Four-Player Shogi: Rules and How to Play
Four-player shogi is a 4-player game of shogi, about 25 minutes. Each player sets 9 pieces on one edge of a 9×9 board and play goes clockwise. Free. In-browser. No account.
Objective
Four-player shogi (yonin shogi) seats four players around one 9×9 shogi board, one per edge, with moves going clockwise. Checkmate a player and they are out — their pieces in hand and on the board become yours. The game ends when two players have been checkmated, and whoever mated the most players wins. It was devised in 1993 in the city of Hirata, Shimane Prefecture (now part of Izumo).
Setup
- The game uses a 9×9 shogi board. Four players sit at its four edges and each set nine pieces along their own edge.
- The back rank holds silver, gold, king, gold, silver; the second rank pawn, rook, pawn; and one pawn sits in the middle of the third rank. Pieces advance towards the player sitting opposite.
- There are five kinds of piece — king, rook, gold, silver and pawn — and they move exactly as in shogi. Bishops, knights and lances are not used.
- Moves go clockwise in the order players sat down. Each time you play again, the first player moves on one seat (you can fix it in the settings).
How to play
- On your turn, move one piece on the board or drop one piece from your hand.
- Move onto an opponent's piece to capture it. Captured pieces return to their unpromoted form and join your hand; from your next turn you can drop them, facing your own way.
- Kings are never captured. A player put in check answers at once, without waiting for their turn — check jumps the queue. Play then carries on clockwise from that player, and anyone skipped does not get the turn back.
- If two or more players are in check at once, the one nearest clockwise from the player who just moved answers first.
- Rooks, silvers and pawns may promote — only when moving into, within or out of the camp of the player directly opposite you (their three nearest ranks). You cannot promote in the camps to your left or right.
- You may not place two unpromoted pawns facing your way on one file, checkmate by dropping a pawn, leave a pawn with no forward move, drop a pawn in front of a checkmated king, or leave your king in check.
Winning and scoring
- A player whose turn comes with no legal move is checkmated. Their king is turned over and stays on the board as an obstacle that nobody can move or capture.
- A checkmated player's pieces in hand and on the board go to the player who put them in check. The board pieces keep facing the way they did, and keep moving that way.
- The game ends when two players are checkmated. Survivors are ranked by players mated, then total pieces, then whose last mate came later. Total pieces includes your board pieces, pieces in hand and the fallen kings of players you mated. Equal totals on every criterion share a place. Of the two checkmated players, the one who lasted longer comes third.
- If the same position appears a fourth time, the game ends there and places are decided on points (a player giving repeated check must avoid repeating). There is no resigning.
Defaults on this site
| Item | Default on this site |
|---|---|
| Players | 4 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| FormatFormatIn Singles all four players are enemies, and you may mate any of the other three. In Pairs the two players sitting opposite form a team, and the team loses as soon as either member is checkmated. In Pairs you may not make a move that newly puts your partner's king in check. | Play singles, where everyone is on their own, or pairs, where the two players sitting opposite team up. In pairs you may not put your partner in check with your own move, and a team loses as soon as one of its players is checkmated. | Singles | Yes |
| When the game endsWhen the game endsSingles only (Pairs ends at the first mate). "After two checkmates" is the official rule: the two survivors are ranked by how many players they mated, then by how many pieces they hold. "Last player standing" takes longer, and the last player standing is first. | In singles, end the game once two players are checkmated, or play on until only one player is left. | After two checkmates | Yes |
| A checkmated player's board piecesA checkmated player's board pieces"The mating player takes them" is the official rule: the mated player's pieces on the board become the mater's pieces, still facing the same way. With "Nobody owns them", those pieces stay on the board and anyone may capture them into hand. Either way, the mated player's pieces in hand go to the player who gave mate. | Give them to the player who delivered the checkmate (they keep facing the same way), or leave them on the board unowned so that anyone may capture them. | The mating player takes them | Yes |
| Move limitMove limitWhen the limit is reached, the game ends with a judgement. In Singles, surviving players are ranked by how many players they mated, then by how many pieces they hold (board and hand); mated players rank below the survivors. In Pairs the game already ends when anyone is mated, so reaching the limit is a draw with no ranking. | When all four players' moves together reach this number, the game ends. In Singles, places are decided by players mated and pieces held; in Pairs nobody has been mated yet, so it is a draw with no ranking. | None | Yes |
| Show legal moves | Mark the squares a selected piece can reach. | On | Yes |
| Rotate the first player | Each time you play again, the first player moves one seat clockwise. | On | Yes |
Terms
- Check jumps the queue
- A player put in check answers it immediately, skipping anyone in between. Play continues clockwise from them.
- Opposite camp
- The three ranks nearest the player sitting opposite you. Pieces promote only when moving into, within or out of it.
- Turned-over king
- The king of a checkmated player. It stays on the board, face down, as an obstacle nobody can move or capture.
- Pairs
- A way to play in which the two players sitting opposite each other form a team. A team loses as soon as one of its players is checkmated.
FAQ
If I'm put in check, do I wait for my turn?
No. You answer straight away, skipping anyone in between. Play then continues clockwise from you, and the skipped players do not get their turns back.
Can a king be captured?
No. A player in check must answer it; if they cannot, they are checkmated.
What happens to a checkmated player's pieces?
Their king is turned over and stays on the board as an obstacle nobody can move. Their pieces in hand and on the board go to the player who put them in check, and the board pieces keep facing the same way. A setting leaves them unowned instead.
Where can pieces promote?
Only in the camp of the player directly opposite you — their three nearest ranks. Not in the camps to your left or right.
Can I resign?
No. If a player leaves, the CPU takes over their seat.
Play now with these rules
Last updated 2026-09-24 · Run by Qdan, Inc.