Author: tgenedavis

  • Hidetchi’s Shogi Dictionary

    Any English speaker attempting serious study of shogi knows the biggest issue involved. It’s language. Most of the primary source material that shogi masters study is still only published in Japanese.

    Those of us that take up the study of Japanese in an effort to overcome the language barrier learn very quickly, shogi has a unique vocabulary. Shogi specific phrases don’t translate well with online translation engines, and Japanese-English dictionaries don’t have many of the shogi specific terms needed for reading Japanese shogi texts. Not only do we have to overcome the barrier of learning Japanese, but we also have to learn a specific niche of Japanese vocabulary that isn’t found in standard textbooks and dictionaries.

    Shogi Dictionary Cover
    Shogi Dictionary by Hidetchi

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  • Speeding up Shogi

    I’d love to play a game of shogi, but I don’t have time.

    That’s a common complaint. We all have limited time, and an hour to play, even our favorite game, is hard to come by. And if one or more of the players tend to think for a long time on each move, forget about a quick game.

    Shogi games between evenly matched opponents often take over a hundred moves to complete. They can even take hundreds of moves to finish. And, with shogi’s highly developed handicap system, all games tend to be between evenly matched opponents. The number of moves adds up to a long game, very quickly.

    Speed up your games with a good digital clock and using byoyomi rules. These rules are typically applied to tournaments, but with small adjustments to the time allocations, can make a normally long game more manageable for anyone’s tight schedule. (more…)

  • Five Shogi Tips for Novices

    You’ve played your first few games of shogi, and want some quick tips to impove your game. Shogi players range in skill from first-time players to fully professional players making their living off shogi play. Advanced strategies aren’t a good starting point for novice players. Here are five tips tailored for shogi begginers. These tips just might save your king.

    Tip #1: Don’t Forget Drops

    Every new shogi player has said it. “I forgot you could drop.” With a 9×9 board, and most pieces only moving one square at a time, it’s easy to mistakenly think of shogi as a slow moving game.

    With the proper exchange and drop, a shogi pawn can cross the entire 9×9 board and assume the powers of a gold general in just a few moves. Drops make shogi an extremely fast paced game.

    Watch out for drops! (more…)

  • Recommended Tsume Shogi Books and Study Resources

    Shogi players often say “endgame study begins with tsume shogi” (checkmate puzzles). Below is a curated list of Japanese tsume shogi books and resources, organized by skill level. Each recommendation includes the title (with Japanese name), author, and a brief description based on Japanese reviews and expert commentary. These resources are highly regarded in the shogi community for improving mating pattern recognition and endgame calculation. All titles are in Japanese; many are puzzle collections designed for daily practice. Stick to your level and gradually work up to longer puzzles for the best results. (more…)

  • Paper Shogi Boards

    Years ago, I made up some PDFs you can print out to make shogi tokens and boards. Lots of people around the world have used these to learn shogi without incurring the expense of buying a board and pieces. They are a great cheap way of getting extra shogi boards for a school shogi club, too.

    Shogi boards are a little hard to come by outside of Japan. If you’re looking to find one, I would recommend checking any local Oriental/Japanese specialty stores or ask a Japanese friend where he/she would look. Another good source is Ebay. Do a search on Shogi and see what offerings are out there. There are also some sites on the web that sell Shogi boards, but I’ve never used them so can’t give any advise about them.

    Shogi boards tend to be made in Japan, for now, so are expensive imports. A good alternative is to make your own. That’s the focus of this page. (more…)

  • Shogi Applet

    Spoiler: No modern web browsers support applets. I’ve kept my shogi applet here for historical purposes, and in case anyone has an old browser with an old computer and an old version of Java.

    These days, most computers, browsers, and mobile devices disable Applets intentionally. (Rumor has it that the reason Applets were shut down is that Java’s creator didn’t pay Washington the proper protection money, but that’s just the rumor.) If you’re lucky enough to still own a computer that works with Applets, this shogi Applet is a great way to get started learning shogi. I taught my children shogi using it, so it gets the job done.

    Java Applets are not supported by your browser. This Shogi game will only work if your browser supports Applets, and has Java and the Java plug-in installed. Once upon a time, they were free at www.java.com

    If Applets don’t work on your web browser, never fear! You can still play using the slightly updated version here.

    Installing the Shogi Applet

    Would you like a shogi game on your website? I’m giving mine out for free for not-for-profit use. In other words, if you are not charging money for people to play, then you can use my applet for free.

    The installation of the applet into your website is easy and only requires two simple steps.

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  • Shogi Rules

    Learning the basic rules of shogi is quick and easy. Many young children play Japanese chess. If you have ever played Chess, you have a head start, but knowing Western Chess is not a prerequisite to learning Japanese Chess.

    Traditionally, Japanese calligraphy is used to mark the pieces in Shogi. Don’t let the kanji on shogi pieces scare you off. There are other styles of shogi sets that have pictures, arrows or letters instead of kanji. Later, once you’ve become familiar with shogi, you’ll probably pick up the Japanese symbols. But, that’s later.

    Shogi boards aren’t easily found outside of Japan. You can check Amazon or other retailers for boards. Also, for a cheap quick board, you can print out some of my PDF’s of shogi boards and pieces for a do-it-yourself shogi set that doesn’t cost much.

    I wrote the following shogi rules explanation several years ago, and included a version of them in my book, Tsume Puzzles for Japanese Chess.

    Rules of Shogi

    The game of Shogi is similar to the game of Chess. They both derive from the same game. One version evolved as it travelled to Europe, and the other changed as it made its way to Japan. Shogi traditionally uses kanji to distinguish which piece (called a token) is which. To people that know kanji, the pieces are attractive and full of imagery. (more…)

  • Online Shogi Resources

    Shogi, aka Japanese Chess, is an extremely fun and challenging variant of Chess. Actually the two versions of chess are cousins. Shogi, pronounced SHOW-gee with a hard ‘G’, is the western version of a game that was created in India several centuries ago. Chess is the European version of the same game.

    Just as you have many variants on Western Chess, there are several variants of Shogi. The main version of shogi is played on an 9×9 square board (one bigger than chess). Japanese Chess tends to be a bit more challenging than Western Chess, but still very fun for beginners and masters alike.

    One of the most interesting Shogi rules is that tokens that are captured become the enemy’s pieces, and he can then drop them back on the board to strengthen his army. This adds a great deal of strategy to the game as pieces appear from seemingly nowhere to block checks or quickly promote.

    I have a very rough beta version of shogi for play online. You can play it by clicking the image below. It will take you to the page, and let you play against the computer. The AI is a bit weak, but I’m working on fixing that in future versions.

    Everyone’s introduction to shogi is unique. My introduction was from a friend that was Japanese. He was very tired of me beating him at Western chess, so one day he pulled out a Japanese chess board and said, Let’s try this for a while. He thoroughly beat me many times and then gave me the shogi board as a present.

    This was in the days before the Internet, so wrote down the rules for future reference and taught my own children how to play when they were old enough to learn the rules of shogi.

    I’m just getting started on this site, so keep checking back for updates.