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Check Shogi Strategy and Tips

Here is how to think about winning at Check 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.

Pieces in hand are checks waiting to happen

Lesson 1

Check shogi is won the moment you give check. Pieces in hand can be dropped anywhere, so even one of them can often give check just by landing on an empty square beside the king.

Here you hold a silver. Drop it on 5b, right in front of the king on 5a: a silver attacks the three squares ahead of it, so it reaches the king — check, and you win. Whether it is mate does not matter.

The other side of this: every piece of yours that is captured goes into your opponent's hand, ready to be dropped next to your king. In check shogi, not losing pieces and keeping the squares around your king filled matter even more than in ordinary shogi.

Take the piece before it can check

Lesson 2

In ordinary shogi you simply answer a check. In check shogi a check ends the game, so there is no answer — you must remove every one-move check during your own turn.

Here an enemy knight sits on 5e. A knight jumps two squares forward and one across, so next move it could land on 6g or 4g and attack your king on 5i — check. Take the knight with your rook from 5h and the danger is gone. The enemy pawn on 5c keeps the rook from reaching the enemy king.

Go through the enemy pieces one by one and ask whether any can reach a square attacking your king next move. Jumping knights and long-range rooks, bishops and lances are the easiest to miss.

Rooks give check from afar

Lesson 3

A check need not come from the square next to the king. Rooks, bishops and lances reach any distance when nothing is in the way, so they can give check from the far side of the board. In check shogi, the long-range check is the sharpest weapon.

Here the enemy king is on 5a and file 5 is empty from 5b to 5f. Slide your rook across from 9f to 5f and its line runs straight up the file to the king — check, and you win.

When defending, always keep a piece between the enemy rooks, bishops and lances and your king — and remember that moving that piece opens the line at once.

A knight's check cannot be blocked

Lesson 4

A knight moves two squares forward and one across, jumping over whatever is in between. So when a knight attacks your king, there is no square to block. In check shogi, you must always watch the two squares a knight can reach.

Here the enemy king is on 5b. Jump your knight from 7f to 6d: a knight on 6d attacks 5b and 7b, so it reaches the king — check, and you win. What stands on 6e or 5c does not matter.

When defending, look at the two squares each enemy knight can jump to next. If either attacks your king, fill it with a piece of your own, take the knight first, or move the king.

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

Play with friendsLearn how to play (3 min)

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