or tsume is the Japanese term for a shogi

Shogi

, also known as Japanese chess, is a two-player board game in the same family as Western chess, chaturanga, and Chinese Xiangqi, and is the most popular of a family of chess variants native to Japan...

 problem in which the goal is to checkmate

Checkmate

Checkmate is a situation in chess in which one player's king is threatened with capture and there is no way to meet that threat. Or, simply put, the king is under direct attack and cannot avoid being captured...

 the opponent's King. Tsume problems present a situation that might occur in a shogi game, and the solver must find out how to achieve checkmate. It is similar to a chess problem

Chess problem

A chess problem, also called a chess composition, is a puzzle set by somebody using chess pieces on a chess board, that presents the solver with a particular task to be achieved. For instance, a position might be given with the instruction that White is to move first, and checkmate Black in two...

.

Rules

Tsume problems have set rules for how they must be constructed and completed. If the solver breaks any of the rules, he has not solved the problem correctly. If the composer breaks any rules, he has not constructed a tsumeshogi.

• The attacking side is ; meaning, he plays first.
• The attacking side's King is usually not present on the board.
• All of the attacking side's moves must be checks.
• The attacking side must checkmate the opponent's King in the shortest number of moves.
• When checkmate is reached, the attacking side must not have any pieces in hand.
• White (the defender, or the side with the king) must move in such a way to delay checkmate as long as possible.
• White has in hand all pieces not in the board or in the attacking side's hand, not counting the other King.
• White can drop any piece in hand to delay or prevent checkmate.
• White may not resort to futile interpositions, i.e., blocks of a lance, bishop, or rook attack that only slows down the attack and does not change it.

Purposes of tsume problems

Tsume problems can be used to fulfill one of two tasks: to train in shogi strategy or to be created as a work of art.

Shogi training

Tsume problems are considered very good training for playing shogi. They teach not only how to effectively checkmate the king but also to predict moves and plan out a long series of moves before achieving a goal. There are many websites and books dedicated to tsume problems for this purpose.

As a work of art

Many shogi players for centuries have created tsume problems with long and deliberate mating lines as artwork. They might consist of the pieces making geometric shapes, a theme which is used throughout the problem, the removal of all pieces on the board (called a Smoke Mate), or a set number of moves. One of the most famous tsume artists is Kanju Itou, who wrote Shogi Zukou (将棋図巧), a famous collection of artistic tsume problems.

External links

• Tsume Shogi (Shogi Mating Problems)
• Tsumeshogi Q&A
• How to play Shogi(将棋) -Lesson #30- Checkmate Problems (Youtube)