Shogi 1 November 2016
Shogi Rules – How to Play Shogi – : Step 1-10 Capture Gyoku (King) with Kin (Gold) and Gin (Silver)
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Let’s practice “Tsumi” (checkmate) in a game. First, let’s try to capture the opponent’s Gyoku (King) with two pieces of Kin (Gold).
The previous step
Let’s capture the opponent’s Gyoku (King)!
First, let’s use a small board of 5×5 squares, and place pieces as below.
Parents should take the Gyoku (King) side (defense) and children should be the Kin (Gold) side (offense).
Let’s exchange greeting first. Say “Onegai shimasu (I’d like to rely on you to play this game with me.)”
Parents, please take the following steps.
- First, try not to capture Kin (Gold). Your child will surely win.
- When your child gives Oute (check) with Kin (Gold) to your Gyoku (King), capture one piece of his/her Kin (Gold). It is very difficult to capture Gyoku (King) with only one remaining Kin (Gold). Your child will learn that it is necessary for two Kin (Gold) pieces to cooperate and stay together for check.
- Try not to run forward very much from the first row when escaping from Oute (Check). It is difficult for your child to capture Gyoku (King) when it escapes up to the fifth row.
- When your children come to capture Gyoku (King) regularly, then, you do not need to follow the above steps of restriction.
Once your child gets used to the game, use one piece of Kin (Gold) and one piece of Gin (Silver) instead of two pieces of Kin (Gold).
“One piece of Kin (Gold) and one piece of Gin (Silver) versus Gyoku (King)” is a little more difficult than “two pieces ofKin (Gold) versus Gyoku (King)”, but it helps your child to properly understand the moves ofKin (Gold) and Gin (Silver).
Let’s continue this practice following the above steps.
Comments from the girls’ mother
My girls heard that more than two pieces need to cooperate to capture Gyoku (King) in the previous lesson.
Today, they learnt the lesson through the actual experience in the game with the limited numbers of pieces. They found it much more fun to actually move the pieces to learn the lesson.
Girls played this two pieces versus Gyoku (King) game several times, and they got very excited.
They fully learnt the patterns to win.
Who won and who lost. Although this is just a practice, girls get so feverish with the results of games. The game of Shogi becomes even more fun when they learn how to win even at a slow pace.
The next step
この記事の執筆者Akiko Nakakura
I-tsu-tsu Co. Ltd. President, lady's professional shogi player. After winning successive victories in the female amateur master’s tournament in 1991 and 1992, she made her debut as a professional shogi player in her third (last) year in high school. She retired from professional shogi play after a 21-year career in March 2015, and currently involved in activities to spread the game of shogi among children.
