How to play Shogi(将棋) -Lesson#4- Special Lesson

[GljivanStaklo]

HIDETCHI i saw a guitar in the bacground so i was wondering if you play any other instruments :)

[FuckTheSystem321]

So... is a rule to snap the pieces... Love this complicate game who i cant learn xD

[KeiHime013]

Great lessons so far. I finally understand the basics of Shogi. My father tried to teach me this game before. He thought I might enjoy it as I was playing chess since I was 7 years old.

Sadly, he wasn't a very good teacher. =D

I know people already said this before but I have to say you speak English very well.

[0Fingolfin0]

AAAAA great lesson!!!!!

[Nemrtvy18]

Man, when you think that knight on wikipedia is bad translated you can change it !

It's free encyklopedia , by the way great video realy helped

[LordAlwinTHC]

it is entirely up to the player if he wants to snap the pieces right? Can he just shift the piece without making a sound?

[11922571]

将棋やったことないけど、なんかすげー！

[a3209665]

ｙｏｕ　ｗｏｒｋ　ｈａｒｄ　～

ｓｈｏｕｌｄ　ｓｈｏｗ　ｙｏｕｒ　ｆａｃｅ　ｉｎ　ｖｉｄｅｏ～～

[NaturalGroundation]

lol "wow this guy must be a very good player"



:-D

[exscuela]

if you look at wikipedia now, the knight is translated as cassia horse.

[OverNightGaming]

Does someone else has this feeling to? For some reason I can play shogi really well and think ahead and react to to opponents but for some reason I cannot do this with chess I suck at chess. I don't know if it's the pieces or what and shogi is more complicated than chess I believe. I just thought that was something funny to share ;)

[xxblackassassinxxful]

A similar concept is used to pick up and place stones in Go.

[Strongbow520]

This is the only time a teacher has told me to use wikipedia...

[playerwithfaith]

@Strongbow520 lol, but he did comment that some of the things on the page were incorrect :)

[Damhiz]

nice lesson, and glad to see you discovered the piece awesomeness called wikipedia!

[whitessound]

you are a fucking legend !

[Ushiodama]

This man is so pro!

[yasusho1]

いや～、すごいですね。日本人でもやりにくい技を見事にこなして­いますね。

教えてくださって、ありがとうございます。

[TokubetsuKogekitai]

I like your way snapping the pieces^^

The Sound its maybe a great psychocial weapon.

I saw the guitar in the background? Can you play guitar?? xD

Maybe because of that your so good in snapping the pieces

[WorldlyMusi]

Oh slap!

[Vonzi0000]

@HIDETCHI where did you buy the new set with only one caracter?

[grphonboly]

where can i order a set of shogi without chinese inscriptions? can you send me a referal site please? thanks.

[KampungJering]

I thought this is Japanese Chess. But then why you said that is Chinese Characters?

[HIDETCHI]

@KampungJering Japanese language uses Chinese characters.

[TorisLaCroixFilms]

@HIDETCHI It's like Cantonese, it borrows Chinese characters, but has another reading and also creates the new Kanji at some rare events, isn't it?

[kakaman05]

@TorisLaCroixFilms lol cantonese dont borrows chinese characters, they write old style at all

[leejh27]

@KampungJering Ya, the Japanese set sail across the ocean to pick up Chinese character and culture during the Tang dynasty and later on too and Xiangqi was one of them. Although it appears there may have been some influence from India too. Anyway, Koreans and Japanese all use Han Chinese characters or have used them in the past.

[hirohiigo]

@leejh27 The style of the shogi pieces is similar to xiangqi, but I'm more inclined to believe shogi is based on the Thai game of Makruk more than it is xiangqi. Heian Shogi (played about 1,000 years ago) and Makruk are almost identical in gameplay.

[leejh27]

@hirohiigo I just looked up Heian Shogi and it is similar, but the boards and some of the pieces are different with the gold general, knight, and lance. Shogi's origin is quite difficult to determine but I believe it may have been influenced by more than 1 source. The placement of the rook and bishop in the modern game is similar to the cannon in Xiangqi. From the Chinese point of view, the Japanese borrowed an entire written language for their own so a chess game is no biggie.

[hirohiigo]

@leejh27 The placement of the rook and bishop aren't influenced by xiangqi at all. In fact, they're influenced by Chu Shogi! Heian Shogi evolved into some bigger variants such as Chu Shogi, Tai Shogi, etc. After these versions were developed, a variant called Sho Shogi developed that was placed with a Heian Shogi set but also including the Drunk Elephant, Flying Chariot, and Angle Goer pieces from Chu Shogi. The drunk elephant was removed, and drops were added, and now we have modern shogi.

[leejh27]

@hirohiigo I said that the placement and not the functionality of the piece was similar to the cannon in Xiangqi. Just because there were variations of Shogi before the 9x9 version was settled on, does not mean there could have been influence. It's not unreasonable to make this observation given that Xiangqi predates Shogi by several hundred years at least and the Japanese made more than 1 trip to China to pick up things.

[leejh27]

@hirohiigo Another thing I have noticed regarding discussion of Shogi's origins is that the debate between Xiangqi and Chaturanga as being the first chess war game influences how people view the origin of Shogi. If one believes Xiangqi is an original game and Chaturanga was developed from it via the silk road, then thinking Shogi happened in a similar way is normal. But the West believes Chaturanga is first so naturally logic deduces that everything else is from Chaturanga.

[hirohiigo]

@leejh27 As for which came first, the pieces are based on a standard Indian army (foot soldiers, cavalry, chariots, and elephants), so I'm inclined to believe Chaturanga came first.

[leejh27]

@hirohiigo We know that Chaturanga started around the 7th century or so. From the Chinese point of view, the earliest forms of Xiangqi come from around the Warring States or Spring and Autumn period, which is several hundred years before Chaturanga although people in the Western world don't like to acknowledge that. The minister in Xiangqi is a minister and not an elephant. The Indians changed it to an elephant at time to fit their culture. That piece does not move like an elephant.

[leejh27]

@hirohiigo Why does everyone seem to be so offended at the thought that a war board game could have originated in China independently of another culture? Why is it okay to believe the first war board game came from India, but any suggestion that Xiangqi predates the Indian version by several hundred years suddenly gets everyone riled up except for Chinese people? Weiqi (Go) comes from China but because there aren't like different variations of it, no one contests its origin.

[hirohiigo]

@leejh27 It's not that people are getting offended at the idea that the original chess game was created in China. But evidence tends to point to the fact that Chaturanga came first, due to the parallel history of India and the pieces, and the fact that Xiangqi shares the very unique knight movement with chaturanga which all chess variants share. Also keep in mind that there are at least 3 different games known as Xiangqi throughout China's history, some of which may not have been like chess.

[leejh27]

@hirohiigo Chinese sources suggests no direct link with Chaturanga. Similarities can mean that either side influenced the other side and does not prove it one way or the other. If the earliest known version of Xinagqi does not resemble Chaturanga but the earliest known version of Chaturanga resembles the modern form of Xiangqi, it is more reasonable to assume Chaturanga came from Xiangqi and not the other way around. Please look at Chinese sources also. Would it be okay if you considered them?

[leejh27]

@hirohiigo Chariots were in heavy use during the Springs and Autumn period, and the "minister" (相) piece is a defensive piece that can get around quickly on its own side of the board. The char. elephant（象) is used only as a homonym. An elephant would be used for offense and not defense. The fact that the Indian version uses an "elephant" in the same way suggests that Chaturanga is taken directly from Xiangqi but played in the squares instead of intersection points. Refer to the Xiangqi board.

[hirohiigo]

@leejh27 I think you're mistaken about the elephant. Elephants were used in Indian armies. The word "Chaturanga" when not referring to the board game is a direct reference to an Indian army, which is made up of foot soldiers, chariots, cavalry, and war elephants.  The fact that 象 acts only as a homonym, in my opinion, proves that Chaturanga was the original, because in Chaturanga it is a literal reference, while in Xiangqi it isn't.

[leejh27]

@hirohiigo I meant the 相 in Xiangqi means minister and not Chaturanga. The meaning behind this piece is that it is for defense and can get around the countryside easily. It does not prove that Chaturanga is the original game. More research is needed. Elephants were generally not used in Chinese armies around in B.C. period. I didn't mean Indian armies. To put it simply, the Chinese date their game back to around 800 or more years before Chaturanga. If that's true, it didn't come from Chaturanga.

[hirohiigo]

@leejh27 If Xiangqi really was the original chess game, then it would make sense that the majority of variants would be played on intersections rather than squares. But shogi, makruk, sittuyin, shatranj, and chess are all played on squares, whereas only xiangqi and janggi are played on the intersections. Doesn't it make more sense that China simply moved onto intersections from the original game because of familiarity with weiqi, rather than *everyone else* moving to squares?

[leejh27]

@hirohiigo Yes, that is a good point, but it does not mean that it is the original game still. Have you done any direct research on Xiangqi's origins. It has nothing to do with Chaturanga or India and its only the Western world that keeps insisting that Chaturanga is first because that's what they want to believe. The 9x10 board is 1/4 of the 19x19 intersection game, and the first version of Xiangqi had no minister and just one counselor. Only later were 2 counselors and 2 ministers added.

[leejh27]

@hirohiigo After the 2 cannons were added, there was a need to add the additional minister and counselor for extra protection and the modern version of Xiangqi looks like Chaturanga. Not the other way around. The original Xiangqi game has 1 counselor behind the general, 1 minister in front of the general, 2 horses, and 2 chariots, and no cannon. That is less pieces than the first Indian version. Janggi, the Korean version keeps the general in the middle intersection.

[spazitude80]

@KampungJering Kanji is Chinese

[race1717]

Tell them to play Go for a while. You strike the pteces the same way.

[TourDeMagie123]

hidetchi, i meant did the snapping come about because the is played on a wooded board with wooden pieces?

[HIDETCHI]

Yes, maybe.

If they were made of marble or something, no one probably would have started to snap them.

[Furnus105]

@HIDETCHI Well the sound of noisy wood has been used a lot in Japan hasn't it? Like floors around houses so people can hear each other and intruders, and wood striking wood to let people know someone's entering the house, and of course as instruments...

[SeiiTaiShogun1]

@TourDeMagie123 I have read that this practise is utilised to call one's opponent's attention to the piece in play.

[TourDeMagie123]

hideetchi, did the snapping come about because the game is played on a board?

[spirit469]

Amazing tutorial. Thank you!

[teddyTable]

thank you soo much for posting this, i've always wanted to learn shogi but I've never ad the resources, just wanted to let you know your doing a great job explaining, your English is great by the way =D

[tooktookguy]

hidetchi your the only source of shogi tactics. your the best

[Fafnerluver922]

Will you also be explaining the handicapped modes of Shogi?.?

[konsyjes]

Your snapping lesson is very inspiring! I love the part about the solid atmosphere of a Gold. You know, if you find some thing on wikipedia Shogi page that you think is not correct, you can just change it yourself! (We trust you)

[mommyxodearest]

when you snap the pieces is it like when you play go or is it different

[HIDETCHI]

It is basically the same.

[77hearts77]

Are you good in "normal" chess.

and are you good also in Shogi :D

[orinablop]

thx the website helped sooo much

[aragorn202]

Very similar motion in go.

[phalluses]

where can i get a shogi board and pieces just like the one in the video? website? and are the lines etched on the board or painted? etched is better

[kakashi1578]

I just ordered my shogi board and pieces today, can't wait! thank you so much for putting up these videos!

[cuneiform2012]

Your videos are very informative. Thank you for sharing your wisdom.

[iLuvHinata360]

"Oh that's kinda cool. how is he doing that?" SO true :P.

"wow, this guy must be a very good player. I gotta be careful." Also true ^^.

I don't have any ways to obtain a shogi board T-T, but it's ok. I can't wait to learn Castling from you ^^! i'm weak at it ^^'.

until next leason Hidetchi sensei.

[Gundam4life]

This is exactly what i wanted to know how to do but its probably going to take a lot of practice for me to be able to do it.

[Gerstein1]

I always thought that sliding on the back of your oponents pieces when you move in front of them shows that you respect your opponent. If onegiashimas (is spelling correct) means "I hope to rely on your support", then, in a sense, you'd be relying on their support. It seemed to me that when someone put the piece on the board in front of a piece without touching it shows that they don't trust their opponents enough to do so.

[BARONSCHWARZWALD]

do you know where one can learn to play dai shogi?

[BARONSCHWARZWALD]

if shogi is from japan why are the tiles in chinese?

[hirohiigo]

Japan's writing style comes from Chinese, so even if they're written in Japanese, they still use Chinese characters.

It's like how even though we're typing in English, we're using the Latin alphabet.

[thrash77581]

@hirohiigo Japanese also has two sets of characters only used in Japanese. They're based on Chinese characters, but are unique to written Japanese.

[hirohiigo]

@thrash77581 I'm aware. I was referring specifically to the questions about the kanji, which are Chinese characters.

[thrash77581]

@hirohiigo I meant it more as elaboration to the person asking the question. I didn't mean to imply whether or not you knew that.

[graceoverall]

I agree with you. I think it's rude to snap your piece on your opponents piece too. Unless you are good friends with the person and you want to taunt him, haha.

[Reyrocksall]

I took a look, they changed "laureled" to "cassia"

[Reyrocksall]

Personally, I'd rather be taken as not serious in a game, that way I could sneak one past my opponent.

[ikegare1243]

thank you so much for your videos hidetchi-sensei. i cant wait to get my set for christmas.u have inspired me to play shogi.

[novatodeguitarra]

wow google and wikipedia!!! who needs a Library nowadays?

[FoodPunch]

Wikipedia is the first web I would like to go to search for info :D And I agree, Who the hell needs a library? ( Except for borrowing good good books)

[wnsk]

is it okay not to snap?

[HIDETCHI]

Of course it's OK. But once you get used to shogi piece, there's now way you could stand not snapping it :D

[hirohiigo]

I just want to make a comment to say how hard it is now NOT to snap the pieces on the board when I play. It comes so naturally now. When my sister was in the hospital several weeks ago and I was playing with her there, I had to be quiet not to make too loud of sounds so that I wouldn't disturb the other patients, and it felt very awkward not snapping the pieces.

[BohemianCoast]

I'm delighted to find this video because I've really been wondering how to do that snapping thing!

Many thanks for this splendid set of videos.

[HIDETCHI]

Thanks.

Glad to know you appreciated my special lesson.

[joshua5576]

My shogi pieces are too small to do that!

[Cutler1991]

In my personal opinion the slide 'n' snap, and the multiple snap, are too... extravagant, I guess would be the word, for my tastes. A simple snap is more polite. Like I said before, this is just my personal opinion.

[xDAZZE]

I just got my new Shogi set yesterday. I keep hurting my finger. Lol. Either that or the pieces kinda just fly off.

[HIDETCHI]

Keep trying.

It's easy once you get used to it.

[Empep12]

does it matter if you snap it? what if you dont snap it, you just place it?

[Cutler1991]

You do not have to snap the piece. At the beginning, I believe, he says that he thinks the snapping is "cool", it is not required.

[ajith5171]

Very Interesting,Thank you.

[slayer9191]

They changed the knight on Wikipedia to cassia horse. Looks like someone else agrees. The information about castling looks to have been removed as well.

[hirohiigo]

@slayer9191: The castling information was removed from the main article because it has its own article now. Look at the article for "Shogi strategy and tactics" on Wikipedia and you'll find it.

[shaner6344]

thank you for the videos. they are very informative. I have a question though. why do you always pick up and slap down instead of sliding them when possible?

[HIDETCHI]

Because it's considered to be the coolest way of moving the piece, and once you get used to doing it, you can't help doing that every time.

[shaner6344]

ah, okay. thank you.

[swspartan327]

Is it also a matter of proper etiquette or is striking the pieces just for show? Excellent videos, by the way

[HIDETCHI]

No it's not a manner. You don't have to do it if you don't want to.

It's just that we think it's cool. You'll know what I mean once you deal with real shogi pieces.

[unpunishiple]

lolololol wichipedia lolo0lolololol loves u silly asian man ur the bestest

[CappucinoJones00]

unfortunately, these move only work against human players. that would be funny though, intimidating a computer!

[Kroshiroi]

HIDETCHI, Can sell me your Shogi set?

[Rekrad626]

lol the chinese inscriptions aren't hard because i do Japanese at school and i can understand it btw isn't the chinese characters in japanese called Kanji?

[CappucinoJones00]

yes. yes they are

[oros123456]

You can edit the wikipedia articles. So if you feel something is wrong, you can ask for a change, or change it yourself. Nice teachings by the way. Very soothing.

[hideki9999]

lol! Wikipedia is great indeed.

[2025AD]

By the way, if I'm not mistaken, beside the piano you play the guitar too. Have you ever thought about applying the techniques of holding a shogi piece to a guitar pick? :)

[HIDETCHI]

lol.

That's funny.

But I'm not gonna treat a piece like that. We should treat them carefully.

[dragondevel5]

or you could try and find a place to get a custom guitar pick that would look like a shogi piece. :3

[2025AD]

A truly enjoyable lesson: to me it gives shogi a stronger Japenese touch than merely the characters on the pieces (probably because I'm a Chinese living in Italy, so the ideograms aren't really a novelty).

[oakenguitar3]

OH SNAP lol thats kind of hard to do if your shogi board is made out of paper

[spum789]

I think not only does it sound cool, but it can also be intimidating to your opponent. for instance he was talking about exaggerating when ever you promote a rook. So you can in a way make a statement to your opponent. If you play halo this is very similar to tea-bagging you opponent after you kill him in an embarassing way. But back to shogi. I believe that its a statement, and it looks cool

[doomkaiser92]

is the clicking a tradition or is it just something people do

[HIDETCHI]

I don't think it's tradition, but we just do it for some reason...

If I were to put a piece without making a sound, that would make me feel really strange.

[nikkousc]

最高！！！

[MXdetty]

lol i wonderd how you snap the figures in the other lessons and here you hw how to how funny is that. reat job your doing!

[Rekrad626]

hey i have looked at that website, before i looked at these vid by the way AWESOME!!

[kimonji]

You have really long fingers, that's cool. I can't make it look cool with my short fingers no matter how hard I try ww

[HIDETCHI]

Hi.

This technique has nothing to do with the length of your fingers. You can make it look cool once you get used to it regardless of how your fingers are long.

So just practice it for a while.

[chessdawgz]

Can you choose whether or not to promote before you move?

[HIDETCHI]

Yes you can. I thought I mentioned it in this video.

[chessdawgz]

Oops, sorry

[johapet]

Is it cassia シナニッケイ or camphor クスノキ ?

I think 桂馬 should really translate to camphor horse if what is meant is the plant Cinnamomum camphora (camphor) and not Cinnamomum aromaticum (cassia), but I do not know for sure.

[Pmorris1898]

awesome lessons! there is a lot of people trying to teach shogi on youtube but you make them really simple to understand and even go over the etiquette and other important facts.

[HIDETCHI]

Thanks for the comment.

Hope you enjoy the following vids, too.

[Dparrey]

Hey with the new pieces, I casually looked up different grades (mine were cheap and stamped with pretty rough edges, no finish). Saw some that were 3500 USD!

But also they come in 4 levels of simplicity, level 1 being very simple characters to lvl 4.

I think mine are one of the higher ones since it uses full double letter characters.

[xxsorenxx]

can u just slide a piece without the "snap" or do u always need a "snap"?

[HIDETCHI]

You don't have to snap it. We do it just to make it look cool.

So, just sliding the piece is OK.

[mtomczykpl]

thats soooo lame...

[legalrule]

Does anyone know where to buy these pieces? If so, how much do they cost?

This is a great game!

[Dparrey]

ebay, approx 10 dollars australian

[3oTooLe]

i like the videos and thanks for the info about whats considered rude or not.

its also nice to see people doing research for they're videos

[Alanynn]

Wow! I didn't expect snapping to be so important a part of shogi (I'm referring to shingi085s comment). I regret that I don't have wooden pieces.

Thank you, Hidetchi, for this lesson. That's something that only video can explain and it definitely makes your guide unique.

There are so many things that are considered rude in shogi. It's a great idea to mention them from time to time. Even if I won't use this knowledge in future, it's still interesting.

[supernovahaze]

Greeting from China !

Thanks HIDETCHI San for such a nice lesson, lol I love the "psychological effect" during 5:30 .. haahaa

anyway keep plz keep posting advanced lessons in shogi as its hard to find english source .. and could you explain some famous games played by those professional players to us please ?

[HIDETCHI]

Hi, thanks for leaving a comment.

I'm thinking of making a new series of videos of "famous games" in the future. So look forward to it.

[just6822]

Thank you for much for this lesson! Over here it really doesn't matter in any other games, so I never knew that it was so important in games like this.

Also, I would recommend you change the Wikipedia article. The more accurate, the better!

[HIDETCHI]

Changing the Wikepedia article? Oh, that had never come up to my mind till you mentioned. I'll think about it.

[MastahBoss]

Awesome, I just recently got into shogi, requires much more focus and patience (which i need to work on), than chess imo.

I'll be looking forward to watching more of your tutorials!

Thx

[jedi1357]

User:Kwamikagami maintains that web page.

He and I (User:JTTyler) also wrote articles on many Shogi variants.

I appreciate these videos. I also want to see something like this to explain the Japanese rules for Go 囲碁 and Mahjong 麻雀. Keep up the good work. @u@

[HIDETCHI]

Wow!!!! You know the person who wrote that!? I'm so surprised, and so glad to receive a comment from you. Oh, and articles on Shogi variants, too? (like Chu-shogi, so on?) I'll check it out!

I know how to play Go and Mahjong. But I'm not a good player, not good enough to explain them to people, so I can't. I hope someone will make english tutorials about them.

[shingi085]

The snapping of the pieces is part of what gives shogi it's distinctive aesthetic. When setting a piece down, it's supposed to give that aural and tactile response. Apparently traditional Shogi floor tables are carved in such a way as to properly 'tune' this sound for maximum effect. You can also think of it as similar to why some people slurp loudly when eating noodles, as part of enhancing the overall experience.

[HIDETCHI]

Thank you for answering the question for me. It's a perfect answer!

This question was pretty difficult for me to answer in English.(^o^;) So it was really helpful. Thanks.

[kurt0010]

y do u have t snap it?

[HIDETCHI]

shingi-san's comment (the one just after yours) answers to your question perfectly. So please refer to it.

You can see I've been using another set from Lesson#5, and the sound of that set is worse than in this video. It's because the set I used in this video is more expensive, and made from wood with high density and hardness.

[ledruide68]

Thank you for these lessons! I'm sure they will be helpful to promote shogi all over the world!

[HIDETCHI]

Thank you for leaving a comment. I hope these videos will help Shogi be more and more popular all over the world.

[gizelbelcoot]

so once they are promoted, they can move backwards on board in as goldking like

for e.g

g king moving it this

###

# # #

after promotion of pawns, lance etc. do they backwards on board like this? #

# #

###

[HIDETCHI]

I'm afraid I don't understand your question, but if you wanna know how the promoted peices move, see Lesson#3.

[Savolovski]

How much yen is 1 english pound?

[HIDETCHI]

When I went to U.K. last year, it was 260 yen for a pound.

[shawnspringstead]

might i suggest a screen capture program for when your filming the computer?

[HIDETCHI]

Thank you for the suggestion.

I tried one in Lesson#15.

[PoliomanGamer]

I have to thank you, I would like to get one board like yours but they don't sell it in here, luckily I'm probably going to Japan in a year or two, this video makes you look cool.

greetings, Polioman (Mexico)

[HIDETCHI]

Hi, I'm glad to know that you're coming to Japan, and hope you enjoy your visit here.

You can easily buy Shogi sets here in Japan.

Reasonable ones are around 3,000 yen, I guess. Most expensive ones are more than 1,000,000 yen... (^o^;)

[PoliomanGamer]

thanks', one more question off-topic, does this kanji 克(katsu) can be also read like sato or takeshi?

[HIDETCHI]

Usually, that kanji is only read "katsu" and "koku".

I've never seen a name that reads 克 as "sato" or "takeshi". But when we use kanji to name a baby, sometimes we put irregular reading to the kanji.

[PoliomanGamer]

Oh thanks! because as you know kanjis are from china and when I figured out my name in chinese it was 埃里克 which in japanese is (hokori, sato and katsu or koku) which when I translated it to spanish from japanese, not from chinese, I got as a result Takeshi Sato and dust which leads me to the last question I did.

[HIDETCHI]

It seems a bit strange the way they translated your name to Chinese. Usually, when translating a name to kanji, we choose kanji that sounds similar to the original name. In Chinese, 埃里克 sounds like "ai-li-ker". Does your name sound like that? 埃 means dust("hokori" in Japanese), which isn't a good meaning to use for someone's name. They should choose better kanji. 里 means hometown("sato" in Japanese). 克 means subdue("katsu" in Japanese).

[PoliomanGamer]

Yeah it said (Aī lǐ kè) which it could be done simple in japanese with エリック (with the little "repeater" ( I call it like that) being a "c"), but i dont know if I could find some kanji equivalent to my name in sound and still be the correct writing.

[HIDETCHI]

Well, if your name is Eric, when you introduce yourself to Japanese people, just tell them "Eric". They'll understand. It's a popular name. Or, just use Katakana エリック("Erikku"). In Japan, we don't use kanji to represent foreign names. The common way is to use Katakana. We only use kanji when he or she becomes naturalized Japanese citizen. You can choose any kanji that has good meaning and also sounds like "Erikku".

[PoliomanGamer]

Ok, besides my name controversy this tutorials were very helpful, no I know how to play something else besides mahong and chess, and sorry for bothering.

[vnano]

Most people prefer the correct Japanese pieces and f you start using the internationalized you surely will drop a lot in viewers. Dont.

[HIDETCHI]

Thank you for the advice. I won't use internationalized. (I don't even know where I can get it...) I've started using "one-letter pieces", which are surely still the correct Japanese pieces.

[Nvdgaarden]

Hi!

I think it's great how you explain Shogi. I've recently started playing at a local club.

At the moment I'm working on openings and am very curious to your lessons on that subject.

Please keep up your great work.

Kind greetings from the Netherlands (Europe)

[HIDETCHI]

Thanks for your kind comment.

I'm surprised (also glad) to know there's a local shogi club in Netherlands. I've once been to Belgium on business, but never been to Netherlands. I want to visit there next time I go to Europe.

I'll explain about openings in later lessons, so please look forward to it.