When a piece positions itself in a way where it can capture the opponent's king in the next turn, it's called a check. In Japanese it is called Oute (王手), which means "King's Move." When a king is put in check, it must remove the threat of capture by moving away, blocking the attacker, or capturing the attacking piece.



In this diagram, Black's Rook has put White's King into check. White has 3 ways to remove the check. White can move the King away from the Rook's attack to 6a, 4a, or 6b; he can block the Rook by moving his Gold to 5b; or he can capture the Rook by moving his Gold to 5c.

Checkmate happens when a King cannot avoid being captured in the next turn. Although official shogi rules do allow for capture of the king, games typically end when the king is checkmated or stalemated.



White's King has been checkmated. There is nothing he can do to to escape capture. Moving away will simply result in capture by the Gold, and capturing the Gold will result in recapture by the Pawn. Black has won.



It is extremely rare, but in this situation, assuming White has no pieces in hand, he has been stalemated, and he has lost. He cannot move without being captured. Because capture of the king is legal in shogi, in this situation, it is a win for Black, not a draw.

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