Hidden Setup Shogi: Rules and How to Play
Hidden Setup Shogi is a 2-player shogi variant, about 20 minutes: arrange your non-pawn pieces freely in your back two ranks, hidden until play begins. Free, no sign-up.
Objective
In Hidden Setup Shogi you start from a setup of your own. The first to checkmate the enemy king wins.
Setup
- Your nine pawns go on your third rank (they cannot be moved during setup).
- Your other eleven pieces (king, rook, bishop, 2 golds, 2 silvers, 2 knights, 2 lances) may go anywhere in your back two ranks. You start from the usual shogi setup; tap two squares in your back two ranks to swap what is on them (you can move a piece to an empty square too).
- Tap Done when you are ready. While you arrange, your opponent's camp is hidden. When both are done, the board is revealed and Black moves first.
How to play
- Take turns, one move each. Piece moves, promotion, drops, two pawns on a file, pawn-drop mate and pieces with no further move are as in shogi.
Winning and scoring
- Checkmate the enemy king to win.
- You also win if your opponent has no legal move.
- If the same position appears four times, the game is drawn (repetition). Repeated checks lose for the checking side.
Defaults on this site
| Item | Default on this site |
|---|---|
| Players | 2 players (set automatically by the party size) |
| Turn time limit | None by default (the host can set 30 or 60 seconds) |
| If someone drops mid-game | Reopening on the same device returns you to your seat. If you do not return, the CPU plays in your place. |
| Draws | In ranked play, a draw counts as halfway between a win and a loss for your rating. |
| Source of the rules | Based on the standard reference rules |
Rules supervised by Qdan, Inc. (based on the standard reference rules)
House rules
Defaults follow the standard reference rules. The party can change these.
| Name | Description | Default | Changeable |
|---|---|---|---|
| Show legal squares | Mark the squares a selected piece can reach. | On | Yes |
| Swap who starts | Swap who plays Black after each game. | On | Yes |
| Move limit | Draw the game once this many moves have been played. For tables that want to cut a long game short. | None | Yes |
Terms
- Back two ranks
- The rank nearest you and the one in front of it. Your eleven non-pawn pieces go here.
- Usual setup
- The standard shogi starting position. Hidden Setup Shogi starts your arrangement from it.
- Kakushi Annan
- The name used in Michihiro Matsuda's games encyclopedia. It has none of the Annan Shogi rules.
FAQ
Can I move my pawns?
No. The nine pawns always start on your third rank.
When do I see my opponent's setup?
As soon as both players have tapped Done, the whole board is shown.
How many squares stay empty?
Eleven pieces go into eighteen squares, so seven stay empty.
Play now with these rules
Last updated 2026-09-25 · Run by Qdan, Inc.