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Play now — it's freeShogi (Japanese chess) is a two-player strategy game on a 9×9 board with 20 pieces per side. Unlike Western chess, captured pieces never leave the game: they join the capturer's hand and can be dropped back onto the board as their own, and most pieces promote to stronger forms inside the enemy camp.
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→ Full Shogi rules · النسخة العربية
Played on a 9×9 board (81 squares) by two players, each with 20 pieces: king, rook, bishop, two golds, two silvers, two knights, two lances and nine pawns. Players alternate single moves starting with the first player, and whoever captures the opponent's king wins. Captured pieces join your hand and can be dropped on any empty square, and most pieces promote inside the enemy's three furthest rows.
Each piece has its own move; every direction toward the opponent counts as "forward":
| Piece | Count | Movement |
|---|---|---|
| King | 1 | One square in any direction |
| Rook | 1 | Any distance orthogonally |
| Bishop | 1 | Any distance diagonally |
| Gold general | 2 | One square forward, sideways, or on the two forward diagonals |
| Silver general | 2 | One square on any diagonal or straight forward |
| Knight | 2 | A forced jump: two squares forward and one to either side, over any pieces |
| Lance | 2 | Any number of squares straight forward |
| Pawn | 9 | One square straight forward |
Shogi is Japanese chess: a two-player strategy game on a 9×9 board with 20 pieces per side, best known for letting players drop captured pieces back on the board and for promotion inside the enemy camp.
Twenty pieces per player (40 in total): a king, rook and bishop, two each of golds, silvers, knights and lances, and nine pawns.
Captured pieces switch sides and can be dropped back onto the board instead of leaving the game, most pieces promote in the enemy's three furthest rows, and the board is 9×9 instead of 8×8.
By capturing the opponent's king — the game ends the instant a king is taken. This version has no separate check announcement, so protecting your king is your own responsibility.
An optional upgrade when a move starts or ends in the opponent's three furthest rows: pawn, lance, knight and silver gain gold-like movement, the promoted bishop adds a one-square orthogonal step, and the promoted rook adds a one-square diagonal step.
You may never drop a pawn into a file that already contains one of your own unpromoted pawns — two pawns of yours in one file are forbidden.
Pawns and lances cannot be dropped on the last rank, and knights not on the last two ranks, because those pieces only move forward and would be stuck.
At 300 total moves without a king capture the game ends in a draw. Each move allows 40 seconds, after which an automated assistant plays for the player.
Yes — play Shogi online free at shogi.yeeqia.com, straight in your browser with no download or sign-up required.
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