Shogi Ranks and Tsume Length: What Rank Matches Solving Mate in 5?
Hiroki Obara · Developer
Once you start solving tsume shogi, you begin to wonder what rank a 5-move problem corresponds to. The short answer first: there is no official table that maps problem length to rank. Kyu and dan ranks are awarded for results in games, not for the length of the problems you can solve.
Still, a rough guide makes it easier to know what to do next. In this post I first go through the rank system of the Japan Shogi Association, and then write about the rough relation between problem length and strength.
The Japan Shogi Association’s ranks
According to the Association’s page on dan and kyu (in Japanese), amateur ranks start at 10 kyu at the bottom and go up to 6 dan, which is the usual top. Ranks of 7 dan and above exist, but they are treated as special cases. For kyu, a smaller number is higher. For dan, a larger number is higher. You climb from 10 kyu to 1 kyu, and the rank above 1 kyu is 1 dan.
Professional players, women professionals and amateurs each have their own separate rank systems. An amateur 1 dan is not the same strength as a professional 1 dan. The Association’s FAQ (in Japanese) says that even 6 kyu, the lowest rank in the Shoreikai, the training system for future professionals, is about the strength of an amateur 3 or 4 dan. Once you have a dan rank, it never expires.
How ranks are awarded
The Association’s page on how to get a rank (in Japanese) lists many ways to earn the right to apply for a rank certificate. There is a recommendation from a professional, recognition at the Association’s dojos in Tokyo and Osaka, the promotion course in the magazine Shogi Sekai, rank problems in newspapers and NHK’s shogi textbook, and the ranks on online services such as Shogi Club 24, Shogi Wars and 81Dojo. With those online ranks, you can apply for the matching certificate from 5 kyu to 6 dan.
So ranks are decided mainly by game results and by scores on rank problems. Tsume shogi does appear in rank problems, but there is no system that gives you a kyu rank for the length of tsume you can solve.
One more thing. The same “3 kyu” is not always exactly the same strength at a dojo and on an online service. There is some range depending on where the rank came from.
A rough guide to length and strength
From here on, this is not an official standard but a rough guide. There are no statistics behind it, so it comes with a wide margin.
| Tsume length | Rough strength |
|---|---|
| Solves 1-move tsume without hesitation | Knows how the pieces move and what mate means |
| Solves 3-move tsume reliably | From the start to the middle of the kyu ranks |
| Solves 5-move tsume reliably | The upper kyu ranks |
| Reads out 7- and 9-move tsume without setting up a board | Endgame reading around 1 dan |
The right column does not mean that tsume alone will bring you to that strength. Read it the other way: a player of that strength can usually solve problems of that length.
As problems get longer, the branches you have to read multiply. In a 1-move problem you think only about your own move. In a 3-move problem you also need to read one reply, and with every step up to 5 and 7 moves, more pieces have to move in your head. I wrote about the step between 1-move and 3-move problems in Should You Start with 1-Move Tsume?
What matters more than length
There is a view that how fast and how reliably you solve is closer to real strength than how many moves you can solve.
Solving a 5-move problem in 20 minutes and solving it in one minute are very different abilities in a game. Games have time limits, and you cannot spend tens of minutes finding a mate in the endgame. Solving 5 out of 10 problems is also different from solving 9 out of 10.
Another point is that a mate in a real game does not come labelled with a number of moves. In tsume shogi you solve a position you know is mate. In a game you have to decide for yourself whether there is a mate at all. If you decide there is none, you look for something else, such as a hisshi, a position where the king cannot escape mate whatever the defender does. I wrote about this in Tsumero vs Hisshi.
And if you fall far behind in the opening or middlegame, the game is decided before your endgame skill has a chance to show. Tsume length is one measure of endgame reading.
How to measure your strength
If you want to know your rank for sure, the most reliable way is to play at a dojo or on an online service. Online services move your rank up and down with your results, so you can see where you stand as a number.
Tsume shogi is practice for moving that number up. One way is to look at your speed and accuracy at the current length before moving up. For example, once you can solve 3-move problems with hardly any hesitation, move to 5-move problems. If you often get stuck at 5 moves, go back to 3 moves and work on speed. You can go back and forth like this.
How to decide how long to think is in How Long Should You Think About a Tsume Shogi Problem Before Looking at the Answer?, and how to choose a length when solving from a book is in How to Choose Your First Tsume Shogi Book.
Difficulty levels and stats in Shogi365
Shogi365 is a tsume shogi app with four difficulty levels. Easy is 3-move tsume, Medium is 5-move, Hard is 7-move and Expert is 9-move, with 1,000 problems each, 4,000 in all. Any check can be played, right or wrong, and the defender replies automatically.
The puzzle screen has a timer, and the Stats screen shows your solved count, best time, average time and progress through the problem set for each level. You can check the speed and accuracy I wrote about above as numbers for each length, which helps when deciding whether to move up a level. The Daily Challenge, one problem a day, is chosen from the 3-, 5- and 7-move problems.
All problems are free to solve. The app shows ads, and a one-time Remove Ads purchase turns them off. How to use the app is in Getting Started with Shogi365.
