Product Description

What is a mate problem?

A mate problem is like a puzzle in which one should find the way to checkmate the opponent’s Gyoku in a provided situation. This is regarded as one of three methods to practice Shogi; a real game, replaying an informative game, and a mate problem. The more you solve the problems, the more you develop your Shogi skills.

Mate Problems for Absolute Beginners

I would recommend solving mate problems as many as possible. I always give this advice both novice Shogi players and experienced Shogi players. For them, it seems that there are many workbooks of mate problems which look very difficult. Actually, not only for mate problems, but for any matter related Shogi seems to be very difficult.

“It’s difficult to find workbooks suitable for children who are beginners in Shogi.”

Responding to requests from our users, we created “Mate Problems for Absolute Beginners” focusing on “fun and easy” for children.

What Are The Fun Parts of “Mate Problems for Absolute Beginners” ?

Thrilling and Exciting Narrative Style

You solve mate problems in this workbook, “Mate Problems for Absolute Beginners”, following the story in which a prince of Shogi Kingdom, named Shou, has an adventure in “i-tsu-tsu World”, aspiring to be a Shogi master.

There are five stages according to the type of problems, Forest, Lake, Cave, Volcano, and Castle. And, you will encounter several characters of the story. It gives children who are unfamiliar with mate problems unique experiences they could have with RPG, and inspires their interest for Shogi.

“Do what you love and success will follow.” We do hope children develop their passion for Shogi with this textbook, while they enjoy tasks of solving mate problems. This textbook contains our wish and hearts.

Amazing Ideas Which Strongly Motivate Children to Solve Mate Problems

This textbook is filled with wonderful ideas that motivate beginner children to solve mate problems spontaneously. For example, children will encounter a new character on each stage, enjoy colouring each time they get the correct answer, receive a certificate of achievement.

Whether beginners in Shogi or not, children tend to be easy to get excited about something, but easy to get tired of it. Incorporating sense of fun into learning process, children can keep motivations to tackle mate problems.

Let’s start an adventure in Shogi Kingdom with us!

Let’s enjoy colouring after solving a problem!

Features That Make Things Easier to Understand

The Level of Problems Is Raised Gradually, So That Children Can Realize Their Progress

“Mate Problems for Absolute Beginners” is a workbook of mate problems for beginners in Shogi. We organized those problems in a way that children can clearly realize their progress.

All of the 50 mate problems offered in this workbook have the same rule: a mate problem should be solved in one move. This is a situation where the Gyoku will be checkmated in one next move and relatively easy for beginners. 50 problems are divided into five groups based on their types, for instance some are solved with hand pieces, and others are solved by moving pieces on a board. The difficulty level of each problem is increased gradually, one after another.

Even exciting settings are provided, you may get disappointed if the first problem was too difficult to get answer. On the contrary, “Mate Problems for Absolute Beginners” provides well designed structure of problems. All children need is that just to follow this workbook’s procedure and solve problems. Children who have just started to learn Shogi will steadily make progress in solving mate problems.

Remarkably Easy-to-Read Problems and Answers

Before we made a mate problem workbooks, we conducted studies targeting children who are beginners in Shogi and their mothers. The most common feedback is that they need something easy-to-read.

Mothers are often required to understand included contents first and then to give a clear and precise explanations to their child. This is a case for not only Shogi book, but also books in all fields. But, this workbook doesn’t require mothers to do preparations.

Usually, common Shogi books are filled with Shogi terminologies along with Kifu, game notations, using a board of 9 x 9 squares. On the contrary, in “Mate Problems for Absolute Beginners”, a big board of 5 x 5 squares is used in both question and explanation pages, so that children understand materials easier. And also, we do not use difficult Shogi terminologies, but use marks, like “◯” or “→”, because we planned to minimize the amount of reading parts as much as possible.

Just opening this workbook, you can tell what is written in pages by looking at.

Answer pages, understandable at a glance.

Others

It Comes in A Notebook Size That Allows You to Carry Around Mate Problems in Your Bag

The charm of mate problems is that you can enjoy it by yourself, not like a Shogi game that requires equipment and a partner. We add another charm to “Mate Problems for Absolute Beginners”; children can enjoy it anytime and anywhere.

This workbook comes in a notebook size that can be fit in the pocket of your bag, so that you can enjoy mate problems anytime and anywhere. For example, you may enjoy them when you are in a train, or while you are waiting your order at a restaurant.

When we made “Mate Problems for Absolute Beginners”, we eliminated unfavorable image towards Shogi that you may have, such as “It’s too classy for me” or “It must be difficult”. We focused on providing materials that help children who are beginners in Shogi develop their skills while enjoying it.

If you are looking for something to your children who have just started to learn Shogi, “Mate Problems for Absolute Beginners” is your perfect choice!