Next-Move Problems vs Tsume Shogi: Which to Practise First

On the shogi shelf of a Japanese bookshop, the problem books fall into two broad groups. One is tsume shogi, mating problems. The other is “tsugi no itte” (次の一手), which means “the next move”. Both show a position and ask for the right move. They look alike, but their rules and the skills they train are quite different.

This post explains the difference and which to practise first. I should say up front that the app I make, Shogi365, contains only tsume shogi. It has no next-move problems. If you want to practise those, there are books for that.

The rules of tsume shogi

Tsume shogi asks for the sequence that mates the king. The rules are strict. The attacker must give check with every move. The defender may use every piece not on the board and not in the attacker’s hand as pieces in hand. The answer is the sequence that mates in the stated number of moves.

Because the rules are strict, the answer is clear. Whether a sequence mates can be checked by reading it out. You rarely finish the explanation thinking, “Wouldn’t this other move work too?” The detailed rules are in Tsume Shogi for Beginners.

The rules of next-move problems

A next-move problem asks for the best move to play next in a given position. Unlike tsume shogi, there is no shared rule set. Each book simply presents a position and an answer.

There are three big differences.

First, the answer need not be a check. It might be a quiet move that closes in on the enemy king, a defensive move for your own king, a move that improves a piece, or a move that stops the opponent’s attack before it starts.

Second, the problems can come from the opening and middlegame. For example, 初段の力がつく次の一手 (“Next-move problems that build shodan strength”, 2019), published by the Japan Shogi Association, is divided into three parts: opening, middlegame and endgame (National Diet Library record). Tsume shogi only deals with the very last stage of the endgame.

Third, the nature of the answer. A next-move answer comes in the form “this is the best move here, and this is why.” Unlike tsume shogi, you can’t always confirm it to the end in the sense of “this sequence mates.” So reading the explanation and understanding why that move is best matters a lot. Some books use a multiple-choice format. Another Japan Shogi Association book, 終盤が強くなる次の一手難問集 (“Hard next-move problems to strengthen your endgame”, 2025, recommended by Sota Fujii), has two chapters, a three-choice section and a challenge section (National Diet Library record).

What each one trains

Tsume shogi mainly trains three things: memorising mating shapes, reading checks and replies accurately to the end, and getting used to considering sacrifices. All of these work in the endgame, when you are trying to mate the king. I wrote more in Does Tsume Shogi Make You Stronger?

Next-move problems train tesuji and judgement. Tesuji are standard techniques that come up again and again, like ways of using pawns or of striking at a piece. Judgement is choosing the best of several candidate moves. Almost every move in a real game is not a check, so this is closer to the moves you actually play.

On the other hand, next-move problems are a little vague as reading practice. With so many candidates, it is hard to tell how far you really read. In tsume shogi the candidates are limited to checks, so it trains you to read all the way through. Rather than one being better, they are good at different things.

In endgame practice, something in between the two is tsumero and hisshi problems: chasing the king down with moves that are not checks. I wrote about them in Tsumero vs Hisshi.

Which to start with

One view is that if you have just learned how the pieces move and the basic rules, short tsume shogi problems are the place to start.

The reason is that the answer is clear. Early on, even after reading an explanation, it can be hard to see why a move is good. With tsume shogi, the result is visible: the correct sequence mates the king. You can check it yourself, so it is easy to keep practising alone.

The other reason is that games are often lost, or wins missed, because of a mate overlooked in the endgame. Even if you play the middlegame well, you won’t win if you don’t notice the enemy king is mated. You can also lose by not noticing that your own king can be mated. Tsume shogi is efficient practice for cutting those mistakes.

Mate in 1 or mate in 3 is enough at first. I wrote about which to begin with in Should You Start with 1-Move Tsume?

One time to add next-move problems is once mate in 3 comes fairly easily and you have played a few games. Playing games, you meet positions in the opening or middlegame where you have no idea what to do. Reading next-move explanations with that question in mind makes it easier to link a tesuji to a real game situation.

That said, if you want to learn shogi from the opening onward, starting with opening next-move problems is also a sensible choice.

An example of combining them

You don’t have to choose one. Here is one way to combine them.

Make daily tsume shogi the base. Solve a few short tsume problems every day as the foundation of your practice. You don’t need long per problem. The aim is to see mating shapes as often as possible.

Read next-move problems by theme. Next-move books are often divided into chapters such as opening, middlegame and endgame. Pick the chapter closest to positions that gave you trouble in your games, and work through a few problems including the explanations. What matters more than getting the answer right is whether you can explain the reason in your own words.

Use endgame next-move problems to join the two. Endgame next-move problems often include positions with a mate, or positions where you set up tsumero. They show how the shapes you learned from tsume shogi are used in a real game flow that includes quiet moves.

Check in your own games. After a game, look back at whether any of the mating shapes or tesuji you learned came up. If none did, it may be that you just didn’t notice.

Shogi365 is tsume shogi only

Shogi365 contains tsume shogi from mate in 3 to mate in 9, with 1,000 problems for each length, 4,000 in total. It has no next-move problems and no opening or middlegame problems. In the combination above, it is meant for the “daily tsume shogi” part.

There are four difficulties: Easy (mate in 3), Medium (mate in 5), Hard (mate in 7) and Expert (mate in 9). You don’t look up the answer. You solve by playing the moves on the board yourself. Moves that are not checks can’t be played: the app shows “That move is not a check.” and the board stays as it was. This doesn’t count as a failure. Any check, right or wrong, can be played, and the defender replies with the defence that lasts longest. If you don’t mate within the move count, the attempt fails, and you have three retries.

There is a Daily Challenge, one puzzle per day, and the days you solve it build a streak. If you want to make tsume shogi a daily habit, this format helps. A hint lights up the piece and the square for the next correct move. You still make the move yourself. After solving, Review lets you step back and forward one move at a time.

All problems are free to solve. The app shows ads, and a one-time Remove Ads purchase turns them off. How to pick a tsume shogi book is in How to Choose Your First Tsume Shogi Book, and how to use the app is in Getting Started with Shogi365.