How to Start Shogi: A 30-Day Roadmap for Complete Beginners
You want to start shogi but don't know the order. A 2-dan lays out the exact 30-day path: free rules, a checkmate app, your first real game, and when to finally buy a book.
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36 articles
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Shogi Wars Game Modes Explained: What to Play First (from a 2-Dan)
Shogi Wars has five game modes and explains none of them. A 2-dan who's played all five breaks down 10 min, 3 min, 10 seconds, Sprint, and Mate Battle, plus the order to practice them in.
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How to Play Shogi Online: The App Japan Actually Uses
Want to play shogi online? Shogi Wars is the shogi game most of Japan uses — how to switch it to English with screenshots, plus free-tier limits and paid tiers, from a 2-dan player.
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The Best Riichi Mahjong Apps for iPhone and Android (2026)
Which riichi mahjong app is actually worth installing on your phone in 2026? A mobile-first comparison of Mahjong Soul, Riichi City, and Tenhou for iOS and Android.
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Mahjong Soul for Beginners: How to Get Started (and What to Ignore)
A step-by-step Mahjong Soul beginner guide: account setup, your first mode, how ranks work, what to ignore about gacha, and the mistakes new players make before their first ranked match.
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Mahjong Soul vs Riichi City: Which Should You Play in 2026?
A direct, axis-by-axis comparison of Mahjong Soul and Riichi City — UI, player pool, gacha economy, rank ladders, and English support — with a straight verdict for each type of player.
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The Best Ways to Play Riichi Mahjong Online in 2026
Where to actually play riichi mahjong online in 2026, ranked by who each platform suits — Mahjong Soul, Riichi City, Tenhou, and the free browser options — with a straight beginner recommendation.
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Riichi vs American Mahjong: What's Actually Different?
Riichi and American mahjong share a name and a wall of tiles — and almost nothing else. Tiles, hand structure, riichi vs the NMJL card, scoring, pace, and which one to learn first.
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Automatic Mahjong Tables for Riichi: Can You Actually Buy One in the US? (2026)
Can you buy a riichi-compatible automatic mahjong table on Amazon US in 2026? The honest answer, the one model that exists, and what Chinese-style tables can and can't do instead.
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Hikaru no Go: The Manga That Sent a Generation to the Go Board
Hikaru no Go paired a ghost's genius with a boy's stubbornness and sent real membership numbers up in its wake. What the manga actually did, and how to go from the page to your first game.
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Gifts for Riichi Mahjong Players: What They Actually Want (2026)
A price-by-price gift guide for riichi mahjong players: why nothing complete exists under $50, which $70-80 sets make good gifts, and how to avoid buying a duplicate.
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Gifts for Shogi Players: From First Set to Tendo Craftsmanship (2026)
A 2-dan player's gift guide to shogi: what to buy a chess fan or anime fan who's curious, what to buy someone who already plays, and what to avoid entirely.
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Shogi in Japan: Where to Play, Watch, and Buy the Real Thing
A resident 2-dan player's guide to shogi in Japan: Tokyo's new Shogi Kaikan dojo, the piece-carving town of Tendo, title-match commentary events, and how to buy the real thing from anywhere.
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Mahjong Soul Review (2026): Honest Take After Real Hours In-Game
Is Mahjong Soul worth playing, and is it pay-to-win? A straight review of the gacha economy, the tutorial gaps, the rank ladder, and who the game actually suits.
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Riichi City Review (2026): The Best Mahjong Classroom, With Caveats
Is Riichi City worth installing? A source-by-source look at its lesson system, F2P economy, player pool, and rank system, plus how it stacks up against Mahjong Soul.
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Tenhou, Explained: Inside Japan's Most Respected Mahjong Ladder
What Tenhou actually is, why its rank system is the benchmark Japanese players trust, the official ruleset it runs on, and an honest look at playing it without Japanese.
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Best Go Boards & Sets: A Buying Guide
The best go boards and sets on Amazon in 2026, from a ~$26 magnetic 19×19 with 4,600+ reviews to a full bamboo set with bowls — board sizes, stone counts, and what's worth paying for.
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Go vs Chess: Which Is Harder, and Which Is for You?
Go's 10^170 positions get quoted in every go vs chess debate, but the numbers don't answer the real question. An honest comparison of how the two games differ, and which one fits how you think.
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From 9×9 to 19×19: How to Actually Get Better at Go
Go's rules take ten minutes; getting better takes a plan. A first-months roadmap: when to move from 9×9 to 19×19, the three study habits that work, and how ranks and handicap stones help you.
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The Anime That Brought Riichi Mahjong to the West
Akagi made riichi look like a knife fight, Saki handed the West its vocabulary, and a new generation keeps arriving. How anime built Western riichi mahjong, and where to watch as of July 2026.
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How Riichi Scoring Actually Works (Han, Fu, and Why You Can Ignore Most of It)
Riichi mahjong scoring, explained in layers: learn han now, postpone fu, and read the payment tables like a player. What to memorize, what to look up, and what your app already handles for you.
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Where the U.S. Riichi Mahjong Boom Actually Stands in 2026
Mahjong is booming in the U.S., but the headlines are mostly about a different game. The honest state of riichi in 2026: real club counts, the first pro tour, and where to find a table.
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Shogi On Screen: March Comes In Like a Lion and the Real Game Behind It
What March Comes In Like a Lion gets right about professional shogi: the pro system, the Shoreikai, title matches, the sound of the room. Explained by a 2-dan amateur, with other shogi anime to know.
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Three Shogi Openings for Your First Games
A 2-dan explains the two big families of shogi openings and three beginner-friendly choices: Climbing Silver, Fourth-File Rook, and Central Rook. Plans and ideas first, memorized move lists later.
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How to Play Go: A Beginner's Guide
Go, baduk, and weiqi are three names for one game you can start in about ten minutes. A plain-English guide to the rules, komi, ranks, board sizes, and where to play free online.
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How Much Does a Riichi Mahjong Set Cost? (And Why the $40 Ones Are a Trap)
The real price of a complete riichi mahjong set in 2026: why the $50 budget sets in listicles don't actually exist, what $40 listings quietly leave out, and why the honest entry price is about $70.
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The Complete Riichi Yaku List: Every Scoring Pattern, Explained
A scannable riichi mahjong yaku list: every scoring pattern from 1 han to yakuman, with closed/open values, kuisagari, kanji, and worked hand examples. Dora explained too.
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Tsumo vs Ron: How Winning Works in Riichi Mahjong
Tsumo and ron are the two ways to win in riichi mahjong: self-draw or off a discard. Learn who pays, why menzen tsumo is its own yaku, and why furiten leaves you tsumo-only.
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How to Learn Shogi from Scratch: A 2-Dan's Beginner Guide
Learn shogi from zero, no Japanese required. A 2-dan player based in Japan walks you through the board, all eight pieces, promotion, drops, checkmate, and how to play your first game this week.
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Tsume Shogi for Beginners: Your First Checkmate Puzzles
Tsume shogi is the checkmate puzzle every shogi player trains on. A 2-dan explains the rules, how they differ from chess mate-in-N, a worked one-move example, and how a beginner should start.
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The Best Riichi Mahjong Sets (2026 Buying Guide)
We compared the riichi mahjong sets you can actually buy in 2026 — from a $70 travel-ready starter set to the AMOS set used in Japanese homes — plus the first-buy mistakes that waste your money.
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How to Play Riichi Mahjong: A Beginner's Guide
Learn riichi (Japanese) mahjong step by step: the tiles, how a turn works, riichi, tsumo vs ron, and the one yaku rule beginners miss — enough to play your first game online tonight.
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Mahjong Soul vs Riichi City vs Tenhou (2026): Which One Should You Actually Play?
Honest 2026 comparison of the three big riichi platforms — English support, rank system, gacha pressure, player pool — ending with a straight pick for each type of player, not a 'they're all great.'
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Shogi for Chess Players: The Game Where Captured Pieces Fight Back
Shogi in chess terms, from the shogi side of the board by a 2-dan player who also plays chess: what transfers, the drop rule that breaks chess instincts, and how to start this week.
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The Shogi Set Buying Guide: What a 2-Dan Player Actually Recommends
Every shogi set worth buying on Amazon right now, reviewed by a 2-dan player based in Japan — what to pay for, what to skip, and why you don't need romanized pieces.
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Hello, Tsumelab
An English-language home for tsume, joseki, and yakuman. Here's what we're building.
