Customer Reviews

Shogi for Beginners

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Just the other day I came across the copy of this book I bought 4 years ago. It brought back so many memories. A Japanese friend bought be a shogi set as a gift, and out of codependent tendencies I felt obligated to learn how to play the game. Its a fascinating game because unlike chess, when you capture the pieces you can reverse it and use it against your opponent, so you not only have to think about "position" (also envisioning drops) but exchanges in the *literal*

sense of the world.

Anyway, at the time it was the only book I could find... I read it, I played it, I beat him... he stopped returning my phone calls. Within a year I wound up going to Japan, playing at the local Shogi dojos... I even became friends with some famous shogi players... reached sho-dan level. The definitely set me on a journey... Thinking about it, I'm almost depressed to think I haven't played in about a year or so. Still, looking back I can say that this book set me on the right path. Your next step is to learn how to read Japanese numbers, then go to your local Japanese book store. You can buy books that show shogi matches move by move or have problems. Though you won't be able to read the explanations, you definitely won't be in the dark.

Anyway, when you finish this book, if you're thinking of becoming an English teacher in Japan, the good news is you *will* be able to wip most your students. Its not as popular as young people as it used to be, and if you play with an adult, they'll think you're a "henna gaijin" and buy you a drink !

P.S. No, this isn't the same thing as GO ! ! !

Shogi and Chess share a common ancestor and have as their objective the capture of the enemy king. They are alike in many other ways, but someone seeing both games for the first time might never suspect that they are so closely related.

Shogi is a challenging and satisfying game. It is visually a little off-putting to the Western tyro, but Westernized sets are available. I'd recommend switching to Japanese sets as soon as you can decipher the hieroglyphics. Play with authentic Japanese pieces enhances the pleasure of the game tremendously.

Fairbairn's book is the better of the two introductory books on Shogi that come from Western authors. (Trevor Leggett's "Shogi: Japan's Game of Strategy" is the other). The book is well organized. Fairbairn begins with six chapters on the basics of the game. Chapter 7 is a collection of mating problems, and then Chapter 8 introduces the reader to a complete game. Fairbairn then gives a chapter on castles. (In Chess there are two castles, in Shogi there are dozens). Then he gives chapters on the opening, the middle game, and the endgame. The endgame to Shogi is much more exciting than the endgame in Chess. In Shogi the board is just as cluttered with pieces as in the beginning, and frequently both kings simultaneously totter on the brink of checkmate. The penultimate chapter deals with certain of the finer points of Shogi, and the final chapter gives a collection of games. As the old TV commercial says, "Try it, you'll like it!"

After reading this book and playing a few games, if you'd like to learn the game in greater depth, try to find "Better Moves for Better Shogi," a bilingual book written by Aono Teriuchi, a Japanese Shogi champion, with an English translation by John Fairbairn.

I am a B USCF chess player, but have been interested in shogi(and other chess variants). I knew how to play shogi before, but this book gives good guidelines on proper play. I like the 3-move-mate problems (mate in 2 for yall westerners) because by the time i went though them, I was more comfortable with the movement of the pieces and had memorized the japanese symbols. This book also has a full game taken apart and analyzed so that you can "see" what's going on. This book also has whole chapters on strategy and tactics. If you're interested in this game, and are still at the learning stages, and I assume you are because good shogi books in english are hard to find, this this the book to show you the way.

It's been about fifteen years since I first picked up this book and was introduced to the fantastic game of Shogi. I don't think I've played a game of chess since then. Unlike chess, when an opponent's piece is captured it becomes yours to place on the board as a future move. In this way all forty pieces remain in play until the last move. The board is 9x9 giving it 81 squares as opposed to the 64 on a chess board. Most of the pieces can become more powerful by entering the opponent's "camp" and making another more. This book brings you into game carefully and shows you many of the unlimited ways to create a good defense, work on undermining your opponents, and how to go in for the kill. There are also many quotes on shogi strategy and end game puzzles that are good for honing skills.

Shogi can be a bit intimidating at first with its idiograms and rules that captured pieces can be put back into play, but it is a game that rivals chess in many ways and to me is more enjoyable and complicated.

The book is good, but its illustrations are sometimes wanting. The thing to do is work through the sample games and see what is going on in each game. I found this book a great help in understanding some basic tactics and I try to play whenever I can.

I am still reading this book and it already helped me decide to give Shogi a try. This book gives a thorough introduction to rules, strategy and tactics. It also has several complete games played by professionals. I would rank it in par with better introductions to chess. Another plus of this book is that it points out the essential differences between Shogi and chess which as a chess player I find very valuable. I would recommend to include in the future editions of this book some information about Shogi organizations outside of Japan.

I enjoy the privillage of having been tought Shogi by a japanese gentelman who is attempting to expand Shogi to Iceland. Having learned the basics from him I was desperatly looking for a book that leads you through basic tactics such as castling and climbing silver and found all that I wanted in this book. The first chapters also include simple and straight forward explanations on the game so this book is an excellent entry into the world of Shogi.

I got a copy of this some time ago, I read is several times. It is a superb beginner's book. I recommend it highly.

Often humorous with good sample amature and tournament games along with blow by blow commentary.

If Shogi suddenly became your obsession, do not look any further. This is the best introduction and you will not just flip through its pages, but spend time thinking and going back and forth. I can rave more, but what is the point? Just get it and start reading. You won't regret it.