On your turn you may either move a piece on the board or drop a piece from your hand onto any empty square. A drop is a whole move.
To drop on this site, tap the piece in your hand (beside the board) and then the square.
Dropped pieces arrive unpromoted
A drop always places the piece unpromoted, even inside the promotion zone. It may promote later, on a move that starts in the zone.
Three restrictions
You may drop almost anywhere, but not:
- a pawn onto a file that already has your own unpromoted pawn — nifu;
- a pawn that gives immediate checkmate — uchifuzume;
- a piece where it could never move again: a pawn or lance on the last rank, a knight on the last two.
The next lesson looks at each one.
Try it
Try it: Drop your pawn on any square where it's allowed. Try a square on the c- or g-file first, to see what happens.