What are /r/shogi's favorite Products & Services?

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This app was recommended by someone else in this sub and its pretty good, it has 100 levels of difficulty. If you want to try this app and dont want to spend before you try there is this free app which is basically a light verson of the main app with 50 levels

I started about a week ago to learn and so far i found this app to be really helful in testing out what i learn against an app. Happy learning!

I like this app right here. Unfortunately it's all in Japanese, but it isn't too hard to figure out. According t o the app, the strongest level of the AI is an Amateur 4/5 Dan.

Any recommendations in particular? https://www.amazon.com/Apple-Barrel-Acrylic-PROMOABI-Assorted/dp/B00ATJSD8I/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=Acryllic+paint&qid=1623160244&sr=8-2 Maybe this? (Sorry for all the questions! I've been struggling with this for months

In the Google play store if you look up "Shogi" https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.crossfield.shogi" By far best app for my phone! I play shogi with my friends all the time on this app You can play with your friends, you can play against people online, And you can play offline, against a leveled AI; There is also a daily Tsume which is like a daily checkmate challenge. I really like the daily Tsume challenges and I really enjoy the app overall and would highly recommend it!

this is what i bought. It says "complete wooden" but it is not. Its laminated fibreboard. That said, its built really well, sturdy with no hinges making it much nicer to play on a table. The pieces are wood, probably pine. Most important to me even in my first board, was that it sounded good when placing the pieces. And it does. Not like a hollow bottom single piece kaya, but good. Also, "Habu recommended!" Lmao. 🤷🏻‍♂️

If you live in the US I recommend buying this set

https://www.amazon.com/Kumonshuppan-Study-Shogi-Japanese-Pieces/dp/B002ACUC4A/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=shogi&qid=1600459377&sr=8-3

I use this to teach people, with myself only using the King and the learner gets the whole set.

I want to be clear, this is for super expensive craftsman-level pieces. If you just want pieces to play with, either just for yourself or for a club, you might just want to check out these plastic pieces and this vinyl board from amazon.co.jp. Even with international shipping, probably still be cheaper than the expensive pieces.

there aren't that many english language books on shogi so you will probably exhaust them sooner or later

when i was starting out i found The Art of Shogi by Hosking to be a good reference, it may be a little too complicated for a new player though. another good one that i studied quite a bit was Better Moves, Better Shogi by Aono Teruichi.

I'm not sure if the books are still in print, so check around and see if your local library can bring them in on an interlibrary loan before you spend $$ tracking them down for exorbitant prices.

edit: as a new player, if you don't have much experience with chess like games, I would recommend fooling around with Shogi software to see if you truly enjoy the game. I recommend Kanazawa Shogi 2, which also has a free version to try out. Stay on the easier settings and beat the computer over and over until you feel ready for some proper study.

YES!! ^ Can confirm. I've had it installed for a while now.

There is a newer version that is supposed to be better, but the one that was linked above is still kicking my butt at level 30 or above.

Incidentally, the same company has an android app that is full of tsume (end game) problems, but the menus and instructions are not in English. It's really good also, but you have to fumble around to figure out which menu to select.

I recommend Shogi Wars. It's the most popular shogi app in Japan. And you can play english version. If you and your friend registers as "friend" each other, you can play online in "Game with friend" mode.

iPhone: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/shogi-wars/id496801169/

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=jp.heroz.android.shogiwars&hl=en

If you know some Japanese then ひらけ駒 (by Minami Qta/南Ｑ太), the original 8 volume series. Tried to give 三月のライオン to my shogi-loving grade school kid but it has way too many grown-up themes and didn’t click with him. On the other hand ひらけ駒clicked, the Japanese was easy and straightforward, more so because the themes were also simple and straightforward, so it’s ideal for a Japanese language learner. I found it really cool that the author used the story to explain real world shogi things, from the difference in sound of plastic and wood pieces, the expense of a big shogi board, and introducing the reader to real world sites like the Shogi Kaikan in Tokyo (and I think the temple next door), or the shogi-themed train station at Tendo (Yamagata prefecture) which is famous for the carving of shogi pieces. The storyline has nothing outrageous, adult-oriented, or fan service, just a good natured story of a boy learning to love and grow into shogi and how his apparently single mom supports it, though sometimes quizzically. https://www.amazon.com/ひらけ駒-コミック-1-8巻セット-モーニング-KC/dp/B00B4831O4

In Japan there are kids intro sets that have kanji with arrows. This link for one such set is from Japan Amazon but I have seen it outside of Japan at a Japanese import stores, so if you know it exists you can probably find one in your country:

https://www.amazon.co.jp/ビバリー-BEVERLY-BOG-002-マスター将棋/dp/B0043RSEAO

However these tend to be cheap plasticky sets. If you want something nice to match your wood board then I agree that the shogi.cz (kanji with arrow) pieces are a very nice option indeed!

I got these from Amazon Japan. They are made out of the same material as my board, so they match well. These stands are called komadai ((駒台), if that helps you in your search in case these aren't a good match.

I bought this one from Amazon Japan for about 20 bucks. Shipping was also about $20, so I waited until I had a few other things I needed to help spread out the shipping cost. It's not exactly super high quality, but it gets the job done and seems pretty appropriately priced.

> ...I would love that!...

OK, this is the best I can do at the moment - I stress, I haven't tried this myself.

There's a program called PCem that emulates old PC hardware on modern machines. Steve Evans had set up PCem to emulate a Pentium PC and run Shogivar under Windows 95. Steve did send me a PCem file which was supposed to do this, but I'm afraid that I can't find it. Sorry!

You need to investigate PCem and see if you can get it to work.

I will try and find the file...

You may possibly be able to do something with DOSBox. Again, I haven't tried this.

Maybe I should try one of these myself - my old 32-bit machine is sure to die eventually...

Shogi Japanese Chess Game Set with Wooden Board and Koma Pieces https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BB59942/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_JS3W2BXBAQW32E281RGG Enjoy! It all weighs maybe 1.25 kilos or so, so it's rather portable.

I like that set. They also make pieces with different fonts that you can buy.

If you're not in the US (And even if you are), it may be worth seeing if shipping from Japan is any cheaper. Or if you're in the habit of buying from them anyway, you might be able to get a slightly better deal with your next amazon japan order: https://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/B07BB59942/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Hi there! I'm in much the same boat as you. Just started and wanted to get something made of wood that wouldn't cost a fortune just to start out. The sites listed above are very good, though as you can see the price and cost vary. Some boards fold, others don't, and some that are more solid can cost near $200 before shipping.

I found Yellow Mountain Imports through Amazon (they also have listings there) and bought this set. For $60 that's about as reasonable as you'll find without getting into paper boards (and honestly that price puts it on par with the price of many modern board games). The pieces have a more cursive font which can make them a little more difficult to read for a beginner, but I've gotten used to them pretty fast. The table has a drawer you can store the pieces in, so it's very convenient when you're done with it. The pieces aren't special or anything (there's no writing on the bottom of the kings to denote who made them etc), but I think for a beginner's set it's fine.

And of course, being wood, you can practice your technique picking up the pieces and clicking them back down. It's definitely one of the most satisfying things when playing Shogi ;)

Hi. Any relation with Animal Shogi, already on Play Store?

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.animalshogi

By the way, that is how I was first introduced to the real shogi (though did not progress much since then)... I had the pleasure to meet the creator of Dobutsu Shogi (Madoka Kitao) during her visit to Italy, where I discovered that she is also the creator of my simplified-characters shogi set.... As I am sure everybody here knows, she is also the one who launched "our" Karolina Styczyńska (the female star of "road to shodan" series ) to professional shogi. A benefactor of Western shogi...

Kanazawa Shogi 2 & Shogi Paradise

If you need something free, the first version doesn't cost anything, but I dislike ad-based games, especially when apps like Shogi Free require you to sit through videos to undo moves.

Most shogi apps out there have pretty weak AI, comparatively speaking, but KS2 has levels from 1-300, allows you to set handicaps, and undos are unlimited. My favorite part is that on the difficulty selection, it shows your progress by giving you one of four medals when you win: bronze for winning with undos, silver for winning without undos, gold for winning without undos and a handicap, and platinum for winning without undos and a two-piece handicap. It's a nice way of measuring your progress, though it's still nothing like playing a human opponent!

For tsume shogi, I use Shogi Paradise. There's an English and a Japanese app available, though fair warning, the English version crashes on my phone on startup, so I use the Japanese version.

https://www.amazon.co.jp/%E7%94%B0%E4%B8%AD%E7%A2%81%E7%9B%A4%E5%BA%97-%E5%B0%86%E6%A3%8B%E7%9B%A4-%EF%BC%95%E5%8F%B7/dp/B000R3DMJQ/ref=mp_s_a_1_14?dchild=1&keywords=%E5%B0%86%E6%A3%8B%E3%81%B0%E3%82%93&qid=1600579187&sprefix=%E3%81%97...

It's a bit more than 1,600 yen now, but I got it for 1,000 yen.

amazon Japan is a pretty good place to find them, and they ship a lot of stuff to the US. If you're looking for something fairly inexpensive, I like these.

Well, the hanafuda stuff is super easy, as Amazon Japan delivers almost everywhere. I got my Mario Hanafuda from them. The Shogi stuff also wouldn't be a problem, but it looks like those aren't in stock lately.

If you go to the Japanese Amazon website, the Nintendo board is only ¥1,649 (15.43 USD) and from my experience it's a very nice board. If I remember correctly, the shipping was about $10 but it isn't shown before you buy it because of import fees.

I do not know what kind of smartphone you have but in case it is Android you can download Kanazawa shogi 2, it has 300 difficulty levels and it is quite useful to practice alone

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=jp.co.unbalance.android.KanaShogi2&hl=en_US

You could make something like this with matching-size pieces: Study Shogi

I'm pretty new to the game myself, but it's definitely something that I feel avid chess players would like if only they knew about it. I haven't managed to convince anyone else, though. Yet.