Best Shogi Books in English: A Reading List by Level
Start with John Fairbairn’s Shogi for Beginners. It takes you from the rules to real strategy in one book, and it has been the standard English starting point since 1984. After that, read Joseki at a Glance for openings, then work through Takashi Kaneko’s endgame problem books, because endgames decide most shogi games.
English shogi books are few, and several are out of print. The list below covers the ones that are real, verified and still findable new or used.
The best shogi books at a glance
| Title | Author | Publisher, year | Level | What it covers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shogi for Beginners | John Fairbairn | Ishi Press, 1984 | Beginner | Rules, then strategy from opening to endgame, with problems and sample games |
| Japanese Chess: The Game of Shogi | Trevor Leggett | Tuttle, 2009 (first published 1966) | Beginner | Piece moves and values, novice games, puzzles, an overview of openings |
| The Art of Shogi | Tony Hosking | The Shogi Foundation, 1997 | Beginner to intermediate | Strategy, openings, professional shogi, and over a hundred annotated pro games |
| Joseki at a Glance | Madoka Kitao, with Tomohide Kawasaki | Nekomado, 2011 | Beginner to intermediate | Standard opening sequences (joseki), one diagram-led idea at a time |
| Ending Attack Techniques 200 | Takashi Kaneko, translated by Tomohide Kawasaki | Nekomado, 2012 | Intermediate | 200 endgame attack problems with answers |
| Storming the Mino Castle 200 | Takashi Kaneko, translated by Richard Sams | Nekomado, 2013 | Intermediate | 200 problems on breaking down the Mino castle |
| Better Moves for Better Shogi | Aono Teruichi, translated by John Fairbairn | Ishi Press, 2009 | Intermediate to advanced | Common mistakes, how to think about moves, opening variations |
| Habu’s Words | Yoshiharu Habu, translated by Yamato Takahashi and Tony Hosking | The Shogi Foundation, 2000 | Intermediate | Habu comments on games by amateur players to show how a professional thinks |
| Classic Shogi: Games Collection | Tony Hosking, foreword by Yoshiharu Habu | The Shogi Foundation, 2006 | Intermediate to advanced | 80 annotated games by top players from 1607 to 2002 |
| HIDETCHI Japanese-English Shogi Dictionary | Tomohide Kawasaki, with Madoka Kitao | Nekomado, 2013 | Any | Over 2,000 shogi terms explained, for reading Japanese material |
Which shogi book to start with
Read Shogi for Beginners first. It assumes nothing, explains the rules clearly, and then keeps going into opening, middlegame and endgame play. Few English books cover that whole path in one volume, and it has been reprinted several times since 1984.
The other classic beginner book is Trevor Leggett’s Japanese Chess: The Game of Shogi. Leggett first published it in 1966 as Shogi: Japan’s Game of Strategy, and Tuttle reissued it in 2009.
You can learn the rules without any book. Our how to play shogi lesson and rules reference are free. A book earns its place once you know the moves and want to stop losing the same way.
Books by level
Beginner
- Shogi for Beginners (Fairbairn): The best single starting book, as above.
- Japanese Chess: The Game of Shogi (Leggett): Piece values, simple games and puzzles. Good if you like learning from short examples.
Beginner to intermediate
- The Art of Shogi (Hosking): A broad book. It covers strategy and openings, then teaches through a large set of annotated professional games. Read it once the rules feel automatic.
- Joseki at a Glance (Kitao): The first of the four-book Glance series by Madoka Kitao, a women’s professional. The others are Edge Attack at a Glance, Sabaki at a Glance and Ending Attack at a Glance. It explains the basic joseki of the common openings. Pair it with our shogi openings guide.
Intermediate
- Ending Attack Techniques 200 (Kaneko): The publisher describes Kaneko’s endgame books as standard study material in Japan for more than 20 years. This one drills attacking patterns such as attacks from above, edge attacks against a king on the edge, and double check. If you only buy one problem book, buy this.
- Storming the Mino Castle 200 (Kaneko): The same format, aimed at one target: the Mino castle, the standard castle for Ranging Rook players. Useful once you face it often.
- Habu’s Words (Habu): Yoshiharu Habu, one of the strongest players in shogi history, comments on games played by amateurs. Shogi Shack lists it as out of print, so look for used copies.
Intermediate to advanced
- Better Moves for Better Shogi (Aono): Translated by Fairbairn and printed in English and Japanese. It works through common mistakes and how strong players avoid them.
- Classic Shogi: Games Collection (Hosking): Eighty annotated games covering four centuries, from 1607 to 2002. Best for players who enjoy playing through master games.
Reference
- HIDETCHI Japanese-English Shogi Dictionary (Kawasaki): Many shogi words have meanings you won’t find in a general Japanese dictionary. This book explains more than 2,000 of them. Buy it when you start reading Japanese shogi books or watching Japanese broadcasts.
Free alternatives to shogi books
- HIDETCHI’s YouTube lessons: Tomohide Kawasaki, who translated several of the books above and founded the 81Dojo server, teaches shogi in English on YouTube as HIDETCHI.
- Roger Hare’s Introduction to Shogi: a free PDF of more than 200 pages built from his articles. Shogi Shack links to it.
- Seigo Sato’s beginner books: Sato self-published Shogi Primer: Japanese chess guide for English speakers and Tsume Shogi in 2021. They are low-cost rather than free, and aimed at beginners.
- Our guides: Tsume shogi and the shogi puzzles give you mating problems you can solve on a live board, and shogi castles covers the main defensive setups.
How to study with a shogi book
- Set up the positions on a real board. Moving pieces by hand makes patterns stick. Our shogi set guide covers what to buy.
- Solve before you read the answer. For problem books, give each one a few minutes first.
- Play what you read. Try a new opening or attack in real games the same week. You can play against the computer here with no account, or against people on the sites in our guide to where to play shogi online.
- Review your losses. Apps with analysis help here; see the best shogi apps.
FAQ
What is the best shogi book for beginners?
Shogi for Beginners by John Fairbairn. It explains the rules and then covers strategy through the opening, middlegame and endgame, with problems and sample games. Trevor Leggett’s Japanese Chess: The Game of Shogi is a good second choice.
Are there many shogi books in English?
No. Only a small number exist, and some, such as Habu’s Words, are out of print. Most of the strongest English titles are translations of Japanese books, published by Nekomado, Ishi Press and The Shogi Foundation.
Which shogi book is best for the endgame?
Ending Attack Techniques 200 by Takashi Kaneko. It has 200 problems on attacking the king in the endgame, translated by Tomohide Kawasaki. Storming the Mino Castle 200, by the same author, focuses on attacking one common castle.
Is there an English shogi book on openings?
Yes. Joseki at a Glance by Madoka Kitao covers standard opening sequences with diagrams. Tony Hosking’s The Art of Shogi also covers openings alongside general strategy.
Can I learn shogi without a book?
Yes. Free lessons, videos and online play cover the rules and early strategy well. Books become most useful once you know how the pieces move and want structured practice, especially endgame problems.