Shogi glossary
Dragon
Japanese: 竜王(竜)
In shogi, the dragon (ryūō, 竜王, usually ryū) is a promoted rook. It keeps every rook move along files and ranks and adds a one-square step in each diagonal direction, making it the most powerful piece on the board.
A promoted rook: moves like a rook plus one square diagonally.
How it moves
The added diagonal steps fill exactly the gaps a rook has next to itself, so a dragon controls all eight neighboring squares as well as its four long lines. A rook promotes to a dragon on any move into, within or out of the opponent's three ranks.
How it is used
A dragon belongs in the enemy camp. From the opponent's second rank it sweeps the whole rank, ties golds and silvers to their posts, and protects drops next to the king. A Japanese proverb sums up the plan: dragon in the enemy camp, horse in your own camp.
Getting a dragon is often the turning point of the middle game: a rook that breaks through on its file and promotes usually starts the attack on the castle.
Value
The dragon is worth clearly more than a rook's 10. If it is captured, however, it goes to the captor's hand as a plain rook, which can be dropped and promoted all over again.
FAQ
Should a rook always promote to a dragon?
In real games, almost always: the dragon keeps every rook move and gains four more. Leaving a rook unpromoted is seen mainly in composed mate problems.
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 “dragon” explained when they happen on your board.
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