Lesson 2 of 20 · Rules · 6 min · free
Captured Pieces and Drops
Drops are what make shogi different from chess: captured pieces change sides and can come back on almost any empty square.
- Explain where a captured piece goes and what form it keeps.
- Drop a piece from your hand to mate, fork or give check.
- Avoid illegal drops on the last rank or the last two ranks.
When you capture a piece, it goes into your hand. It now belongs to you and keeps its basic, unpromoted form.
On your turn you may drop a piece from your hand onto any empty square instead of moving. A drop is your whole move.
A dropped piece always lands unpromoted, even inside the promotion zone. It may promote on a later move.
You may not drop a piece where it could never move: no pawn or lance on the last rank, and no knight on the last two ranks.
Drops make shogi different from chess: a piece in hand can appear anywhere, so attacks come fast. Two more pawn rules follow in Lesson 4.
Practice
Practice 1 of 3
Drop your gold to checkmate the king.
Remember: Captured pieces go to your hand. You can drop them on any empty square as your move, unpromoted, but never where they could not move again.
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Terms:
I don't do defense. Hope you brought a castle!
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