Recognized Variant of the Month for February 2002. Twelve times per year we will select a
Recognized Variant for special consideration. Its web page will be reworked and improved and a connecting link displayed on all of our CV Pages. We hope to encourage CVPhiles to read about, play and explore this featured variant.
The world's first chess variant
Chaturanga
arose in India in approximately the seventh century AD. From there it migrated both westward and northward, mutating along the way. The western branch became
Shatranj
in Arabia and
Orthodox Chess
in Europe. The northern branch became
Xiangqi
in China and
Changgi in Korea.
Sometime in the 10th to 12th centuries, 'chess' crossed the channel to Japan where it spawned a number of interesting variants. One of these was called 'Small Shogi'. Eventually, Small Shogi (though it went through many forms) won out over the larger variants and is now referred to simply as 'Shogi'. It is certain that Shogi in its present form was played in Japan as early as the 16th century.
(shô ) (-gi)
Shô means general and Gi means board game.
Shogi (rhymes with yogi) means general's game.
Perhaps the enduring popularity of Shogi can be attributed to its 'drop rule'; it was the first chess variant wherein captured pieces could be returned to the board to be used as one's own.
David Pritchard
credits this to the practice of 16th century mercenaries who switched loyalties when captured -- no doubt as an alternative to execution.
Setup
Shogi is played on a 9x9 uncheckered board. Each player begins with one King, one Rook, one Bishop, two Gold Generals, two Silver Generals, two Knights, two Lances and nine Pawns. Four black dots are shown to the board to delineate
promotion zones
(those squares lying on the last three ranks). Unlike
Orthodox Chess,
all Shogi pieces are exactly the same color.
Loyalties are determined by their directional headings. (See below.)
Shogi counters are flat irregular pentagons made of wood or plastic. A kanji symbol is printed on the top of each counter, denoting its identity as a
starting piece.
A second kanji symbol (traditionally red) is printed on the bottom of each counter (King and Gold Generals excepted), denoting its identity as a
promoted piece.
Either the top or bottom may be turned up, during the course of play, in order to display the required symbol .
Starting pieces
The
King (actually 'jeweled general') moves as an Orthodox King.
The
Gold General may move one square vertically, horizontally, or diagonally forward. (In all directions except diagonally rearward).
The
Silver General
may move one square diagonally, or straight forward. (In all directions except horizontally or straight rearward.)
The
Knight
(actually 'honorable horse') has the two forward-most moves of the
Orthodox Knight. For example, a white Knight on d5 may go to c7 or to e7. It may leap over occupied squares.
The
Lance
has the forward-most move of the Orthodox Rook, keeping always in the same file.
(Without promotion the Lance cannot leave its home file.)
The Pawn
(actually 'soldier') moves one square straight forward. Shogi Pawns capture in the same manner as they move -- as do all Shogi pieces.
Promoted pieces
The Silver General promotes to a Gold General. (Here the symbol indicates a promoted Silver General.)
The Knight
promotes to a Gold General. (Here the symbol indicates a promoted Knight.)
The Lance
promotes to a Gold General. (Here the symbol indicates a promoted Lance.)
The Pawn
promotes to a Gold General. (Here the symbol indicates a promoted Pawn.)
The Rook promotes to
Dragon King.
(Here the symbol indicates a promoted Rook -- a Dragon King -- which has the combined moves of King and Rook.)
The Bishop
promotes to
Dragon Horse.
(Here the symbol indicates a promoted Bishop -- a Dragon Horse -- which has the combined moves of King and Bishop.)
NOTE: The King and Gold General do not promote
Rules
A Pawn is tossed to decide which player moves first.
The object of the game is to checkmate the enemy King.
Perpetual check is forbidden. The player initiating the check must break it off.
Promotions are granted as follows...
A
starting piece
moving to a square in the
promotion zone
(the last 3 ranks) earns a promotion. A promotion is indicated by flipping the piece over to display the symbol on its bottom side.
An earned promotion (see above) may be deferred to a later move, as long as this move begins inside the promotion zone (the last 3 ranks). Where the move ends is of no relevance.
Pieces arriving at a rank whereon they can move no further must promote. [e.g., a Pawn or Lance arriving on the 9th rank; a Knight arriving on the 8th or 9th rank.]
Promoted pieces lose their promotion upon capture.
Pieces 'dropped' into the promotion zone (the last 3 ranks) may not promote until making at least one move. (See below).
A captured piece may be dropped onto the board (placed on a vacant square) to subsequently be used as one's own. This is done in lieu of a regular move.
A Pawn may not be dropped onto a
file
containing a non-promoted Pawn.
No piece may be dropped to a square from which it is impossible to move. [e.g., a Pawn or Lance to the 9th
rank;
a Knight to the 8th or 9th rank.]
A checkmate may not be performed by the drop of a Pawn. A King may be checked by dropping a Pawn, but only if the drop does not result in an immediate checkmate.
You can also play this game by email,
using our web-based Play by Mail system.
Shop
Originally written by Hans Bodlaender. Editing by John William Brown.
Image of opening setup sent by Katsutoshi Seki, from software made by Yoshikazu Kakinoki. Thanks to Arnoud Kleynjan for updated information on a link. Thanks also to Ivan A Derzhanski for corrections to the linguistic information on the word Shogi. Updates also by David Howe.
WWW page created: September 9, 1996. Last modified: February 12, 2002.
The above was authored by: Hans L. Bodlaender.
.
Created on: September 09, 1996. Last modified on: February 12, 2002.
Another interpretation of the King with the `gyoku` kanji might be
`handsome general`. The one with the `oo` kanji could be `ruling
general`.
Of course, one way to avoid the problem of interpretation is to called the
pieces by their Japanese names. So the King would be either `gyokushoo` or
`ooshoo`(these names depend upon the side of the field). But we can still
end up arguing about the proper phonetic spelling.
I prefer that the terms Black and White should be `sente` and `gote`.
But the introduction of Shogi to western culture began a long while back,
and those individuals responsible for its early interpretation selected
terms which they believed would make its assimilation easier. Right?
Wrong? Maybe just expedient.
The name chosen for only phonetic reason should be written in kana!
2005-11-18
Petri
Good
Dear Nate, John. Jewelled general is in my opinion the most correct
traslation of shogi king.
The upper symbol 'kanji' in shogi king means jewel or ball. What kind of
jewel it is is defined by adding other symbols before it.
here is a link where you can look by yourself:
But what should shock you is that knight is not honorable horse but a
'cinnamon tree-horse' and lance is 'perfume-chariot'. names probably
chosen by phonetic reasons rather than those of meaning
That the Japanese chess-king is a jade general rather than a jeweled
general is supported by the wikipedia at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shogi and this other website:
http://www.crockford.com/chess/shogi.html . Murray seems to say that he
depended for his information on nineteenth-century German translations of
a few Japanese documents. This is rather a shock; it has been 'jeweled
general' to us for so long!
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