What does mate in 3 mean in shogi?

Three moves of alternating play: your check, the defender’s best legal reply, and your mating move. Both sides’ moves count toward the three. Every attacking move must give check, which is why tsume lengths are always odd numbers.

Why does the defender move by itself?

The board plays the defense for you, always choosing the reply that resists longest, as tsume convention requires. Your job is only the attacking moves: give the first check, watch the forced reply, then deliver the mate.

Should I finish the mate-in-1 puzzles first?

Yes. The mate-in-3 problems end in the same patterns the mate-in-1 set teaches, with a forcing move stacked in front. If the final positions here feel familiar, the three-movers reduce to finding the one check that sets the known pattern up.

Tsume Shogi Puzzle 1: Mate in 3

Mate in 3 Theme: Rook drop, then gold mate

Black to move and mate in 3. Black has a rook in hand. Every attacking move must give check, and the defender always plays the toughest reply. Three moves of alternating play: your check, the best defense, your mate.

Solve it on the board above and the explanation appears automatically. If you are stuck, the Show solution button plays the line through, or open the spoiler below.

Reveal the solution

Black: R*1b (R*1b)
White: K-2a (1a2a)
Black: G-3b (4c3b)

Drop the rook on 1b. The gold on 2c protects it, so the king must run to 2a, and the gold from 4c delivers mate on 3b.

Keep practicing

Puzzle 1 of the mate-in-1 set drops back to a single move.
All 20 puzzles in one place.
New to checkmate problems? The tsume shogi guide explains the rules and conventions.

FAQ

What does mate in 3 mean in shogi?
Three moves of alternating play: your check, the defender’s best legal reply, and your mating move. Both sides’ moves count toward the three. Every attacking move must give check, which is why tsume lengths are always odd numbers.
Why does the defender move by itself?
The board plays the defense for you, always choosing the reply that resists longest, as tsume convention requires. Your job is only the attacking moves: give the first check, watch the forced reply, then deliver the mate.
Should I finish the mate-in-1 puzzles first?
Yes. The mate-in-3 problems end in the same patterns the mate-in-1 set teaches, with a forcing move stacked in front. If the final positions here feel familiar, the three-movers reduce to finding the one check that sets the known pattern up.