Shogi glossary
Checkmate
Japanese: 詰み
In shogi, checkmate (tsumi, 詰み) is a position where the king is in check and no legal move—king move, capture, block or drop—can save it. The player who delivers checkmate wins the game.
The king is in check and has no legal answer; the game ends.
How it differs from chess
A shogi defender can block with any piece in hand, so a mate must also survive interposing drops. Attackers, in turn, can drop pieces right beside the king, so mates come quickly once a castle is broken. Stalemate is not a draw: in the very rare case that a player has no legal move, that player loses.
Counting mate
Shogi counts both sides' moves. A mate in 3 means your move, the reply and your mating move, what a chess player would call mate in two. Mate problems (tsume shogi) train exactly this skill, with every attacking move a check.
Typical patterns
The simplest pattern is gold on the head: against a king on its back rank, a protected gold on the square directly in front of it covers every escape at once. Good players wrap the king from the sides and from behind rather than chasing it.
Most games never reach the final position, because the losing side resigns as soon as a forced mate is clear.
Try it · from “Check, Checkmate and Illegal Moves”
Checkmate in one move. You have nothing in hand, so use a piece on the board.
FAQ
Is it checkmate if the king can be saved by dropping a piece?
No. If any legal drop blocks the check, the position is not mate. That is why mating attacks so often finish with an adjacent protected piece or a knight, whose checks cannot be blocked.
I don't do defense. Hope you brought a castle!
Learn it by playing
20 interactive lessons, 10,000 tsume puzzles and eight AI rivals — and every game you play is reviewed in plain English, with terms like “checkmate” explained when they happen on your board.
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