Lesson 1 of 20 · Rules · 6 min · free
How the Pieces Move
Every shogi plan starts with how the eight kinds of piece move, and this lesson teaches them through real captures on the board.
- Move king, rook, bishop, gold, silver, knight, lance and pawn correctly.
- Tell your pieces from your opponent's by the way they point.
- Capture with a silver, knight, lance and bishop in real positions.
Shogi is played on a 9×9 board. Each player has 20 pieces, all pointing toward the opponent—that is how you tell them apart. Black (sente) moves first. You win by checkmating the enemy king.
The king moves one square in any direction. It is the one piece you can never lose, so keep it safe behind other pieces.
The rook moves any distance forward, backward or sideways. The bishop moves any distance diagonally. Neither can jump over pieces. These two are your strongest attackers.
The gold moves one square forward, diagonally forward, sideways, or straight back—six directions. The silver moves one square forward or diagonally in any of four directions, but not sideways or straight back.
The knight jumps two squares forward and one to the side, leaping over anything in between. It can only go forward. The lance moves any distance straight forward. The pawn moves one square forward.
You capture by moving onto a square occupied by an enemy piece. Every piece captures the same way it moves—including the pawn, which captures straight ahead. Captured pieces become yours, as you will see in the next lesson.
Practice
Practice 1 of 4
Capture the gold with your silver.
Remember: Every piece has its own pattern. Rook and bishop slide; gold, silver and king step; the knight jumps; lance and pawn only go forward.
Related
Terms:
I don't do defense. Hope you brought a castle!
Next: 16 lessons on tactics, castles and endgames
The app continues with forks and pins, castles, openings and endgames — each with practice boards — then lets you use them against eight AI rivals.
Free on iPhone & Android. Coming soon to the App Store and Google Play. Privacy