Shogi365 vs Other Ways to Practice Tsume Shogi: Books, Websites and Online Play

If you want to get better at the endgame in shogi, the usual advice is to solve tsume shogi. The harder question is where to solve them. There is a long tradition of small printed books, there are free daily problems on the web, there are apps, and there is always the option of simply playing more games. Shogi365 is one of those apps, and I made it, so read this with that in mind. I will try to be fair about what each option does well and where it is simply different.

What Shogi365 Is

Shogi365 is a tsume shogi app for iPhone and iPad. It holds 4,000 puzzles, 1,000 each at mate in 3, 5, 7 and 9. The puzzles were generated and checked by the app’s own solver: a unique first move, a unique attacking move at every step, no alternative mates, and no idle pieces on the board or in hand.

The main difference from a book is that you play the moves instead of reading the answer. The board only accepts checks, but it accepts any check, right or wrong. The defending king answers on its own. While your line still forces mate it resists, and once it does not, it escapes. A line that runs out without mate fails, and you can retry up to three times.

Around that there is a daily challenge that is the same for everyone, a streak, hints that light up the piece and the square but leave the move to you, and stats per difficulty. It works offline, needs no account and has no ranking. All 4,000 puzzles are free with light ads, and a one-time purchase removes the ads. There is no subscription.

Option 1: A Tsume Shogi Book

The printed book is the classic way, and for good reason. You can carry it anywhere, it never needs charging, and there is nothing on the page except the problem. Many books are written or edited by a named composer or professional player, and the problems are chosen and ordered by a person who thought about what the reader should learn next. Some collections are works of art in their own right, with problems that are admired for their beauty, not only for their training value.

Where it differs is the answer. In a book you think, then turn to the back. If your second move was wrong, the book cannot show you how the king would have escaped. You only learn that your line is not the printed one. For a strong reader this is fine. For a beginner, I think seeing the king walk out on the board teaches more than reading a correct line you did not find.

A book also has a fixed number of problems and a fixed order. When you finish it, you buy the next one. That is not a flaw, just a different shape.

Option 2: The Japan Shogi Association’s Daily Page

The Japan Shogi Association runs a daily tsume shogi page on its website, called まいにち詰将棋. It posts a new problem every day, and the problems in its listings range from mate in 3 to mate in 11. Many of them are credited by name to their composers, including well known professionals.

This is a very good free resource. The problems are made by people, the lengths go beyond anything in Shogi365, and it costs nothing to look. If you read Japanese and want one hand-made problem a day, it is hard to argue with.

It is a web page, so you need a connection, and it is one problem per day rather than a large collection you can work through at your own pace. The site is in Japanese.

Option 3: Online Shogi Servers

Some players prefer to learn the endgame by playing. 81Dojo is a well known option for that. It is an online shogi server run as a non-profit, free to use, with an interface in more than 20 languages, and it works in a browser and as an iOS and Android app. You play full games against people from many countries, and you can review games afterward.

Real games teach things puzzles cannot: time pressure, choosing a plan, and the moment when you have to decide whether to attack or defend. Tsume shogi skips all of that and gives you only the final part, where there is always a forced mate.

The difference is density. In a full game you might reach a mating position once, and you might not notice it. A tsume shogi puzzle puts you in that position every time. I think both are useful, and many players do both.

Option 4: Other Shogi Apps

There are other shogi apps, and several of them include tsume shogi as one feature next to playing against the computer. Their puzzle counts, lengths, prices and ad models vary, so I will not generalise about them. If you already use a shogi app you like and it has a tsume section, that may be all you need.

A Side by Side Table

	Shogi365	Tsume shogi book	JSA daily page	81Dojo
What it is	App with 4,000 puzzles	Printed collection	Web page, one problem a day	Online server for full games
Puzzle lengths	Mate in 3, 5, 7, 9	Varies by book	Mate in 3 to 11 in its listings	Not a puzzle collection
Who made the problems	Generated and verified by the app’s solver	Usually a named composer	Many credited to named composers	Not applicable
Works offline	Yes	Yes	No	No
Cost	Free with ads, one-time purchase removes ads	Price of the book	Free	Free
Language	Interface in 21 languages	Varies by book	Japanese	More than 20 languages

When Another Option Is the Better Choice

You want composed problems with a name and a history. Shogi365’s puzzles are practical training problems made by a solver. They are sound, but they are not the celebrated compositions found in classic collections. A good book, or the Japan Shogi Association’s daily page, is the better choice here.

You want mates longer than 9 moves. Shogi365 stops at mate in 9. Books and the daily page go further.

You want to play people. Shogi365 is not a game against anyone. 81Dojo, a local club or a friend with a board is what you want.

You do not know how the pieces move yet. Shogi365’s tutorial explains the rules of tsume shogi, not how each piece moves. Learn the moves first. If you want an app for that, our StudyX Mindsports has beginner lessons for shogi, chess and go. A real teacher at a club is even better.

You want to avoid screens. A book is the obvious answer, and I think it is a good one.

When Shogi365 Makes Sense

Shogi365 fits best if you want a large number of short puzzles you can pick up at any moment, with or without a connection, and you want the board to tell you when your reading is wrong instead of an answer page. It also fits if you like the habit of a daily puzzle and a streak, in the same way as Sudoku365.

None of these options excludes the others. A book on the shelf, the daily page with morning coffee and a few Shogi365 puzzles on the train can all live together.

If you are new to the puzzles themselves, start with tsume shogi for beginners. For the app, the getting started guide walks through the first session, the tips post covers daily use, and who Shogi365 is for describes where it fits. The app page is at Shogi365.