, also known as Japanese chess, is an abstract strategy board game for two players. It is one of the most popular board games in Japan and is in the same family of games as Western chess, chaturanga, xiangqi, Indian chess, makruk, and janggi. Shōgi means general's (shō ) board game (gi ). The term shōgi is most commonly used to describe hon-shōgi ("standard shogi"), a term used to distinguish the most popular form of the game (with an 81-square board and 40 pieces) from other forms like ko-shogi (ancient shogi variants like chu shogi), modern shogi variants, and related games.
A distinctive feature of shogi is that after a player has captured an opponent's piece, they retain these as "pieces in hand" (mochigoma), which can be dropped back into the game on a future turn. Shogi was the earliest historical chess-like game with this game mechanic. This drop rule is speculated to have been invented in the 15th century and possibly connected to the practice of 15th-century mercenary samurai switching loyalties when captured in battle. Due to the larger board and the drop rule, modern shogi has a significantly higher game tree complexity than FIDE chess, estimated at approximately 10226 compared to 10123 for chess. Another key feature of shogi is its decisiveness, as draws are very rare, occurring at a rate of 2–3% in professional games compared to a FIDE chess rate of over 50%.Hosking (1997), p. 26Shogi in the Limelight, The Japan Foundation Newsletter, VOL. XXVI/NOS. 5–6 APRIL 1999 Furthermore, the first-turn advantage in shogi is smaller than in chess, even when games are played by the strongest shogi engines.Kaufman 2021, pp. 91–101
The earliest predecessor of the game, chaturanga, originated in India in the 6th century, and the game was likely transmitted to Japan via China or Korea sometime after the Nara period."Shogi". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2002. Shogi in its present form was played as early as the 15th century, while a direct ancestor without the drop rule was recorded from 1210 in a historical document , which is an edited copy of Shōchūreki and Kaichūreki from the late Heian period (c. 1120).
Equipment
Two players face each other across a board composed of rectangles in a grid of 9 ranks (rows, ) by 9 files (columns, ) yielding an 81-square board. In Japanese they are called and , but in English they are conventionally referred to as Black and White, with Black being the first player. The board is nearly always rectangular, and the rectangles are undifferentiated by marking or color. Pairs of dots mark the players' promotion zones.Fairbairn, John (1985), Shogi, in The Book of Games. New York, USA: Exeter Books .
Each player has a set of 20 flat wedge-shaped pentagonal pieces of slightly different sizes. Except for the king, opposing pieces are undifferentiated by marking or color. Pieces face forward by having the pointed side of each piece oriented toward the opponent's side – this shows who controls the piece during play. The pieces from largest (most important) to smallest (least important) are:
1 king 1 rook 1 bishop 2 gold generals 2 silver generals 2 knights 2 lances 9 pawns
Several of these names were chosen to correspond to their rough equivalents in international chess, and not as literal translations of the Japanese names.
Each piece has its name written on its surface in the form of two kanji (Chinese characters used as syllabograms or as logograms to record texts in Old Japanese), usually in black ink. On the reverse side of each piece, other than the king and gold general, are one or two other characters, in amateur sets often in a different color (usually red); this side is turned face up during play to indicate that the piece has been promoted.
In some cases, the backsides of the King pieces (the narrow side which faces back toward the player during normal play) will display kanji containing additional information about the piece manufacturers.
The following is a table of the pieces with their Japanese representations and English equivalents. The abbreviations are used for game notation and often when referring to the pieces in speech in Japanese.
English name Image Kanji Rōmaji Meaning Abbreviations Betza notation King(higher ranked player or reigning champion) ōshō king general K ō K King(lower ranked player or challenger) gyokushō jeweled general K gyoku K Rook hisha flying chariot R hi R Promoted rook("Dragon") ryūō dragon king +R or ryū FR Bishop kakugyō angle mover B kaku B Promoted bishop("Horse") ryūma or ryūme dragon horse +B uma WB Gold general("Gold") kinshō gold general G kin WfF Silver general("Silver") ginshō silver general S gin FfW Promoted silver narigin promoted silver +S — WfF Knight keima cassia horse N kei ffN Promoted knight narikei promoted cassia +N or — WfF Lance kyōsha incense chariot L kyō fR Promoted lance narikyō promoted incense +L or — WfF Pawn fuhyō foot soldier P fu fW Promoted pawn("tokin") tokin reaches gold +P or to WfFEnglish speakers sometimes refer to promoted bishops as horses and promoted rooks as dragons, after their Japanese names, and generally use the Japanese term tokin for promoted pawns. Silver generals and gold generals are commonly referred to simply as silvers and golds, respectively.
The characters inscribed on the reverse sides of the pieces to indicate promotion may be in red ink, and are usually cursive. The characters on the backs of the pieces that promote to gold generals are cursive variants of 'gold', becoming more cursive (more abbreviated) as the value of the original piece decreases. These cursive forms have these equivalents in print: for promoted silver, for promoted knight, for promoted lance, and for promoted pawn (tokin). Another typographic convention has abbreviated versions of the original values, with a reduced number of strokes: for a promoted knight , for a promoted lance , and the as above for a promoted silver, but (a hiragana symbol for the syllable "to") for tokin.
The suggestion that the Japanese characters have deterred Western players from learning shogi has led to the development of different "Westernized" or "international" pieces which use more recognizable western style chess symbols instead of characters. Other piece designs include representations of the piece movements along with the kanji. Most players soon learn to recognize the characters, however, partially because the traditional pieces are already iconic by size, with more powerful pieces being larger. Bilingual pieces with both Japanese characters and English captions or letters have also been developed as have pieces with animal cartoons.
Setup and gameplay
In a regular game, each player sets up friendly pieces facing forward (toward the opponent). In the rank nearest the player: The king is placed in the center file; The two gold generals are placed in files adjacent to the king; The two silver generals are placed adjacent to each gold general; The two knights are placed adjacent to each silver general; The two lances are placed in the corners, adjacent to each knight.
That is, the first rank is {| class="wikitable" |- style="text-align:center;" | L || N || S || G || K || G || S || N || L |} Or {| class="wikitable" |- style="text-align:center;"
In the second rank, each player places: The bishop in the same file as the left knight; The rook in the same file as the right knight. In the third rank, the nine pawns are placed one per file. The arrangement differs in a handicap game depending on how many pieces are given up.
A furigoma 振り駒 'piece toss' is used to decide who moves first. One of the players tosses five pawns. If the number of tokins (promoted pawns, と) facing up is higher than unpromoted pawns (歩), then the player who tossed the pawns plays gote 後手 'white' (that is, getting the second move).
After the piece toss furigoma, the game proceeds. If multiple games are played, then players alternate turns for who goes first in subsequent games. (The terms "Black" and "White" are used to differentiate sides although there is no difference in the color of the pieces.) For each turn, a player may either move a piece that is currently on the board (and potentially promote it, capture an opposing piece, or both) or else drop a piece that has been previously captured onto a square of the board. These options are explained below.
Rules Objective
The goal of the game is for one player to checkmate the other player's king, winning the game.
Movement Most shogi pieces can move only to an adjacent square. A few may move across the board, and one jumps over intervening pieces. The "influence" (kiki) of a piece refers to the range over which its power extends on the board, corresponding to the squares to which it can move or on which it can attack.
The lance, bishop, and rook are ranging pieces: They can move any number of squares along a straight line limited only by intervening pieces and the edge of the board. If an opposing piece intervenes, it may be captured by removing it from the board and replacing it with the moving piece. If a friendly piece intervenes, the moving piece must stop short of that square; if the friendly piece is adjacent, the moving piece may not move in that direction at all.
○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ │ │ ─ ─ ─ ─ | | ╲ ╱ ╲ ╱ ╱ ╲ ╱ ╲ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ☆ ☆ │ │ ○
Notation ○ Steps to an adjacent square ☆ Jumps to a non-adjacent square, bypassing any intervening piece │ Ranges along a straight line, crossing any number of empty squares ─ ╲ ╱
A king (玉/王) moves one square in any direction, orthogonal or diagonal.
A rook (飛) moves any number of squares in an orthogonal direction.
A bishop (角) moves any number of squares in a diagonal direction. Because they cannot move orthogonally, the players' unpromoted bishops can reach only half the squares of the board, unless one is captured and then dropped.
A gold general (金) moves one square orthogonally, or one square diagonally forward, giving it six possible destinations. It cannot move diagonally backwards.
A silver general (銀) moves one square diagonally, or one square straight forward, giving it five possible destinations. Because an unpromoted silver can retreat more easily than a promoted one, it is common to leave a silver unpromoted at the far side of the board. (See Promotion).
A knight (桂) jumps at an angle intermediate to orthogonal and diagonal, amounting to one square straight forward plus one square diagonally forward, in a single move. Thus the knight has two possible forward destinations. Unlike international chess knights, shogi knights cannot move to the sides or in a backwards direction. The knight is the only piece that ignores intervening pieces on the way to its destination. It is not blocked from moving if the square in front of it is occupied, but neither can it capture a piece on that square. It is often useful to leave a knight unpromoted at the far side of the board. A knight must promote, however, if it reaches either of the two furthest ranks. (See Promotion.)
A lance (香) moves just like the rook except it cannot move backwards or to the sides. It is often useful to leave a lance unpromoted at the far side of the board. A lance must promote, however, if it reaches the furthest rank. (See Promotion.)
A pawn (歩) moves one square straight forward. It cannot retreat. Unlike international chess pawns, shogi pawns capture the same way as they move. A pawn must promote if it arrives at the furthest rank. (See Promotion.) In practice, however, a pawn is usually promoted whenever possible. There are two restrictions on where a pawn may be dropped. (See Drops.)