Takodori's Entrance to Shogi World

Bookmarked professional games exceed 500

Today the number of shogi games bookmarked in del.icio.us/KifubyOpeningStrategy exceeds 500. Each bookmark is tagged by players'name, opening strategy, and replay recommendation if it touched me when I bookmarked. Here are some example.

replay-strongly-recommended
replay-recommended
shikenbisha
habu-yoshiharu

Atamakin Tsume Practice #9

"Atamakin" means Gold drop on the square ahead of the opponent's King supported by other piece of yours on the board. This gold drop is frequently used when checkmating the King in the endgame. It is necessary to be able to make an Atamakin for you to win a game. You can learn by solving Atamakin Tsume Practice problems to be posted here. Today is #9. It's a five move tsume.

You can see the answer by clicking the arrow in the right direction under the board in order to replay the answer line. (Popup diagram to be saved for printing) Click the exclamation marks which appear below the diagram for further comments on the problem. If you click the marks again, the comment windows go away.

Atamakin Tsume Practice #8

"Atamakin" means Gold drop on the square ahead of the opponent's King supported by other piece of yours on the board. This gold drop is frequently used when checkmating the King in the endgame. It is necessary to be able to make an Atamakin for you to win a game. You can learn by solving Atamakin Tsume Practice problems to be posted here. Today is #8. It's a three move tsume.

You can see the answer by clicking the arrow in the right direction under the board in order to replay the answer line. (Popup diagram to be saved for printing) Click the exclamation marks which appear below the diagram for further comments on the problem. If you click the marks again, the comment windows go away.

Atamakin Tsume Practice #7

"Atamakin" means Gold drop on the square ahead of the opponent's King supported by other piece of yours on the board. This gold drop is frequently used when checkmating the King in the endgame. It is necessary to be able to make an Atamakin for you to win a game. You can learn by solving Atamakin Tsume Practice problems to be posted here. Today is #7. It's a three move tsume.

You can see the answer by clicking the arrow in the right direction under the board in order to replay the answer line.  (Popup diagram to be saved for printing) Click the exclamation marks which appear below the diagram for further comments on the problem. If you click the marks again, the comment windows go away.

Good article to read - Shogi strategy: Castling

I found a good article written in English about the significance of castling in Shogi. It contains nice diagram images.

Shogi strategy: Castling

On the other hand, even by professional players, games without castling are sometimes played in the openings of Yokofutori, Gokigen Nakabisha, Haya-ishida, and so on.

Atamakin Tsume Practice #6

"Atamakin" means Gold drop on the square ahead of the opponent's King supported by other piece of yours on the board. This gold drop is frequently used when checkmating the King in the endgame. It is necessary to be able to make an Atamakin for you to win a game. You can learn by solving Atamakin Tsume Practice problems to be posted here. Today is #6. It's a three move tsume.

You can see the answer by clicking the arrow in the right direction under the board in order to replay the answer line. (Popup diagram to be saved for printing) Click the exclamation marks which appear below the diagram for further comments on the problem. If you click the marks again, the comment windows go away.

Atamakin Tsume Practice #5

"Atamakin" means Gold drop on the square ahead of the opponent's King supported by other piece of yours on the board. This gold drop is frequently used when checkmating the King in the endgame. It is necessary to be able to make an Atamakin for you to win a game. You can learn by solving Atamakin Tsume Practice problems to be posted here. Today is #5. It's a three move tsume.   

You can see the answer by clicking the arrow in the right direction under the board in order to replay the answer line. (Popup diagram to be saved for printing) Click the exclamation marks which appear below the diagram for further comments on the problem. If you click the marks again, the comment windows go away.

Atamakin Tsume Practice #4

"Atamakin" means Gold drop on the square ahead of the opponent's King supported by other piece of yours on the board. This gold drop is frequently used when checkmating the King in the endgame. It is necessary to be able to make an Atamakin for you to win a game. You can learn by solving Atamakin Tsume Practice problems to be posted here. Today is #4. It's a seven(!) move tsume. You have four Golds in hand in the diagram. You usually need to have four Golds in hand when you checkmate the King in the fourth rank to the back rank like this problem.

You can see the answer by clicking the arrow in the right direction under the board in order to replay the answer line. (Popup diagram to be saved for printing) Click the exclamation marks which appear below the diagram for further comments on the problem. If you click the marks again, the comment windows go away.

Atamakin Tsume Practice #3

"Atamakin" means Gold drop on the square ahead of the opponent's King supported by other piece of yours on the board. This gold drop is frequently used when checkmating the King in the endgame. It is necessary to be able to make an Atamakin for you to win a game. You can learn by solving Atamakin Tsume Practice problems to be posted here. Today is #3. It's a five move tsume. You have three Golds in hand in the diagram. You usually need to have three Golds in hand when you checkmate the King in the third rank to the back rank like this problem.

You can see the answer by clicking the arrow in the right direction under the board in order to replay the answer line. (Popup diagram to be saved for printing) Click the exclamation marks which appear below the diagram for further comments on the problem. If you click the marks again, the comment windows go away.

Atamakin Tsume Practice #2

"Atamakin" means Gold drop on the square ahead of the opponent's King supported by other piece of yours on the board. This gold drop is frequently used when checkmating the King in the endgame. It is necessary to be able to make an Atamakin for you to win a game. You can learn by solving Atamakin Tsume Practice problems to be posted here. Today is #2. It's three move tsume. You usually need to have two Golds in hand when you checkmate the King in the second rank like this problem.

You can see the answer by clicking the arrow in the right direction under the board in order to replay the answer line. (Popup diagram to be saved for printing) Click the exclamation marks which appear below the diagram for further comments on the problem. If you click the marks again, the comment windows go away.