Untakeable Silver: Rules and How to Play
Untakeable silver is a handicap shogi game for 2 players, about 15 minutes: one side drops its rook, bishop, golds and lances, but its silvers can never be captured. Free, no sign-up.
Objective
Untakeable silver is a handicap shogi game in which the other side may never capture the silver side's starting silvers. The first to checkmate the enemy king wins.
Setup
- The silver side (starting at the bottom, moving first) plays a six-piece handicap: no rook, bishop, golds or lances — king, two silvers, two knights and nine pawns. The challenger sets up the usual 20 pieces.
- When you play again, the sides swap (you can turn this off).
How to play
- The silver side's starting silvers (marked ∞) cannot be captured by the challenger. They can capture as usual.
- An untakeable silver may promote, but the promoted silver loses its power and can be captured. Declining promotion is always allowed.
- A silver the silver side captures and drops is an ordinary silver.
- Every other move, promotion, drops, two pawns on a file, pawn-drop mate and pieces with no further move are as in shogi.
Winning and scoring
- You win by checkmating the enemy king. A king checked by an untakeable silver cannot escape by capturing it.
- You also win if your opponent has no legal move.
- 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Silver side's piecesSilver side's piecesTorazu-gin is a handicap game where the challenger cannot capture the silvers the stronger player sets up at the start. An untakeable silver loses that power once it promotes. Going from the six-piece to the nine-piece and eighteen-piece handicap, the silver side has fewer pieces and the handicap grows. The silver side moves first. | Choose what the silver side sets up. The untakeable silvers are the silvers placed at the start. | Six-piece | Yes |
| Show legal squares | Mark the squares a selected piece can reach. | On | Yes |
| Swap who startsSwap who startsHere the first player is the silver side, so with this on the silver side and the challenger switch each time you play again. If one player is clearly stronger and should always take the silver side, turn it off. | 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
- Untakeable silver
- A silver the silver side sets up at the start. The challenger can never capture it; promotion takes the power away.
- Handicap game
- A game in which the stronger player removes some pieces. In handicap games the upper side moves first.
- Silver side and challenger
- The side that removes pieces is the upper side — here the silver side; the other plays with the full set.
FAQ
How many untakeable silvers are there?
Every silver the silver side sets up at the start: two in the six-piece handicap, one in the nine- and eighteen-piece handicaps.
What happens if it promotes?
The promoted silver becomes an ordinary piece and can be captured. Advancing without promoting keeps it untakeable.
Who is the silver side?
The side that moves first (starting at the bottom). The sides swap after each game (you can turn this off).
Play now with these rules
Last updated 2026-09-25 · Run by Qdan, Inc.