2iK4b │ 7iS*4c 8iK2c

3iP*3e 4iK3b │ 9iG*1e see Fig.i6:
5iPx3d 6iGx3d │
Figure 6 – up to 9iG*1e
Good moves need a little thought.

1iP*4d is a good move because it prevents Gote
interposing a barrier in front of his King. The King flees
to 4b to avoid the mate resulting from ☗S*5c, but
3iP*3e keeps up the pressure, gathering pieces in hand.
. ..
Gote cannot take this Pawn because 7iS*4c produces
mate.
Good moves were available to Sente here but it needed a

little thought to find them. This example showed that
while speed is important (it was necessary to calculate
how safe Sente’s King was), you must also be prepared
to hold back if you have time and to reinforce your
attack to guarantee the mate.
. ..
Glossary of Shogi Terms
I have shown the Romanised form (Rōmaji), (in a few

cases, the kanji) and the commonly-used Western term –
literal meanings are usually not given.
Shogi Pieces
In this case, the kanji are shown also.
Sente (先手) Black

Gote (後手) White
Gyoku (玉將) Black King
O (王將) White King
Hi (飛車) Rook
Ryu (龍王) Dragon (promoted Rook)
Kaku (角行) Bishop
Uma (龍馬) Horse (promoted Bishop)
Kin (金將) Gold
Gin (銀將) Silver
Narigin (成銀) Promoted Silver
Kei (桂馬) Knight
Narikei (成桂) Promoted Knight
Kyō (香車) Lance
Narikyō (成香) Promoted Lance
Fu (歩兵) Pawn
Tokin (と金) Promoted Pawn
. ..
Piece quality
In ascending order:
kaki-goma kanji are painted directly onto the

surface of the piece, usually with
lacquer
hori-goma kanji are inscribed into the pieces
and lacquer is applied
hiriume-goma kanji are inscribed into the pieces
and lacquer is applied until it is flush
with the surface of the piece
moriage-goma kanji are inscribed into the pieces
and lacquer is applied until it stands
proud of the surface of the piece
Shogi Openings and Attacks (joseki)

Note that the same term is sometimes used to describe
both an opening strategy (joseki) and a castle (gakoi).
Ibisha Static Rook

Aiibisha Double Static Rook
Furibisha Ranging Rook
Aifuribisha Double Ranging Rook
Yagura Fortress
Sō yagura Complete Fortress
Kata yagura Incomplete/Half Fortress
Aiyagura Double Fortress
Shikenbisha 4th file Rook
Ai/Sankenbisha Double/3rd file Rook
. ..
Nakabisha Central Rook
Mukaibisha Opposing Rook
Hineribisha Twisting Rook
Chikatetsubisha Subway Rook
Tatefu Rook on Pawn
Bōgin Climbing Silver
Bōkin Climbing Gold
Aigakari (Double) Wing attack
Kakugawari Bishop exchange opening
Kakutōfu Bishop’s Head Pawn, a.k.a.
Kakutōfuzuki Bishop’s Head Pawn Push
Sujichigai-Kaku (primitive) Parallel Bishop
ai/Yokofudori Double/Side Pawn(capture)
Ukibisha Floating Rook
Sodebisha Sleeve Rook or Sidestepped Rook or
Sideways Rook or Right 3rd file
Rook
Suzumezashi Spearing the Sparrow
Koshikakegin Reclining Silver
Tsuno gin Horn Silver (Central Rook)
Gatchangin Clanging Silvers
Shogi Castles
I have tried to group these by ‘family’ – it seems
pointless to sort them alphabetically. In cases where
there is no clear Japanese or English term for a castle, I
have used a ‘?’. If you can fill in any of the blanks,
please let me know!
. ..
Gakoi Castle – generic term
Yagura Fortress
Gangi Snow Roof Fortress
Ginyagura Silver Fortress
Kinyagura Gold Fortress
Gin-tachi Yagura High Silver Yagura or Silver
Standing Yagura
Hekomi Yagura Hollow Yagura
Hishi Yagura Diamond Yagura
Kata Yagura Incomplete or Half Yagura
Migi Yagura Right Yagura/Peerless Gold
Nagara Yagura Flowing Yagura
Sō Yagura Complete Yagura
Sou Yagura 4-Piece Yagura. aka Yon-mei Yagura
Kabuto Yagura Headpiece Yagura
Kikusui Yagura ?
? Wave Yagura
? Lozenge Yagura
? Straight Line Yagura
Anaguma Bear in the hole

Harada’s Anaguma Left side Anaguma
Ibisha Anaguma Ibisha Anaguma
Minogakoi Mino
Taka mino High Mino
Kin Mino Gold Mino
Gin Mino Silver Mino
. ..
Kimura Mino Kimura’s Mino
Gyaku Mino Reverse Mino
Chonmage Mino Top-knot Mino
Bozu Mino Bald Mino
Kabuto Mino Headpiece Mino
Gin kanmuri Silver Crown
Kata mino Incomplete Mino
Tenshukaku Mino Tenshukaku Mino
Masuda’s Mino Masuda’s Mino
? Left Mino
? Diamond Mino
? High King
? Yonenanga King
Funagakoi Boat
? Triad Castle
Hayagakoi Quick Yagura
Gin Hibari Silver Skylark
Edo Quick Castle/Wall Castle
Kanigakoi Crab
Kinmusou Gold Excelsior which is the same as:
Nimaikin Twin Gold
Hishigakoi Lozenge Castle
Hakoiri Musume Well-protected Daughter
Nakazumai Central House
Ahiru Duck legs
Nakahara Named after Makoto Nakahara.
Migi Gyoku Right-hand King
Suso-Gatame Hem Defence
. ..
Hirame Gakoi Flat Fish
Bunchin gakoi Paperweight
Hyasaki Gyoku ?
Kuuchu-Roukaku ?
Kushi-Katsu ?
Yon-Dan-Hashigyoku ?
? Cement Gakoi
? Millenium
? Big Four
Handicap Shogi (common handicaps only)

hirate even game
kyō ochi left Lance
kaku ochi Bishop
hi-kyō ochi Rook, left Lance
ni-mai ochi 2-piece; Rook, Bishop, right Lance
san-mai ochi 3-piece; Rook, Bishop
yon-mai ochi 4-piece; Rook, Bishop, both Lances
go-mai ochi 5-piece; Rook, Bishop, both Lances,
one Knight (usually right)
roku-mai ochi 6-piece; Rook, Bishop, both Lances,
both Knights
nana-mai ochi 7-piece; Rook, Bishop, both Lances,
both Knights, left Silver
hachi-mai ochi 8-piece; Rook, Bishop, both Lances,
both Knights, both Silvers
General Shogi Terms

Aji potential
. ..
ajikeshi erasure/loss of potential
akukei bad shape
atsumi thickness
boyomi countdown of time
shogi-ban the Shogi board
fugire with no Pawns in hand
furigoma Pawn-tossing (ritual to decide who
plays Sente; one player throws five
pawns and if a majority of five land
face up, he is Sente)
hisshi brinkmate problems
hoshi the four circular dots which divide
the board into ‘camps’. Sometimes
known as ‘the four stars’
igyoku sitting King
jishogi game deadlocked by impasse (ie:
both Kings have entered the enemy
camp and cannot be mated), leading
to a piece count to decide the winner
joseki established principles of Shogi,
‘standard’ opening sequences
kakugen Shogi proverbs
kakukokan Bishop swap or exchange
karanari empty promotion, ie: promoting
without a capture
katachizukuri making one’s position look as good
as possible before resigning
kifuzu ‘thorn-in-the-flesh’ Pawn
. ..
kobin ‘ears’ vulnerable squares in front of
a piece. In the case of the Bishop, it
is the square directly in front of the
Bishop, in the case of the Rook and
King, it is the squares diagonally in
front of the piece
kokei/ryoku good shape
koma the Shogi pieces
komada side table for the storing of captured
(‘in-hand’) pieces
komafukuro piece bag
komahako piece box
kuraidori Vanguard Pawn
kuzushi castle-destroying techniques
narisute promotion sacrifice
nifu having two unpromoted Pawns on
the same file (which is illegal)
nimaigae exchanging one piece for two pieces
nozoki peeping (Bishop)
nyugyoku entering King(s)
nyūjō the process of castling
ougyoku Two Kings mating problem
okiritesuji shepherding finesse
onigorosho demon slayer
otebisha Rook-and-King fork
sabaki development resulting from
exchange of pieces
semeai mutual attack: attacking race
sennichite endless repetition
. ..
shitate the junior (less experienced) player
in handicap games. (a.k.a. Sente)
shōgi Shogi, General’s chess
sujichigai-Kaku wrong-diagonal Bishop
tanegoma seed piece
tarashi/tarefu the act of dangling a Pawn; tarefu is
the dangled Pawn
tataki striking Pawn
teikijin promotion zone
tesuji sequence of ‘clever’ moves
tonshi sudden death by checkmate while
pursuing checkmate yourself
tsume-shogi mating problems
uwake the senior (more experienced) player
in handicap games. (a.k.a. Gote)
yoseai a position from which a final kill can
be administered
. ..
Computer Shogi.
Shogidokoro.
There are quite a few Shogi programs around. For the
English speaker, the best free one (in my opinion) is
Shogidokoro.
Shogidokoro is not itself a Shogi program, but rather a

scaffolding/interface which allows the incorporation of
Shogi game playing engines, the playing and recording
of games7, and the display of the board and game
statistics. You can even choose your own style of
calligraphy on the pieces!8 Users can play against the
computer, against another human player, or set the
program to play against itself using the engine(s) loaded
into the program. The program has the facility to play
using time limits (boyomi), and you can also set up and
solve tsumeshogi problems. It is also possible to set up
and play handicap games.
The following page shows a screenshot showing what

the Shogidokoro program looks like in action.
You can see the board and the komada at the side with
the in-hand (captured) pieces displayed. It is also
possible to see the time taken for both Black and White
moves, and that it is Gote’s (White) turn to move next.
7 Games can be saved using different formats, including ones which use simplified kanji for
recording the moves.
8 Including pieces with single kanji, red promoted pieces, and ‘Westernised’ pieces.
. ..
The game record is in the centre, and to the right of this
is an area for making notes to be saved with the game.
The remainder of the display is given over to the display
of various statistics, search trees, etc. This display is
typical of a modern Shogi program.
Shogidokoro can load previously saved games, and

using the tape-recorder style buttons on the display,
( ) it is possible to play through the games
on either a single-move or continuous basis.
The Shogidokoro program numbers moves individually.

This is why in this document, I have usually numbered
moves in this way – to facilitate the easy and
unambiguous playing through of game situations using
the program.
. ..
Shogidokoro is downloadable from the following
website:
http://shogidokoro.starfree.jp/download.html
The site may appear in Japanese or English (depending

on how your browser is configured). The download link
is the 3rd from the top of the page ( ダウンロード in
Japanese).
Shogidokoro comes with one engine – Lesserkai – this

will need to be installed before use. Reijer Grimbergens
web site contains instructions for downloading Reijers
Spear engine. See:
http://www.cloud.teu.ac.jp/public/CSF/grimbergen/research/SPEAR/spearmain.html
Spear can be found at the ‘Available releases’ section.

Other engines must be searched for on the internet (try
‘Shogi engines’ in your search box).
Some of the diagrams in this document were created

using screenshots from the Shogidokoro program.
Shogidokoro is, as far as I know, available for Windows

platforms only.
In principle, Shogidokoro can be run on other

architectures/operating systems using the WINE
emulation system – see: https://www.winehq.org/. I
. ..
haven’t tried this myself, but the only reports I have
(June 2020) are that the WINE system itself does not
work on the most recent versions of the MacOS
operating system (Catalina 10.15). On Linux, the
Shogidokoro menus do not display correctly – whether
the program works is doubtful.
For more about Shogidokoro, and computer Shogi in

general, see the Wikipedia page ‘Computer Shogi’.
. ..
ShogiGUI.
ShogiGUI is similar in some ways to Shogidokoro, as
the screenshot below illustrates:
This screenshot shows the position at the start of a two-

piece handicap game (Gote gives up the two Lances at
the start of the game).
The display is similar to Shogidokoro – you can see the

board, the komada for storing captured pieces, the move
window, etc. However, ShogiGUI is more flexible and
powerful than Shogidokoro:
. ..
 The notation used to record moves in the ‘Move’
window can be changed
 ShogiGUI can display ‘hints’ as to the next best
move
 ShogiGUI has powerful game analysis features. 9
 Game engines can be ‘fine-tuned’.
ShogiGUI can be downloaded from:
http://shogigui.siganus.com/
The interface of the program as downloaded is entirely

in Japanese, but it can be converted to English (or
German),10 although much of the fine detail in the
display is still in Japanese. With some determination,
there is no reason why the non-Japanese speaker should
not use ShogiGUI, even if not all of its features are fully
exploited.
The program comes with one pre-installed game engine

(GPSFish), and like Shogidokoro, other engines can be
downloaded and installed – I have successfully installed
Lesserkai.
ShogiGUI seems better at setting up tsume-shogi

problems than Shogidokoro.
9 See: http://shogibond.nl/how-to-analyze-your-games-using-a-shogi-engine/ for a
description of how to do this.
10 See: http://shogibond.nl/shogi-school/artikelen-van-hideaki-takahashi/gui-introductie/
or: http://shogibond.nl/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/GUI-Introduction.pdf for details
of how to configure the program. I also have a copy of this PDF file.
. ..
Versions exist for use on Android computers (Japanese
language only – seems to be a completely different
interface to the Windows version).
In principle, ShogiGUI can be run on other

architectures/operating systems using the WINE
emulation system – see: https://www.winehq.org/. I
haven’t tried this myself, but the only reports I have
(June 2020) are that the WINE system itself does not
work on the most recent versions of the MacOS
operating system (Catalina 10.15). On Linux, the
program does not display correctly.
. ..
Winboard (Alien Package).
Also available for Windows machines is a Winboard
package developed by H.G.Muller. This package can be
downloaded from:
http://hgm.nubati.net/WinBoard-Chu.zip
and when unpacked gives access to several Shogi

variants: Chu Shogi, Dai Shogi, Sho Shogi, Shogi and
Tori Shogi. Once you have unpacked the program,
simply click on the Black Knight’s head icon to start up
the program. You have the choice of using Western-style
pieces or pieces with Japanese-style kanji.
The screenshot shows the position at the start of a game:
. ..
Steve Evans Shogivar Program.
This Shogi variant software has been around since the
1990s. Originally available as a 32-bit PC
implementation written in Visual Basic (you will need a
very old PC, or 32-bit emulation plus the VB Library
files to run this), it is now also available as a Linux port
maintained by H G Muller. Downloadable in either form
from:
http://www.users.on.net/~ybosde/
The screenshot shows the position several moves into a

human vs. computer game:
. ..
Phil Holland’s Shogi Variants Program.
For those interested in the Shogi variants, a variants
program can be downloaded from Phil Hollands web
pages:
http://www.hollandnumerics.demon.co.uk/SHOGI.HTM
Simply click on the Shogi Software icon, and download

and unpack the SHOGIV41.ZIP file.
You will also need to download the file

MSAFINX.DLL as well.
This program has only a text-based display.
AiAi.
Ai Ai is a Java-based general game playing engine
based on Mogal (a GGP designed and developed by
Stephen Tavener and Cameron Browne). Games can be
hand-coded in Java (for efficiency), or assembled from
blocks using a scripting language based on JSON. The
web page is here:
http://mrraow.com/index.php/aiai-home/
The web page claims that Shogi and Shogi variants are
included in the repertoire of the program. There is
further information here:
https://drericsilverman.com/2021/05/13/ancient-shogi-revival-part-ii-the-big-ones/
. ..
So far, I have not tried this one – I am not usually a Java
user.
BCMGames/BCMShogi.
Development of this program was ‘frozen’ by the author
in ~2012. I had difficulty finding a version of the
program which worked when downloaded and installed,
though I finally tracked one down. As the program has
not been updated since 2012, I have not given a
download link here.
. ..
Shogi Game File Formats.
Unfortunately, most of the computer programs described
above use different formats for storing game records –
a real can of worms!!!
There is some overlap – for example, Shogidokoro will

handle .CSA, .KIF, .Ki2 and .PSN formats (.PSN is
the default). ShogiGUI will handle .CSA and .KIF
formats (.KIF is the default).11
Winboard uses .PGN and .GAM formats to store games.
Phil Hollands program uses .SHO format to store

games.
Steve Evans program appears to be unable to save

games.
It doesn’t matter what these files look like, but it is

clearly not possible to load the same game file into
different programs – except in the case of Shogidokoro
and ShogiGUI (.CSA or .KIF format).
To avoid problems, you should pick a program and stick

with it – I use Shogidokoro.
11 .KIF and .Ki2 formats are possibly best avoided as they both use Japanese characters.
. ..
Shogi programs on other architectures and operating
systems.
Shogidokoro is a Windows PC program, as is ShogiGUI
(for English speakers). On Unix/Linux systems,
gnushogi/xshogi is available, as is Xboard (a
Unix/Linux version of WinBoard).
On Mac OS machines there are some Shogi programs

available. For tablet computers, there are programs
available for the Apple iPad and for Android systems
(including ShogiGUI, p.i130).
I can’t comment on any of these as I don’t (yet) have

any experience with these programs.
. ..
Shogi Equipment
Moderate quality Shogi equipment is available via

numerous suppliers on Amazon/eBay.
Rakuten in Japan seem to be a Japanese version of

Amazon, and supply Shogi equipment – customer
reviews of the company seem to be ‘mixed’.
For better quality equipment, you need a specialist

trader. A short list follows. I have equipment/books
from, and have dealt satisfactorily with those marked
with a *:
*iThe Shogi Foundation – Shogi books:

http://www.shogifoundation.co.uk/
*iCzech Shogi Federation – suppliers of Shogi

equipment, books and other Shogi equiment. The basic
Shogi set includes a set of very nice hybrid pieces :
http://shogi.cz
*iAobo Shop – suppliers of Oriental board games,

puzzles and books:
http://en.aobo-shop.com/
* G. F. Hodges – Shogi equipment, variants, books, etc.

Supplier of Shogi magazine as a PDF download.
Tel: +44 (0)1234 211 286
E-mail: George.hodges@talk21.com
. ..
*iKurokigoishi Shop – suppliers of Oriental board
games, including Shogi (Masters may be able to supply
in the U.K.):
http://shop.kurokigoishi.co.jp/en/category/10
*iMasters Traditional Games – suppliers of Oriental

board games, including Shogi:
https://www.mastersofgames.com/
*iNekomado Online Shop – suppliers of books and

Shogi equipment:
http://shop.nekomado.com/
Schaak en Go winkel het Paard – suppliers of books

and Shogi equipment:
https://www.schaakengo.nl/goshop-keima/shogi-889416/
Yutopian Enterprises:
http://www.yutopian.com
Ohishi-Tengudo Corporation – suppliers of high

quality Shogi equipment:
http://go.tengudo.jp/english/shogi.html
Kiseido – suppliers of high quality Shogi equipment:

http://www.kiseidopublishing.com/shogi/shogi_equipme
nt.htm
. ..
Tendo Sato Kei Shoten – suppliers of high quality
Shogi equipment:
http://shogi-koma.jp/index.html
Horikoshi – suppliers of high quality Shogi equipment:

http://www.shogi-horikoshi.com/
The Shogi Game Store – suppliers of high quality

Shogi equipment:
http://www5b.biglobe.ne.jp/~goban/english@shogi@ver
sion.html
Japanese Games Shop – suppliers of books and Shogi

equipment:
http://japanese-games-shop.com/
[no longer trading?]
*iPentangle Puzzles and Games – suppliers of Shogi,

Go and Xiang-chi equipment:
http://www.pentangle-puzzles.co.uk/
[no longer trading?]
Please note that I have no connection with, or financial

interest in any of the organisations listed above. The
information provided is based on the latest information I
have from these organisations. For fuller information
please contact the organisations direct.
. ..
Downloadable and printable Shogi sets.
If you want to ‘do-it-yourself’, I have created a set of
templates for a simple Shogi board and pieces. These
templates can be downloaded from the shared Dropbox
folder:12
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/2wicm2bnw5lv3t0/AADyepK_y_3e819UAbrwjJoza?dl=0
Download the file:
DIY Shogi set.pdf
When making a Shogi set with these templates, use

good quality glue to stick the pieces and board to good
quality mounting card. Trim the board, if desired, with a
craft knife, and use sharp scissors to cut the pieces to
shape, and you can make quite an acceptable set.
12 There are also free printable board and piece templates on the web site of T Gene
Davis (http://genedavis.com/articles/shogi/), and on the Printable Games web site
(https://www.printableboardgames.net/preview/Shogi).
. ..
Bibliography and other Shogi resources.
Items in my possession, or consulted by myself have

been given a ‘star rating’ – maximum 5 stars – this is of
course, entirely subjective, you may think differently!
Books.
Better Moves for Better Shogi, Teruichi Aono, (trans.
John Fairbairn), Man to Man Books, 1983, 2377-
906053-2732. ★★★★★
Guide to Shogi Openings, Teruichi Aono (trans. John
Fairbairn), Man to Man Books, 1983, 2377-906052-
2732. ★★★★★
Tsume Puzzles for Japanese Chess, T Gene Davis, 2011,
146369055X. ★★★★★
Shogi – How to Play, John Fairbairn, The Shogi
Association, 1979. ★★★★★ (rare)
Shogi for Beginners, John Fairbairn, The Ishi Press,
1989, 4-87187-201-7.13 ★★★★★
Habu’s Words, Y Habu, The Shogi Foundation, 2000, 0
9531089 2 9. ★★★★★
Masters of Shogi, Y Habu & Tony Hosking, The Shogi
Foundation, 978 09531089 4 7. ★★★★★
13 Shogi for Beginners is available in PDF format from at least one paid-for e-book service on the
internet. The monthly subscription rate is more expensive than buying the book outright. Seems like
a no-brainer to me...
. ..
4 Great Games, Tony Hosking, The Shogi Foundation,
1998, 0 9531089 1 0. The games are: Chess, Shogi, Go
and Xiang ch’i. ★★★★★
The Art of Shogi, Tony Hosking, The Shogi Foundation,
March 1997. ★★★★★
Classic Shogi, Tony Hosking, The Shogi Foundation,
2006, 0 9531089 3 7. ★★★★★
Ending Attack Techniques, Takashi Kaneko (trans.
Tomohide Kawasaki), Nekomado, 2012, 978-4-905225-
03-4. ★★★★★
Storming the Mino Castle, Takashi Kaneko, (trans.
Richard Sams), Nekomado, 2013, 978-4-905225-05-8.
★★★★★
Joseki at a Glance, Madoka Kitao (trans. Tomohide
Kawasaki), At a Glance Series, 2011, 978-4-9052-2501-
0. ★★★★★
Edge Attack at a Glance, Madoka Kitao, (trans.
Tomohide Kawasaki), At a Glance Series, 2012, 978-4-
9052-2502-7. ★★★★★
Sabaki at a Glance, Madoka Kitao (trans. Tomohide
Kawasaki), At a Glance Series, 2013, 978-4-9052-2510-
2. ★★★★★
Ending Attack at a Glance, Madoka Kitao (trans.
Tomohide Kawasaki), At a Glance Series, 2014, 978-4-
9052-2513-3. ★★★★★
. ..
Japanese-English Shogi Dictionary, Tomohide
Kawasaki (a.k.a. Hidetchi), 2013, Nekomado, 978-4-
9052-2508-9. One-way only (Japanese to English)
★★★★★
Japanese Chess: The Game of Shogi, E. Ohara and
Lindsay Parrott. Has received a very poor review on
Amazon.com.
Shogi Primer: Japanese chess guide for English
speakers, Seigo Sato, 2021, Independently published,
979-8755253314. I don’t have this one, but in the
description on Amazon, the author states “I believe that
Kanji is not a big obstacle to learning the Shogi rules.”.
This is a promising start!
First Step To Shogi, Space Sano, Oyama Memorial
Museum, 1995.
The following items contain articles or chapters of

greater or lesser depth pertaining to Shogi and/or Shogi
variants. The star rating reflects both the quality and
quantity of material on Shogi:
Board and Table Games from Many Civilizations, R C
Bell, Dover, 1979, 0-486-23855-5. ★★★★★
Games Ancient and Oriental and How to Play Them,
Edward Falkener, Dover, 1961 (originally published
1892), 486-20739-0. Of historical interest, but like
. ..
many early publications, contains some mistakes.
★★★★★
Chess Variations, John Gollon, Charles E Tuttle
Company, 1985, 0-8048-1122-9. ★★★★★
The Great Shogi Games, George Hodges, The Shogi
Association, 1978. ★★★★★ A description of Shogi
variants larger than 15x15 squares. (rare)
A History of Chess, H J R Murray, Skyhorse Publishing,
2012 (originally published 1913). Of historical interest,
but like many early publications, contains mistakes.
★★★★★
The Encyclopaedia of Chess Variants, David Pritchard,
available as a PDF from https://www.jsbeasley.co.uk.
Contains a small amount of Shogi material of mixed
quality. ★★★★★
New rules for classic games, R. Wayne Schmittberger,
Wiley, 1992, 0471536210. Reputed to contain a good
description of the rules of Chu-Shogi – I haven’t seen
this one myself.
Books in ‘Western’ languages other than English.

Esperanto.
Invito al japana ŝako. Ueda Tomohiko. Esperantista
Klubo de Japana Ŝako. Tokio. 1996, 4-9900498-0-2. My
knowledge of Esperanto is limited, but this looks like an
excellent introduction.
. ..
Japana ŝako. Ekzercaro por progresantoj. Ueda
Tomohiko. Esperantista Klubo de Japana Ŝako. Tokio.
2001, 4-9900498-1-0. A collection of tsume-shogi and
hisshi problems.
French.
L’art des échecs japonais, Fabien Osmont, Fédération
Française de Shogi, 2009, 978-2952047258.
Shikenbisha, Fabien Osmont, Fédération Française de
Shogi. No further details
German.
Shogi Anfängerbuch Das japanische Schach, Frank
Sölter, no further details.
Shogi - Schach der Samurai, Stephan Michels no further
details.
‘One-off’ Books?
Shogi – Japan’s Game of Strategy, Trevor Leggett,
Charles E Tuttle Company, 1966. Re-published as
Japanese Chess, 2009, 978-4-8053-1036-6. This book is
of historical interest, as it was the first serious book
published in English after WWII. However, it has poor
diagrams, the notation system is confusing, it contains at
least one major/vital error, and the advice given is
sometimes suspect. So, it’s a very interesting book, but
possibly not the best choice for a new player.
. ..
Books to Avoid.
Unfortunately, there are a few poor Shogi books in
English. I have listed some of them here.
Japanese Chess or Shogi Book of Board Game Strategy,

John Sami Mamoun, independently published, 2021,
979-8712410125. Uses Chess-like notation, a chequered
board and diagrams with faux-Staunton style images.
Clearly an attempt to force Shogi to look as much like
Chess as possible. Not recommended.
Oriental Board Games, David Pritchard, Know The
Game Series, 1977, 0-7158-0524-X. By the same author
as Encyclopaedia of Chess Variants. The same poor
diagrams as Leggett, there is no notation system,
contains many errors, and the advice given is usually
highly suspect. Not recommended.
SHOGI (Japanese chess), Calogero A. Salomon, print-
on-demand, 2019, 978-8831643177. A poor translation
of an Italian original. The typesetting is poor, and many
of the illustrations are distorted in either the horizontal
or vertical direction. The price (~£30+) seems high
when compared to that of far better books! Not
recommended.
. ..
The History of Shogi.
The history of Shogi is outlined in the April 1999 issue
of the Japan Foundation Newsletter. This can be found
here:
https://web.archive.org/web/20151105233924if_/http://w
ww.jpf.go.jp/j/publish/periodic/jfn/pdf/jfn26_5.pdf
There is a 2021 paper entitled “1000 Years of Shogi

History” by Prof. Dr. Frank Rövekamp here:
https://ostasieninstitut.com/1000-years-of-shogi-history/
The Wikipedia article ‘History of Shogi’ is also of

interest:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_shogi
Three short articles from Variant Chess magazine:

Masukawa, K., A Brief Introduction to the History of
Japanese Chess, Variant Chess No. 9, Jan-Mar 1993, pp
4-7.
Masukawa, K., Oldest Shogi Men Discovered, Variant
Chess No. 10, Apr-Jun 1993, p 21.
Masukawa, K., The Origin of Japanese Chess, Variant
Chess No. 15, Oct-Dec 1994, pp 100-104.
. ..
Magazines.
Here, the star rating reflects both the quality and
quantity of the Shogi content.
The late George Hodges published Shogi magazine from

1978-1986. A complete run of the 70 issues of the
magazine is now available as a zipped download. To get
details of how to access these magazines, go to:
https://tinyurl.com/ShogiPriceList
and use the contact details you will find there.
This is a very valuable archive of Shogi material in

English. ★★★★★
In the UK, The British Shogi Federation (BSF)

published a magazine – Shoten – on a quarterly basis. I
have numbers 38-61 inclusive. ★★★★★
In the USA, The Ishi Press published a quarterly

magazine, Shogi World in the late 1980s-early 1990s. I
have numbers 1-9 inclusive. ★★★★★
Variant Chess magazine was published in the U.K.

From 1990 to 2010. Contains several Shogi-related
articles of mixed quality. Diagrams usually show rather
silly ‘westernised’ forms of the pieces. Available as a
. ..
single 1200 page download, or as individual issues from
https://www.jsbeasley.co.uk. ★★★★★
Other Literature.
Zen Culture, Thomas Hoover
Heihō Kadensho (A Hereditary Book on the Art of War),
Yagyū Munenori
Go Rin No Sho (A Book of Five Rings), Miyamoto
Musashi
. ..
Shogi on the Internet.
Dropbox.
I have recently created a Dropbox archive of Shogi
material. This is located at:
https://tinyurl.com/RogersShogiArchive14
When you connect to this shared folder, you should see

a list of the contents of the folder – simply click on the
required item and then on the Download button which
should be visible at top right. Then click on ‘Direct
download’ and select the location for the file.
If you do not select an individual document and simply

click the Download button when the DropBox page first
appears, you should get a zipped download of all the
14 The full Dropbox URL is::
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/2wicm2bnw5lv3t0/AADyepK_y_3e819UAbrwjJoza?dl=0
. ..
documents in the folder (warning – this may be a large
download).
There is a wide range of Shogi related material here,

including: a READ.ME file; paper templates for DIY
sets for Shogi and some of the Shogi variants; plus a
selection of edited digests of articles from magazines
(including Shogi magazine) which cover many aspects
of Shogi including Openings, Castles and castling,
Shogi proverbs, tsume-shogi; other oriental board
games; etc. Please browse and help yourself – that’s
what it’s there for.
Copyright material is included with the permission of

the copyright holder – where I have been able to contact
the copyright owner.
Please explore this resource and let me have feed-back –

this will help me improve the archive.
Google Drive Archive.

There is now an experimental ‘mirror’ of the Dropbox
archive:
https://tinyurl.com/GoogleShogiArchive
If there are any problems with this, please let me know.
. ..
Wikipedia.
There is a great deal of information about Shogi on
Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia).
The entry-level Shogi listing is at:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shogi
The Shogi information on Wikipedia is widely

dispersed. This is not a criticism, but an observation –
this is just the way Wikipedia works. The information is
an extremely valuable resource. You will need to start
Wikipedia and then enter the Shogi term in which you
are interested into the Wikipedia search box. Try ‘Shogi
opening’, ‘Shogi castle’, ‘Shogi tesuji’, etc.
If you understand Japanese, you are laughing! Japanese

Wikipedia has a wealth of articles on Shogi.
If you do not understand Japanese, the English language

pages mentioned above are very good – they are not
direct translations of the Japanese pages, but there is
usually an English page corresponding to each Japanese
page, and the information on each page is pretty much
the same.
. ..
Internet fora and Web sites.
Internet fora come and go – unfortunately. Websites
which are largely information-only tend to be a little
more permanent. Those listed below are available at the
time of writing (see front cover for date). Traffic is low
on all but the first of the three internet fora. The
remaining URLs are basically information-only web
sites.
There is a Reddit Shogi forum with 3500+ subscribers:

https://www.reddit.com/r/shogi/
81Dojo World Shogi Forum:

https://system.81dojo.com/en/forums
BoardGameGeek Shogi forum:

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2065/shogi
Shogi.net. Contains teaching information, Shogi variant

web pages, etc. Not very active:
http://www.shogi.net/shogi.html
Shogi.net proverbs pages. Contains list of Shogi

proverbs and explanatory notes and diagrams
illustrating the proverbs ‘in use’:
http://www.shogi.net/kakugen/
. ..
Reijer Grimbergen’s web page. Contains download
instructions for Shogidokoro and for the Spear engine,
plus some archived games:
http://www2.teu.ac.jp/gamelab/
Eric Cheymol’s web page. Contains Larry Kaufman’s

handicap notes plus some archived games:
http://eric.macshogi.com/
A modern Shogi diagram generator – used for many of

the diagrams in this document:
http://wormz.free.fr/kifugen/
Shogi Playground – an alternative diagram generator

which allows storage of games and recall via a unique
URL. If this had been around when I started, I would
probably have used it for my own diagrams:
https://play.mogproject.com/
British Shogi Federation/Shogi London web pages:

https://shogilondon.blogspot.com/
http://www.kittywompus.com/shogi/other_uk_shogi_eve
nts/
Defunct web sites.

81 Square Universe. Disappeared ca. 2015. Contained
active mail fora, lessons, videos, etc. Was a good place
to find out more about WinBoard, amongst other things:
http://81squareuniverse.com/
. ..
Playing Shogi on the Internet.
I’m not really familiar with playing Shogi ‘live’ (or
otherwise) via the internet – I’m an ‘across-the-board’
player, but I have listed a couple of sites where this is
possible:
Shogi Playground Live.

This site allows play without any formal registration,
subscription, or divulging of personal information. It
appears to do this by allowing a player to start a game,
and allocating a unique URL to that game, which the
player then shares with the opponent. The site is
minimalist in its presentation, while at the same time
being flexible enough to allow personalisation of boards
and pieces in the display. The site is here:
https://live.mogproject.com/
and the documentation here:
https://mog-playground-docs.readthedocs.io/en/latest/
81 Dojo.
Besides a Shogi forum (p.155), the 81 Dojo web site
also hosts an interactive Shogi application:
https://81dojo.com/en/
. ..
Videos.
In February 2020, lady professional Karolina
Styczyńska (5-dan) inaugurated a series of videos
entitled ‘Road to Shodan’. The first four of these can be
seen at:
https://youtu.be/bmH2hqRyR8A (Weak King falls easily)

https://youtu.be/nrS3WnnWA6Qv (Fighting Anaguma)
https://youtu.be/VOXX67hAHuM (Beating your rival)
https://youtu.be/IfExOhAJmsw (Fooling the opponent)
Typically, these themed videos last approximately 40

minutes – highly recommended.
The whole series, which also includes an Introduction to

Shogi, a discussion of Shogi notation, plus analyses of
some professional games is available on the Shogi
Harbour channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRnXG7CkKfEN6IINKcO_uBg
In mid 2019, Chess Grandmaster Matthew Sadler and

Women’s International Master Natasha Regan produced
an introductory Shogi video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=At6KWe7bCbg
This lasts about 45 minutes and is an excellent

introduction to the game.
. ..
The second video in this series is at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eu6kRSkjp64
Another good source of Shogi videos is Hidetchi’s

YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/user/HIDETCHI
The channel includes a useful series of 40 short video

films teaching the basic aspects of Shogi. Also included
are series relating to Shogi Openings, Famous Shogi
Games and Tsume Shogi.
Connect to YouTube and enter ‘hidetchi shogi lessons’

into the search box and you should see the teaching
videos listed.
There is a lot more Shogi material on YouTube.
. ..

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Cover Page.

Beginners Blind Spots

Articles from Shogi magazine.

This document is free and available to all from https://tinyurl.com/RogersShogiArchive.

This document is an edited compilation of a series of

I am grateful to the copyright owners for granting

The rationale for creating the document in the first place

My editing has been as ‘light’ as possible:

In order to achieve a consistent and ‘sensible’ layout in

For the purposes of clarity, I have taken some long

Where sequences of moves are left in situ, (usually

I have added some general information about Shogi –

John Fairbairns original brochure, Shogi – How to play;

The late George Hodges published Shogi magazine from

and use the contact details you will find there.

This is a very valuable archive of Shogi material in

Not used for this document, but also of great interest to

I have used Open Office to prepare the document in

If you read this document and find any errors, typos, or

Consider Fig.i1 and Fig.i2. Even beginners should be

Before reading the explanatory text, it is worth while

First though, we should define what is meant by good

There are four conditions for good shape:

1. There should be an overall balance between the

Considering Sente’s position first we can we can see that

In addition, unless the Bishop on 9g is pulled back to 7i

In Gote’s case there are too many pieces around his

If Gote simply concentrates on solidifying his defences

Fig.i2 shows much better shape than Fig. i1. This is

In this position, Sente should play the following

These moves highlight the inability of the Gold to move

1i… 2iP8f │ 5iR8h see Fig. 4:

Usually this move is a tesuji (a standard clever move

In view of the imminent check from the Bishop dropped

Everything so far should have been easily

Figure 6 – switching Silvers and Golds

Fig. 7 shows an opening called the ‘Primitive

Careful study of Fig.i7 shows that Sente’s pieces are

In this position we can definitely say that the following

The Silver on 6f is not only obstructing the Bishop, but

The Silver on 6f has been transferred to 5f and the

In contrast to Fig.i7 the Bishop has an open road ahead

1iP4e 2iPx4e │ 9iSx5e 10iP*5d

This sequence seems to have gone too well for Sente,

Unlike the case where there was a Silver on 4f (see

In Fig.i9 a professional would not attack immediately

Fig.i12 shows a situation from a teaching game in which

The opening moves brought us to Fig.i12, then

The first step by Sente (always the weaker player in

Look at Fig.i13. Sente’s Kings defences are thin almost

Play might proceed from Fig.i13 with: ☗P5e, ☖Px5e;

Having got himself into a mess, Sente actually launched

Sente has broken through at 4e and he has won a Pawn,

Figure 15 – from Fig.i12 in unspecified moves

If Sente had instead gone on from Fig.i12 to group his

(if 4iS5c-4d then ☗P2d, ☖Px2d; ☗Rx2d, ☖P2c;

aiming next at attacking with ☗P3d, it is evident that

Good attacks grow from good shape. Bad shape leads to

Figure 18 – Good shape with Gold Fortress

Fig.i18 shows a Gold Fortress for Sente. This is a highly