Shogi Endgame: Mate Threats, Brinkmate (Hisshi), and the Mating Attack

Tsume shogi trains the mate itself, but in a real game the result usually turns on the step just before mate — landing a brinkmate on the enemy king, and driving the mating attack home. Here is how to turn the mating shapes you drill in tsume shogi into actual wins.

Mate threat (tsumero) and brinkmate (hisshi)

A mate threat (tsumero) is a move that threatens checkmate next move; your opponent can still defend against it. A brinkmate (hisshi) is a tsumero with no defense — however the opponent answers, the mate cannot be stopped. A brinkmate is not checkmate yet, but since there is no defense it is effectively a win. The goal of the endgame is simple: land a brinkmate on the enemy king before your own king is mated.

The basics of the mating attack (yose)

Yose is the process of driving the king toward mate. Three basics:

• Cut off the escape: before mating, cover the squares the king would flee to (the same idea as in tsume shogi).
• Add attackers: rather than trading pieces off immediately, bring attacking pieces in one by one to build up force. Think 'enough pieces to mate,' not 'material balance.'
• Keep giving tsumero: force the opponent to spend each move defending; when the defenses run out, that is a brinkmate.

Counting the race — whose king is faster

Most endgames are a mutual attack. Compare how many moves until your own king is mated against how fast you can mate or brinkmate the opponent. If you are even one move faster, you win. Whether to defend or to attack all-out comes from this speed comparison. If your own king simply cannot be mated (a position called 'Z'), you can attack with everything and never spend a move on defense.

The link back to tsume shogi

Brinkmate and yose both get faster and sharper the more mating shapes you know. Drill the head gold, cutting off the escape, and the escorting sacrifice in tsume shogi, and in a real game you start to see 'a brinkmate lands here.' Build up your stock of mating shapes with TsumeDojo's problems by mate length and by theme, then carry them into the mating attack.