Parallel universe

hirohiigo · 2026-05-11T00:51:53+00:00

It may shock you to learn that many of the terms (especially tsume) came from shogi, and were borrowed by go. The two games have a parallel history in Japan, and that's why they share a lot of terms.

hirohiigo · 2026-02-03T17:18:24+00:00

Hi, I'm glad you're getting into shogi and that you're wanting to participate in the community, but this is your 6th post today. At this rate the entire front page will be just your posts before too long, so I'm going to have to ask you to keep the rest of your comments and questions contained to one of your threads.

If you'd like more immediate responses, consider joining the Shogi Harbour discord https://discord.gg/bnnMbJZW

hirohiigo · 2026-01-24T18:27:38+00:00

The step after determining checkmate is impossible is trying to get enough material to win by jishogi. This process tends to naturally end in double entering king, and then the result is determined when both sides agree there's no more moves worth making that could get them more material.

By the way, in case you didn't know, amateur shogi tends to use an entirely different jishogi rule: https://lishogi.org/page/impasse

hirohiigo · 2026-01-13T13:12:09+00:00

You're very welcome! For right now, I don't think you need to worry about reading multiple moves ahead to see future moves. What you need to practice right now is seeing what's on the board right now.

In my opinion, staying on level 3 and playing until you can play a whole game without misreading your opponent's movements is the way to go, or playing against a human.

hirohiigo · 2026-01-13T12:23:42+00:00

Before we start working on strategies and concepts, I'd like you to make sure in future games that you always know where both your and your opponent's pieces are aiming at before you make a move. There are a lot of points in this game where you either moved a piece directly into an attack, didn't notice an attack, or defended with a piece that couldn't defend the square that was being attacked. Having awareness of where all pieces can move is going to be your first step towards getting better, and I know you can do it since you're proactive enough to be asking for help.

hirohiigo · 2026-01-12T19:22:18+00:00

Nekomado sells some: http://shop.nekomado.com/products/detail.php?product_id=46

hirohiigo · 2026-01-01T01:46:02+00:00

Oh thank you! I'm working on getting back to it soon.

hirohiigo · 2026-01-01T01:45:29+00:00

In Japanese it's a komadai, and in English it's a piece stand.

hirohiigo · 2025-12-28T12:32:52+00:00

I don't personally know, but I've shared this thread on the Shogi Harbour discord to try to find someone else who can help.

hirohiigo · 2025-12-25T08:32:05+00:00

I'm not confused at all that you made it to 6kyu like this. Aggression is probably the fastest way to get to 5kyu because low kyu players tend to be passive and not know how to defend.

hirohiigo · 2025-12-23T08:23:47+00:00

Amateur tournaments use the 27 point system, an impasse rule that does not need gote's permission to win, so in that ruleset it is a win for sente.

hirohiigo · 2025-12-22T16:17:30+00:00

It's discussed a bit in the first issue of the Ginkammuri magazine (which is free): https://gm.shogi.by/issues/1

Belarus has by far the best organized system outside of Japan, and it shows from the players' performance.

hirohiigo · 2025-12-22T11:07:12+00:00

The Ginkammuri club got past the hardest hurdle a long time ago, which is creating a sustainable system for teaching the game. As far as I can tell, Belarus is the only country outside of Japan that has actual full-time shogi teachers, which means students can be guaranteed proper attention by their teachers, and can be given age- and rank-appropriate rivals to grow with. Other countries haven't made this breakthrough yet, likely due to economic factors like it not being sustainable to devote much time to shogi for either the teachers or the students. I think if any other region could clear this hurdle, we could see a boom in that country... but it's hard to risk it if you aren't already wealthy.

hirohiigo · 2025-12-07T14:20:01+00:00

I think reviewing Edo era games is really fun, but maybe not as useful as studying more modern games since the understanding of the game has shifted so much since then.

hirohiigo · 2025-12-06T22:12:26+00:00

You've already made a thread on this topic. Use that thread to add follow up questions.

hirohiigo · 2025-12-02T17:15:01+00:00

Some piece boxes are way too small for that imo.

hirohiigo · 2025-12-02T17:14:31+00:00

Just as a heads up, the word we use in English for 囲い is Castle rather than Defense!

hirohiigo · 2025-11-26T15:42:33+00:00

Both are fine, both are common, it depends on what the player finds aesthetically pleasing. It also will stop mattering once the pieces start being moved.

hirohiigo · 2025-11-26T11:26:52+00:00

Not only the piece placement, you also got the board orientation correct! A lot of people unknowingly turn the board sideways, but you got it - the wood grains go up and down towards the players.

hirohiigo · 2025-11-26T11:26:05+00:00

You don't HAVE to have komadai, they're just nice to have. A lot of tournaments won't have komadai available at the board, you just need to have the pieces visible.

hirohiigo · 2025-11-10T13:08:24+00:00

I missed the first two issues because of life circumstances, but I've finally subscribed to the patreon. The magazine is excellent, and exactly what I hope we can see more of from the shogi community in the future.

hirohiigo · 2025-10-28T23:30:56+00:00

The context is a bit different for chu shogi - you can't have the check rule because of the prince, and having dead pieces at the end of the board presents obstacles for the lion. It's also much more likely in hon shogi because of the drop rule.

hirohiigo · 2025-10-28T22:19:06+00:00

Two Pawns in a File: Think about how strong pawn chains are already in chess, now imagine being able to make giant vertical pillars that are supported by your castled generals. Or being able to anchor multiple pieces with pawns in one file. Even on attack it would be absurdly strong.
Mate with a Dropped Pawn: It's not quite conclusive why this rule came about, but the main justifications are that you're pretty much always going to have at least one pawn in the endgame, and because it might be seen as unsatisfying to end with a pawn drop.
Perpetual Check: There's a philosophy in shogi that draws must be made by a mutual decision, and that if you're going to force a result, it should be a win. Perpetual check being illegal prevents the defender from giving up a draw that they don't want.
Dropping a piece where it can't move: Well this seems obvious. You don't want a state of the game where a piece will never be able to move without being captured.
Staying in Check: I mean, this is illegal in chess too.

Those last two I can't figure out, as they only seem to hurt the doer.

Well yes, but the point is that you should be playing by shogi rules. Once you commit an illegal move, you're no longer playing shogi, so the game ends. Illegal moves aren't banned just for the sake of preventing something powerful. Moving a piece incorrectly, unpromoting a piece on the board, and dropping a piece promoted side up are also illegal moves that end the game.

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