Better Moves for Better Shogi (English and Japanese Edition)

I'm a medium/high-strength chess player who really enjoys looking into representations of chess or other similar strategic games across many cultures. When I came across shogi, I was enthralled by its complexity and slow pace, but couldn't find a way to seriously "get into" it as a game. I'd bought a few different beginner books before without much luck when I came across this one around a month ago. Fast-forward to today and I have a whole new appreciation for shogi as a game, have improved astronomically from when I purchased it, and only wish that it had a larger American audience so that I could enjoy it with other players. Other reviews have covered the book's chapters in great detail, so I don't feel it necessary to get into the book's specifics. It's a fantastic guide that offers incredible instruction on a very complex game. If you're even remotely interested in shogi, I highly encourage you to purchase this book. It's a fantastic guide for players of all skill levels and explains many of the more complex strategies and gameplay scenarios with ease.

When faced with seeking an english text on shogi, it seems that only basic texts are locatable. This text is, therefore a great find. Each section encompasses lectures, and involve detailed analysis on such topics as the importance of the pawns for defense, when the other pieces, such as the gold or silver generals prove ineffective. From my limited ability to describe the game, the step move forward process, coupled with having to anticipate the open areas in front of the wall, and behind the wall, for drops by your opponent (the fun of shogi is your opponent can drop on the board your pieces that he has captured, as his own pieces), require quite the effort of space analysis. This text addresses this area, superbly. I rate this text a must have.

The book is great and very helpful

I appreciate the review that encouraged me to purchase this book. I got this along with Habu's Words. The idea here is somewhat the same, trying to instill strategic lessons, or as Habu says, to get you to feel when something is right or wrong. I like this book best, because the presentation moves in capsules with specific lessons. You can also follow through the illustrations without breaking out the board. The analysis is clear and complete. Highly recommended.

I'm a strong chess player who has been looking for instruction in the theory of shogi. My only recourse until I found this book has been to get shogi periodicals in Japanese and follow the game scores (for which you only need to recognize the symbols for the pieces and the numbers 1-9 in Japanese). Of course, this taught me some things, but was frustrating for many purposes because I could not read the annotations.I was very happy to come across this book. It is the only one I've found in English that covers substantially more than just how to move the pieces. The format took a little getting used to but became quite comfortable after I worked with it for some time. The book is a collection of lectures by a Japanese 9-Dan written in Japanese for Japanese players. The bottom of each page has an English translation of the game score and/or notes for that page.I have worked through chapters 1, 2, and 4, and I am already satisfied with the return for my investment of time and money on this book. The first chapter treats "shape" (what we chess players call position) and how to evaluate it, and Chapters 2 and 4 treat different aspects of pawn play. For chess players: the introduction to Chapter 2 reads like it was written by Philidor ("The pawn is the soul of [Shogi]"). In my opinion, the author does a very creditable job of explaining how pawns create the conditions for attack and defense in the game. Chapters 2 and 4 alone are worth the price of the book.

Just received. This book is really usefull to improve your shogi. I've been reading the book for two days and is really easy to understand. If you like shogi, and want to improve your skills don't hesitate and buy this book.

I have a minimal understanding of Shogi and a decent vocabulary, but this book is a step or two above me and lost in technical terms and charts. I'd recommend reading other, more beginner-oriented discussions of shogi strategies before diving into this, though it is regarded as one of the best resources for refining your technique

It is the best Shogi theory book. Having learned rules of Shogi, what you should do is do a lot mate problems and read this book. Habu's words is a very good theory book, too. But it is more advanced, very hard to understand for a beginner. This book is especially good for beginner and those who is experienced but seems can't get any stronger.

I found Shogi half way through this pandemic and I fell in love with it.been playing regularly online and i think I'm getting pretty good!This book is really helping my study.I found the format of the book daunting at first but its easy to understand! Highly recommended for any new or intermediate player!

The book is a from a series of lectures, so the structure is not necessarily the most comprehensive and logical, but having a 9 Dan professional explain concepts and show examples is obviously of immense instructive value. Any English speaking shogi player should get this book, set up exercises on a board and try to solve them.It's also both in English and Japanese so is useful to get used to understanding Japanese shogi material as well.

Un excellent livre même si il faut avoir une bonne base dans le jeu et bien connaître le shogi pour l'apprécier. Les conseils sont bons et le niveau d'anglais n'est pas extraordinaire si vous avez l'habitude de le lire .

If you like Shogi, this book is a MUST. Nice explanations and problems inside in English!Recommended for sure.10/10

Found it tricky to read at first... but all in all a very useful book on the subject