Japanese Chess – Shogi – 将棋
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Category: Tsume

  • Tsume: Japanese Chess Mating Puzzles

    Tsume shogi, or just tsume for short, are Japanese chess mating puzzles. I just created a browsable tsume shogi database, so I thought it might be a good idea to explain tsume rules, background, and their benefits.

    Imagine a situation where you are playing a much more skilled shogi player than yourself. You are losing. Your opponent will place you in checkmate in one move. You are desperate. Your only chance is to check your opponent, and keep him in check until you have a checkmate. Otherwise, you will lose the shogi game.

    Single Move Tsume
    This is a one-move tsume of my own creation. See if you can spot the checkmate.

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  • Tsume Database Instructions

    Shogi mating puzzles are called tsume. As is common knowledge, I wrote the first English tsume book ever published, just a few years ago. I thought about writing a second shogi mating puzzles book, but realized that not everyone has the money to buy a book. I opted instead to create an online collection of puzzles for everyone to study shogi for free.

    I like the “free” part best.

    I’ve been working on building my tsume database at http://japanesechess.net/tsume/. Now I have hundreds of vetted shogi mating problems of my own creation entered, and about 5,000,000 unvetted tsume from real games.

    A lot of people may not realize how many features the tsume database has. Not only are there hundreds of tsume puzzles to solve, but you can filter on search criteria, view them in random orders, and you can remove the label that tells you how many moves are required to mate the king.

    Tsume 17apr2015
    This is one of the hundreds of tsume found in my free online tsume collection.

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  • Tsumeshogi (詰将棋)

    Tsumeshogi (詰将棋) is the shogi equivalent of chess puzzles. Chess puzzles and Japanese chess puzzles are both mentally stimulating, and just plain fun. Since I just finished creating my 200th tsume (詰) for my Japanese chess site, I figured this is a great time to share a few more of my thoughts on shogi (将棋) puzzles.

    If your’e reading this, you probably know about my book on Japanese chess puzzles. I sell it on amazon and basically every other outlet worldwide. Creating all those puzzles for the book was a real eye opener. I learned a lot more about the movement of knights (桂馬), silver generals (銀将), and capturing kings (王) than I every knew before. The most exciting thing was learning novel ways that the pieces work together. The game is a lot more intricate than the rules imply. (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…)