In Western chess, a captured piece is gone for good. In Japan's version, it joins your army. Shogi unblocked lets you play this deep strategy game on a 9x9 board with traditional five-sided tiles marked in kanji.
Christopher Müller wrote this version for his free PaperGames set. Take either side against a computer with three levels, or pass the device to a friend.
How to play Shogi
Black, also called Sente, starts at the bottom and moves first. You win by checkmating the other King, so that it has no safe square, no block and no capture to escape check.
A turn is one of two things: shift a piece you already have in play, or place a piece you captured earlier on any open square. Counts of each player's captured pieces sit beside the board. Anything you capture flips back to its plain, unpromoted side.
Most pieces are short-range. The Lance runs any distance straight ahead, the Knight hops two forward and one across, while the Rook and Bishop cover long lines the way they do in Western chess. When a piece enters, leaves or moves within the far three rows, the game asks whether you want to promote it.
Controls
| To… | Keyboard | Mouse | Touch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Move a piece on the board | Tab to the board, arrow keys to reach a square, Enter on your piece and again on the target | Click your piece, then the square it should move to | Tap your piece, then the target square |
| Drop a captured piece | — | Click the piece in your hand row, then an empty square | Tap the piece in your hand row, then an empty square |
| Decide on promotion | — | Click "Promote" or "Don't promote" when asked | Tap "Promote" or "Don't promote" when asked |
| Choose side and opponent | — | Pick the side and a level, then click "New game" | Pick the side and a level, then tap "New game" |
| Undo or resign | — | Click "Undo" or "Resign" | Tap "Undo" or "Resign" |
Tips
- Count your hand as material. A captured piece is just as strong as one on the board, because you can drop it almost anywhere.
- Drop to attack, not just to defend. A Gold or Silver dropped next to the enemy King often starts a mating net.
- Build a castle. Surround your King with Golds and Silvers early. Open Kings get picked apart by drops.
- Promote most of the time. Promoted small pieces move like a Gold, which is usually a big upgrade. Silvers and Knights are the main cases where staying unpromoted can help.
- Trade when ahead in hand. Swapping pieces is good for the side that can use dropped pieces better.
Shogi questions
Can I drop a pawn anywhere?
Not quite. You cannot drop a pawn in a column that already has one of your unpromoted pawns, or on the last row. You also cannot drop a pawn to give checkmate, though a pawn drop that gives check is allowed.
Can a game end in a draw?
Yes. Repeating the exact same situation four times, counting captured pieces and whose turn it is, ends the game as a draw. If one player gave check on every move of that loop, that player loses instead.
How strong is the computer?
The easiest setting plays random moves. The middle setting checks one move ahead, and the hardest runs a short search that includes drops.
Is my game saved?
Yes. The current game is saved automatically, so you can close the tab and continue later.
