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Glossary

The Japanese words shogi players use, in plain English. Each links to the lesson where it first comes up.

Anaguma 穴熊

"Bear in the hole": the king buried in the corner behind a lance, surrounded by generals. Slow to build, very hard to mate.

Atama-kin 頭金

"Gold on the head": a gold dropped directly in front of the enemy king, supported by another piece. The single most common checkmate.

First in: Check and checkmate

Byoyomi 秒読み

"Second reading": once your main time is used up, you get a fixed number of seconds for every move. Use them all and you lose on time.

First in: Clocks — byoyomi and Fischer

Furibisha 振り飛車

Ranging rook: the family of openings where the rook swings across the board early, and the king castles on the side the rook left.

First in: Opening principles

Gote 後手

The player who moves second. In a handicap game the stronger player (uwate) takes the Gote pieces and, unusually, moves first.

First in: The board and setup

Hisshi 必至

Brinkmate: a position where your opponent's king is not in check, but whatever they do you mate them next move. It is often the real goal in an endgame race.

First in: Brinkmate — hisshi

Ibisha 居飛車

Static rook: the family of openings where the rook stays on its home file and attacks straight ahead.

First in: Opening principles

Jishogi 持将棋

Impasse: both kings have walked into their promotion zones and neither can realistically be mated, so the game is settled by counting points.

First in: Impasse and the point count

Kakoi 囲い

A castle: several moves spent walking the king to safety and surrounding it with golds and silvers.

First in: Opening principles

Komadai 駒台

The little stand beside the board where your captured pieces wait to be dropped. On this site it is the column of pieces beside the board, labelled "You" and "Opponent".

First in: Captured pieces change sides

Makemashita 負けました

"I have lost": what a player says, with a bow, to resign. Resigning is the normal way for a shogi game to end.

First in: Resigning

Mino 美濃囲い

The Mino castle, built on the side the rook left. Quick to build and very hard to break from the side.

First in: Static rook or ranging rook

Mochigoma 持ち駒

Pieces in hand: the captured pieces sitting on your komadai, ready to be dropped.

First in: Captured pieces change sides

Narigoma 成駒

A promoted piece — turned over to show its other side, usually written in red.

Nifu 二歩

"Two pawns": you may not drop a pawn onto a file that already holds one of your own unpromoted pawns. A tokin on the file does not count.

First in: Dropping a piece

Onegaishimasu お願いします

Said with a small bow before the first move: "please (play with me)".

First in: Etiquette and reactions

Ote 王手

Check — an attack on the king. The player in check must answer it.

First in: Check and checkmate

Ryu 龍 (竜王)

The dragon, a promoted rook: it moves like a rook and also one square diagonally.

First in: The rook

Sennichite 千日手

Repetition: when the same position appears for the fourth time, the game is a draw — unless one side gave check on every move of the repetition, in which case that side loses.

First in: Repetition and perpetual check

Sente 先手

The player who moves first. On this site Sente's pieces start on ranks 1–3 and point up the board when you play Sente. The word also means "the initiative": a sente move is one your opponent must answer.

First in: The board and setup

Shitate 下手

The weaker player in a handicap game, who keeps a full army.

First in: Handicaps, and why uwate moves first

Tataki 叩きの歩

"Tapping pawn": a pawn dropped right in front of an enemy piece, so that capturing it drags that piece where you want it.

First in: Basic tesuji — forks, pawn taps and joined pieces

Tesuji 手筋

A skilful move — a standard tactical idea, such as a fork, a pawn tap or a sacrifice that opens the king.

First in: Basic tesuji — forks, pawn taps and joined pieces

Tokin と金

A promoted pawn. It moves exactly like a gold, and if it is captured your opponent gets back only a pawn — which makes it one of the best bargains in the game.

First in: What each piece promotes to

Tsume 詰将棋

A mate problem (tsume shogi). Every move you make must be check, the defender always plays the longest resistance, and the answer is counted in moves by both sides: a 3手詰 is your move, their move, your mate.

First in: What a tsume is

Tsumi 詰み

Checkmate: the king is in check and nothing can stop it being captured. The game is over.

First in: Check and checkmate

Uchifuzume 打ち歩詰め

Pawn-drop mate: dropping a pawn to give immediate checkmate is illegal. Every other way of giving the same mate — moving a pawn, or dropping any other piece — is fine.

First in: Dropping a piece

Uma 馬 (竜馬)

The horse, a promoted bishop: it moves like a bishop and also one square orthogonally.

First in: What each piece promotes to

Uwate 上手

The stronger player in a handicap game. Uwate removes pieces from their own side and moves first.

First in: Handicaps, and why uwate moves first

Yagura 矢倉

The Yagura ("fortress") castle, the classic choice when both players play static rook.