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Four-Player Shogi Strategy and Tips

Here is how to think about winning at Four-Player 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.

Use check to change the turn order

Lesson 1

In four-player shogi, a player put in check doesn't wait for their turn: they answer it straight away, skipping anyone in between, and play carries on clockwise from them. The skipped players never get those turns back.

Here the ◆ player on your right would normally move three turns after you. Slide your rook to the right edge to check ◆, and ◆ must answer immediately — then the turn comes straight back to you. The ▲ player on your left and ■ at the top don't move at all in between.

It works the other way too: when you are checked, your turn arrives early whether you like it or not, so build a shelter round your king in good time. Before giving check, count whose turn it will be after the answer — that is how you take control of a four-player game.

Checkmate to take over pieces

Lesson 2

Checkmate an opponent and they are out. Their king is turned over and stays on the board as an obstacle nobody can move, and their pieces in hand and on the board go to the player who put them in check.

Here the ▲ player's king is stuck on the left edge. Step your gold right beside it: the two silvers already cover every escape, so it is mate. The ▲ player's silver becomes yours, still facing the way it did — to the right.

Pieces you take over keep their old direction, so watch which way they advance. Places are decided by how many players you mate, and the credit goes to whoever delivers the mate — so never pass up a mate, even on a king someone else has been hunting.

Promote only in the opposite camp

Lesson 3

In four-player shogi only rooks, silvers and pawns promote, and only in one place: the camp of the player directly opposite you, their three nearest ranks. Entering the camps to your left or right gives you no promotion.

Here your silver stands just outside the camp of the ■ player at the top. One step forward takes it in, so you may choose to promote. A promoted silver moves like a gold, so it can also step sideways and straight back.

A promoted rook becomes a dragon, adding one-square diagonal steps to its straight lines. With four players the opposite camp is a long way off, and the players on either side can pick off pieces on the way, so a promotion is worth a lot. As in shogi, a captured piece returns to its unpromoted form.

Block a check with a drop

Lesson 4

In four-player shogi you face three opponents. Rooks from the players on your left and right attack along the ranks, and pieces from across the board come straight at you, so your king is threatened from more directions than in shogi.

Here the ◆ player's rook is checking your king along the bottom rank. You could move the king, but dropping the gold from your hand between the king and the rook blocks the check without moving at all — and the gold then stands guard as a wall.

As in shogi, there are three ways to answer check: run, capture, or block. Because a check makes you answer at once, out of turn, keeping one piece in hand lets you meet a sudden check calmly.

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 2026-09-24 · Run by Qdan, Inc.