No-Drop Shogi: Rules and How to Play
No-drop shogi is shogi for 2, about 15 minutes, where captured pieces can never be reused. Moves and promotion are as in shogi. Only the two kings left is a draw. Free in your browser, no sign-up.
Objective
No-drop shogi is a shogi variant where a captured piece can never be used again. The goal is the same as ordinary shogi: checkmate the enemy king.
Setup
- Use a 9×9 shogi board and the usual 40 pieces, set up as in shogi.
- Black moves first and the players alternate. When you play again, Black and White swap (you can turn this off).
How to play
- On your turn, move one piece on the board. Moves, promotion and pieces with no further move follow the same rules as shogi.
- Capturing an enemy piece does not add it to your hand. It is set aside for the rest of the game and can never be dropped by either player.
- You may not leave your king open to capture.
Winning and scoring
- Checkmate the enemy king to win.
- You also win if your opponent has no legal move.
- As pieces disappear from the board, a position with only the two kings left is an immediate draw.
- If the same position appears four times the game is a draw and is replayed. 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
- Set aside
- Where a captured piece goes here. It never joins a hand and takes no further part in the game.
- Check
- Attacking the enemy king so it could be captured next move.
- No-move piece
- A piece placed where it could never move again (a pawn or lance on the last rank, a knight on the last two ranks). Illegal, as in shogi.
FAQ
What happens to captured pieces?
They are set aside and take no further part in the game. They never join your hand and can't be dropped.
What if almost every piece is captured?
If only the two kings are left on the board, the game ends there as a draw.
Is it like chess?
In a way. With no reuse of captured material, the board empties out over the course of the game — closer to a chess endgame than ordinary shogi.
Play now with these rules
Last updated 2026-09-25 · Run by Qdan, Inc.