1.
two steps; two paces (a literal pair of footsteps)
Two steps measured by walking. 歩 is the counter for steps in walking, so 二歩 = "two steps." Used both literally (two paces forward, back, or sideways) and metaphorically as a small distance or unit of progress.
二歩下がる。
I take two steps back.
二歩歩いて止まった。
I took two steps and stopped.
彼は二歩前に出て、深く頭を下げた。
He stepped two paces forward and bowed deeply.
2.
(shogi) nifu — the illegal move of placing two unpromoted pawns on the same file
In shogi (Japanese chess), 二歩 is the foul of dropping a pawn (歩) onto a file (column) that already contains one of your unpromoted pawns. It is an immediate-loss rule violation, and is one of the most common and most embarrassing illegal moves a player can make.
将棋で二歩を打ってしまい、その場で負けてしまった。
I dropped a pawn onto a file that already had one of my pawns and lost the shogi game on the spot.
プロ棋士が二歩で反則負けになった試合が話題になった。
A game in which a professional shogi player lost by foul because of nifu became big news.
将棋を覚えたばかりの初心者は、うっかり二歩を打ってしまうことがよくある。
Beginners who have just learned shogi often accidentally play nifu.
二歩 has two distinct uses. The everyday meaning is the literal counter expression "two steps" (二 "two" + the counter 歩 "step"). The specialized meaning, very familiar to anyone interested in Japanese chess, is the shogi rule violation of placing two unpromoted pawns on the same file.
COUNTER NOTES (Sense 1):
The counter 歩 ("step") inflects irregularly:
- 一歩: one step (note the doubling)
- 二歩: two steps
- 三歩: three steps
- 四歩: four steps
- 五歩: five steps
- 六歩: six steps (note the doubling)
- 七歩: seven steps
- 八歩: eight steps (note the doubling)
- 九歩: nine steps
- 十歩: ten steps (note the doubling)
- 何歩: how many steps
COMMON COLLOCATIONS (Sense 1):
- 二歩前に出る: to step forward two paces
- 二歩下がる: to step back two paces
- 二歩歩く: to walk two steps
SHOGI USAGE (Sense 2):
- 二歩を打つ: to commit a nifu (literally "to play [drop] a nifu")
- 二歩で反則負け: to lose by foul because of nifu
- 二歩の反則: the nifu foul / rule violation
The 歩/歩 kanji is read ふ when it refers to the shogi pawn piece itself, and ほ when used as a counter for footsteps. Despite the different on-the-spot reading, the two senses share the same kanji because the shogi name comes from the same character.
SIMILAR / RELATED TERMS:
- 一歩: one step
- 三歩: three steps
- 何歩: how many steps
- 歩: pawn (the shogi piece)
- 将棋: shogi (Japanese chess)
- 反則: foul / rule violation
USAGE NOTES:
- The shogi sense of 二歩 is well known even to non-players in Japan, since it is one of the few well-known rules of the game and frequently appears in news headlines when a professional commits one.
- Outside the shogi context, the literal "two steps" meaning is the dominant one. Context normally makes the intended sense obvious.
Related Words
Related:
一歩 (one step)