Hasami Shogi Online – the Japanese Pincer Game

What is Hasami Shogi (はさみ将棋)?

Hasami Shogi (はさみ将棋, “pincer shogi”) is a traditional Japanese game played with the board and pawns of shogi, the Japanese form of chess. “Hasami” comes from the verb hasamu, to sandwich or pinch. That is the whole idea of the game: you capture an enemy piece by trapping it between two of your own.

For generations Japanese children have learned Hasami Shogi before real shogi. It is usually their first game on a shogi board. Every piece moves like the rook (飛車, hisha), so beginners learn to see long open lines, blocked files and two-way threats, which are the skills shogi and chess are built on.

The game is simple enough for a child but has real tactical depth. Two players with nine pieces each fight over a 9×9 board. Every move can open a line, close a trap or set up a double threat. Families and schools still play it on folding wooden boards, and today you can play it right here in your browser.

Board setup and movement rules

The game uses a standard 9×9 shogi board (将棋盤). Sente (先手, Black) places nine pieces on the bottom row and moves first. Gote (後手, White) places nine pieces on the top row. On this site Sente’s pieces show 歩 (fu, pawn) in black ink and point up the board. Gote’s pieces show と (to, the promoted pawn) in red and point down. Columns are numbered 9 to 1 from left to right and rows 一 to 九 from top to bottom, as on a real shogi diagram.

Rook slide: on your turn, move one of your pieces any number of empty squares straight up, down, left or right. A slide cannot pass over another piece and can never go diagonally.

Single hop (jump rule): if the square right next to your piece is occupied by any piece, yours or your opponent’s, and the square directly behind it is empty, you may hop over that one piece and land on the empty square. You can hop only one piece at a time, never two in a row, and hopping does not capture the piece you jump over. Many households play with hops, so they are on by default here, but you can switch them off in AI, Pass & Play and friend games.

How to capture: sandwich, chain and corner traps

Captures are checked only for the piece that just moved. Look outward from its new square in the four directions: up, down, left and right.

Linear sandwich (挟み): if one or more enemy pieces stand in an unbroken row next to your moved piece, with another of your pieces right behind them, every enemy piece in that row is captured and removed. A single enemy between two of yours is the classic pincer. Three enemies in a line between two of yours are all captured at once. An empty square anywhere in the row breaks the sandwich, and a row that runs off the edge of the board is not a sandwich.

Double and triple pincers (両挟み): one move can close sandwiches in two or three directions at the same time, and you take every trapped piece. These multi-captures decide most games.

Corner trap: a piece in a corner has only two neighbours, so it cannot be sandwiched in a straight line. Instead, an enemy piece on one of the four corners is captured when your move fills the second of its two orthogonal neighbours, so that both are now yours.

Why moving between two enemy pieces is safe (the wedge)

Only the player who moves can capture. If you slide your own piece into the gap between two enemy pieces, nothing happens to it. Your opponent did not close that pincer; you walked into it. The piece stays on the board and stays safe until the opponent moves a piece and builds a new sandwich around it.

Strong players use this as a wedge (楔, kusabi). A piece pushed between two enemies splits their formation, blocks the line between them, and often threatens to capture one of them on the next move. Beginners tend to avoid those gaps, but they are often the best squares on the board.

How to win: 5 captures or 5 in a row

5-Capture Classic (the default): the first player to capture five enemy pieces wins at once. The 5-slot piece stand (駒台, komadai) next to the board shows each player’s progress, for example “Captured 3 / 5”.

Dai Hasami 5-in-a-Row hybrid: you win by capturing five pieces OR by forming an unbroken line of five of your own pieces horizontally, vertically or diagonally. Pieces standing on your own starting row do not count toward the line, so your back rank alone can never win. The line must be built in the field. You can choose this preset in AI, Pass & Play and friend games.

A few extra rules keep every game finite. A player who has no legal move left loses. After 300 moves in total the game ends, the player with more captures wins, and equal captures make it a draw. In online games every move must be made within 25 seconds or the clock decides the game.

Hasami Shogi strategy: how to win more games

Hasami Shogi rewards patience. Most games are lost by one careless advance rather than won by a brilliant attack. These principles will win you far more games than they cost.

Do not send a lone piece forward (単騎の侵入)

A single piece deep in enemy territory has no partner to protect it. Your opponent needs only two moves to slide pieces to both sides of it, and long rook slides make that fast. Advance in pairs or along a file your other pieces cover.

Build L-shapes and double threats (L字と両挟み)

Put two of your pieces at right angles around an empty square next to an enemy piece. One move into that corner square then threatens pincers along two lines at once. Your opponent can block only one, so you capture with the other. Look for squares that complete two sandwiches.

Use the edges wisely

A piece on the side edge cannot be sandwiched across the board from that side, because there is no square beyond it. It can still be pincered along the edge, up and down the file. Edges make good shelters for a pair of pieces, but a single piece pressed against an edge has fewer escape routes. Corner pieces are the most exposed of all to the two-sided corner trap.

Count open lines before you move

Before each move, ask which of your pieces now has an enemy on one side and an empty, reachable square on the other. That is a one-move capture threat against you. The AI on Medium and Master checks exactly this.

Trade only when you are ahead

When you lead 3–2 in captures, a 1-for-1 exchange brings you closer to five than your opponent. When you are behind, keep pieces back and play for double threats.

Playing Hasami Shogi on this site

Everything runs in your browser on desktop, tablet or phone. You do not need to download anything or create an account.

• Online Quick Match pairs you with another player (5-Capture Classic, hops on, 25 seconds per move). If nobody is around, press “Start Immediately with AI” at any time to begin a game against the computer right away.
• Play with a Friend creates a private room with your own rules. Send the invite link (…/?room=code) and the game starts when your friend opens it. Sente and Gote swap on every rematch.
• Play vs AI offers three levels: Easy looks two moves ahead, Medium three, and Master four to five with capture-first search. The AI runs in a background Web Worker, so the board stays smooth.
• Pass & Play lets two people share one screen.
• Select a piece to see its moves: blue dots mark slides, green rings mark hops, and a red “CAPTURE +N” badge marks squares that capture. On desktop, hover a square to see the trapped pieces outlined before you click.
• Switch between traditional 歩/と calligraphy pieces and modern colour pieces at any time. Synthesized wooden “pachi!” sounds can be muted.