FAQ

Shog.io is a shogi platform built for quick, satisfying games. Whether you have 5 minutes or an hour, you can play against bots, match with other players, or sharpen your skills with puzzles and lessons.

Absolutely. Shogi shares DNA with chess: you control pieces on a grid, capture opponents, and aim to checkmate the king. The twist is that captured pieces switch sides and can be dropped back onto the board, which keeps every game dynamic and reversals common. If you enjoy chess tactics, shogi will click fast.

No. Shog.io offers directional arrow pieces (the default) that show each piece's movement at a glance — no kanji reading required. You can switch to traditional kanji pieces in your Profile settings if you prefer.

Blitz is 5×5 minishogi: same core rules as standard shogi but on a smaller board with fewer pieces. Games finish in minutes, making it perfect for on-the-go play. Expert is full 9×9 standard shogi with all 40 pieces and deeper strategy. Think of Blitz as bullet chess and Expert as a classical game.

Minishogi lowers the barrier to entry dramatically. With only 12 pieces on a 5×5 board, you can learn piece movement, drops, and promotion in a single sitting — but the strategic depth is real. It's the fastest way to fall in love with shogi's unique mechanics before graduating to the full 9×9 board if you want to.

Yes. Switch to Expert mode in the variant selector at the top of the Play screen. Everything works the same: bots, online matchmaking, post-game review.

When you capture an opponent's piece, it goes to your hand. On any future turn you can "drop" it onto an empty square as your own piece. This is the single biggest difference from chess — no piece is ever truly gone, and a losing position can flip in one move.

When a piece enters the opponent's territory (last rank in Blitz, last 3 ranks in Expert), you can promote it, giving it new movement abilities. Some pieces must promote; others give you the choice. The tutorial walks through every case.

Blitz defaults to 5 minutes per side (5+0). Expert defaults to 10 minutes per side (10+0). Bot games have no clock so you can think as long as you want.

Five bots span the full range: Hana (beginner, ~200 Elo) makes plenty of mistakes for you to exploit, while Ryuu (master, ~2800 Elo) plays near engine strength. Start with Hana or Yuki and work up.

Try the next bot up or down. The five difficulty levels (Hana, Yuki, Ren, Kai, Ryuu) are spaced so there's always a fair challenge. Post-game review also shows where you went wrong, which is the fastest way to improve.

Open the Learn tab and play the interactive tutorial. It teaches piece movement, drops, and promotion step by step with guided moves. After that, the Story chapters give you real practice scenarios.

After every game (bot or online), you get a chess.com-style move-by-move analysis showing which moves were best, good, inaccurate, or blunders, with the engine's suggested alternative.

No. You can play bots, local pass-and-play, puzzles, and lessons without any account. Creating a profile lets you track ratings and stats across sessions.

On mobile: Profile tab → "Delete account & data". On web: email support@shog.io. This permanently removes your profile, ratings, and progress.