Dai Shogi Strategy and Tips

Here is how to think about winning at Dai Shogi, split into short lessons. Each one reads on its own, and each one comes with a real position: press Try it on the board and you play the move yourself.

Take the king to win

Lesson 1

In dai shogi whoever captures the enemy king wins on the spot. Leaving your king in check is not illegal, but a king left en prise is taken next turn and the game ends there.

Here nothing stands on the diagonal between the queen on 13j and the king on 6c. The queen slides any distance in eight directions, so take the king and win.

Dai shogi has many ranging pieces — queen, dragon king, dragon horse, rook, bishop, vertical and side movers. Each turn, first check that no enemy line runs to your king.

On a 15×15 board a big piece on the back rank can reach the far side in one move. Block open lines with pieces you can spare, and keep golds and silvers near your king. A prince counts as a second king, so marching the drunk elephant into the zone to promote it is also a good defence.

The lion's igui

Lesson 2

The lion moves twice per turn. Capture a neighbour with the first step and return with the second, and you have captured without moving. This is called igui.

Here a gold general stands behind the pawn on 8g; taking it normally lets the gold recapture on 8g. Igui with the lion on 8h leaves the lion on its own square, out of the gold's reach.

On the board, pick the lion, tap 8g (the dashed frame), then tap 8h (its own square). Whenever a lion has something to take next to it, think of igui first.

Besides igui, the lion can take a neighbour and then step once more to take a second piece, or step out to an empty square and back to pass. On the board all of these use the same two taps: pick the lion, tap the dashed square, then tap where it ends. Open Pieces to check the lion's diagram whenever you are unsure.

Violent ox and flying dragon: up to two

Lesson 3

The violent ox moves one or two squares in the four orthogonal directions, the flying dragon in the four diagonal ones. To reach the second square, the first must be empty — they do not jump.

Here the enemy silver on 10h is two squares in front of the violent ox on 10j. The square between, 10i, is empty, so take it.

Both promote to a gold general, which only steps one square in six directions — think before promoting (you may decline).

The violent ox and flying dragon exist only in dai shogi. In an opening full of one-step pieces, these two reach two squares and push the front line forward. Keep valuable pieces off the squares two away from an enemy ox or dragon, or block the square in between with one of your own.

The knight promotes to gold

Lesson 4

The knight jumps two forward and one across, over anything in between. It only goes forward, so on the last two ranks it can no longer move (a dead piece).

Here the knight on 9g jumps to 8e, entering the zone (the far five ranks). Promote on entry and it becomes a gold general (red 金).

The eight pieces found only in dai shogi (iron and stone generals, knight, evil wolf, angry boar, cat sword, violent ox, flying dragon) all promote to gold. The pawn promotes to tokin, as in chu shogi; the rest promote as in chu shogi too.

Like the knight, pawns, lances, iron generals and stone generals only move forward, so they are stuck if they reach the far rank unpromoted. They may also promote on the move that reaches that rank, so a forgotten promotion can be fixed. Promotion changes some moves, though, so check the Pieces list first.

Try it on the board

Pick a lesson and the board starts from that position. Start over as often as you like.

Now put it to work

Last updated 2026-09-25 · Run by Qdan, Inc.