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+<TITLE>GNU Shogi manual: Mating problems</TITLE>
-<TITLE>GNU Shogi manual - Differences between shogi and chess</TITLE>
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- [<A HREF="gnushogi_toc.html">Contents</A>]   [<A HREF="gnushogi_15.html">Back</A>]   [<A HREF="gnushogi_15.html">Prev</A>]   [<A HREF="gnushogi_3.html">Up</A>]   [<A>Next</A>]   [<A HREF="gnushogi_17.html">Forward</A>]  <BR><HR><BR>
-
-
-<H2><A NAME="SEC19">Differences between shogi and chess</A></H2>
-<P>
-<A NAME="IDX24"></A>
-
-
-<P>
-Some differences between shogi and international chess have been
-mentioned elsewhere in this document; I summarize them here for people
-who are interested in game comparisons. I won't try to deal with the
-thorny question of which game is "better" although my bias may have
-already come through :-) In fact, the drop rule makes the two games so
-different in character that arguing over which game is better is like
-comparing apples to oranges (you'd be better off comparing chess to Chu
-shogi (see section <A HREF="gnushogi_15.html#SEC18">Shogi variants</A>). However, I believe that if you are a
-chess fan you'll really like shogi as well, and shogi is also popular
-with many people who don't particularly like chess.
-
-
-<P>
-Here are the significant differences between chess and shogi:
-
-
-
-<OL>
-
-<LI>
-
-In shogi, captured pieces become the property of the capturer and can
-re-enter play by being dropped onto almost any vacant square. In chess,
-captured pieces are out of the game. Thus, in shogi, piece exchanges
-complicate the play significantly while in chess they simplify it.
-
-<LI>
-
-The shogi board is 9x9; the chess board is 8x8.
-
-<LI>
-
-Shogi has five pieces with no counterpart in chess: the gold and silver
-generals, the lance, the promoted rook and the promoted bishop. Chess
-has one piece with no counterpart in shogi: the queen. The knight's
-move in shogi is much more restrictive than in chess. Pieces in shogi
-generally have a much smaller range of movement than in chess (unless
-they are in hand).
-
-<LI>
-
-In shogi, all pieces except the gold general and the king can promote,
-but only to one kind of piece. Promotion is easier in shogi because the
-promotion zone is closer to the starting position of the pieces
-(especially pawns). In chess, only the pawn can promote, but it can
-promote to any other piece except the king.
-
-<LI>
-
-In shogi, pawns capture the same way they move. There is no initial
-two-space pawn move and hence no <EM>en-passant</EM> captures. In chess,
-pawns capture diagonally which means that opposing pawns can block each
-other.
+<META NAME="description" CONTENT="GNU Shogi manual: Mating problems">
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-<LI>
-
-In shogi, you only have one rook and one bishop. Note that the bishop
-is not restricted to only one "color" square (squares in shogi aren't
-colored, but never mind) because promoted bishops can also move one
-square orthogonally.
-
-<LI>
-
-There is no special castling move in shogi. The term "castle" is
-used in shogi to denote a defensive formation consisting of (usually)
-three generals which protect the king. There are many such castles
-(about 40 or so have names). See section <A HREF="gnushogi_13.html#SEC16">Sample game</A>.
-
-<LI>
-
-Draws are much rarer in shogi than in chess. Perpetual check is not
-allowed. Stalemate is a virtual impossibility, and is a loss for the
-stalematee.
-
-<LI>
-
-Since pieces are never out of play in shogi, chess-type endgames
-involving only a few pieces do not occur.
-
-<LI>
-
-Shogi games are generally longer than chess games (about 60-70 moves is
-typical).
-
-<LI>
-
-Shogi has a well-developed handicap system which is in general use;
-chess does not.
-
-</OL>
+</HEAD>
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+
+<A NAME="SEC16"></A>
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+<TD VALIGN="MIDDLE" ALIGN="LEFT">[<A HREF="gnushogi_5.html#SEC5"> Up </A>]</TD>
+<TD VALIGN="MIDDLE" ALIGN="LEFT">[<A HREF="gnushogi_19.html#SEC19"> >> </A>]</TD>
+<TD VALIGN="MIDDLE" ALIGN="LEFT"> <TD VALIGN="MIDDLE" ALIGN="LEFT"> <TD VALIGN="MIDDLE" ALIGN="LEFT"> <TD VALIGN="MIDDLE" ALIGN="LEFT"> <TD VALIGN="MIDDLE" ALIGN="LEFT">[<A HREF="gnushogi.html#SEC_Top">Top</A>]</TD>
+<TD VALIGN="MIDDLE" ALIGN="LEFT">[<A HREF="gnushogi_toc.html#SEC_Contents">Contents</A>]</TD>
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+<TD VALIGN="MIDDLE" ALIGN="LEFT">[<A HREF="gnushogi_abt.html#SEC_About"> ? </A>]</TD>
+</TR></TABLE>
+<HR SIZE=1>
+<H2> 2.3 Mating problems </H2>
+<!--docid::SEC16::-->
<P>
-The effects of all these differences on play include (in my opinion):
-
-
-
-<OL>
-
-<LI>
-
-Piece/pawn structures in chess are more rigid than in shogi. Pawns
-block each other and pawns, once advanced, cannot ever retreat. In
-shogi, you can repair the hole caused by a pawn advance by exchanging
-the pawn and dropping it back where you want it. Thus shogi is more
-fluid than chess and less "structural".
-
-<LI>
-
-Counterattack is MUCH more common in shogi than in chess. Games
-typically end in mutual mating attacks, where each player is trying to
-checkmate the other player before being checkmated himself. This makes
-tempo incredibly important and also makes sacrificial play quite common.
-
-<LI>
-
-Attacks involving only ranging pieces are more a feature of chess than
-of shogi. A shogi attack typically uses a ranging piece or pieces to
-support an attack by short-range pieces (especially generals). It is
-very rare to mate a king with a non-adjacent ranging piece in shogi
-since the player whose king is threatened can almost always interpose by
-dropping a piece.
-
-</OL>
-<P></P><HR>
- [<A HREF="gnushogi_toc.html">Contents</A>]   [<A HREF="gnushogi_15.html">Back</A>]   [<A HREF="gnushogi_15.html">Prev</A>]   [<A HREF="gnushogi_3.html">Up</A>]   [<A>Next</A>]   [<A HREF="gnushogi_17.html">Forward</A>]  
+One good way to improve at shogi is to solve mating problems. There are
+several types of these problems, but the most common is called a
+"tsume-shogi" problem, or "tsume" problem for short. In a tsume
+problem, all pieces that are not on the board are assumed to be in the
+opponent's hand (except for your King, which is usually not shown).
+Every move you make must be check until the final checkmate. Your
+opponent may play any piece on the board or drop any of his pieces in
+hand in order to prevent the mate. In a properly constructed tsume
+problem, all of your pieces on the board and in hand must be essential
+to the solution. One consequence of this is that all of your pieces in
+hand must be played during the solution. There should only be one
+correct solution for the given number of moves. Tsume problems use
+Japanese-style move numbering; thus, a problem where you move (and give
+check), your opponent moves, and you move to give checkmate is called a
+three-mover. Here is a really trivial three-mover:
+</P><P>
+
+ 3 2 1 <BR>
+----------------+ <BR>
+| | | | a <BR>
+----------------+ <BR>
+| | | wK | b <BR>
+----------------+ <BR>
+| | | | c <BR>
+----------------+ <BR>
+| bN | | | d <BR>
+----------------+ <BR>
+| | | | e <BR>
+----------------+ <BR>
+| | bN | | f <BR>
+----------------+ <BR>
+</P><P>
+
+Black in hand: S, G
+</P><P>
+
+Here, Black plays G*2b, White plays K1c, and Black plays G*1d mate.
+More typical tsume problems range from 5 moves to arbitrarily high
+numbers of moves, and they can be quite brain-busting. Tsume problems
+may seem artificial, but in the closing stages of the game where both
+players have a lot of pieces in hand, it is often necessary to give
+check at every move, or else your opponent will start a counterattack
+and will mate you before you mate him. A tsume problem is a worst-case
+scenario for the attacker: you have to mate your opponent even though he
+has every piece not on the board in hand, which means you have to
+develop sharp attacking skills. Many more tsume problems can be found
+on the internet; I particularly recommend Patrick Davin's "Shogi
+Nexus" (see section <A HREF="gnushogi_21.html#SEC21">5. References and links</A>).
+</P><P>
+
+<A NAME="Shogi variants"></A>
+<HR SIZE=1>
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+<TR><TD VALIGN="MIDDLE" ALIGN="LEFT">[<A HREF="gnushogi_15.html#SEC15"> < </A>]</TD>
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+<TD VALIGN="MIDDLE" ALIGN="LEFT"> <TD VALIGN="MIDDLE" ALIGN="LEFT">[<A HREF="gnushogi_5.html#SEC5"> << </A>]</TD>
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+<TD VALIGN="MIDDLE" ALIGN="LEFT">[<A HREF="gnushogi_19.html#SEC19"> >> </A>]</TD>
+<TD VALIGN="MIDDLE" ALIGN="LEFT"> <TD VALIGN="MIDDLE" ALIGN="LEFT"> <TD VALIGN="MIDDLE" ALIGN="LEFT"> <TD VALIGN="MIDDLE" ALIGN="LEFT"> <TD VALIGN="MIDDLE" ALIGN="LEFT">[<A HREF="gnushogi.html#SEC_Top">Top</A>]</TD>
+<TD VALIGN="MIDDLE" ALIGN="LEFT">[<A HREF="gnushogi_toc.html#SEC_Contents">Contents</A>]</TD>
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+<TD VALIGN="MIDDLE" ALIGN="LEFT">[<A HREF="gnushogi_abt.html#SEC_About"> ? </A>]</TD>
+</TR></TABLE>
+<BR>
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