This zip file includes three ZRFs. One is for Shogi, one is for Mortal Shogi, and one is for Kamikaze Mortal Shogi. They are bundled together because they use many of the same graphics, and they should appeal to a common audience. Shogi is the Japanese form of Chess. Mortal Shogi is a new Shogi variant, created by Roberto Lavieri and Fergus Duniho, in which captured pieces demote, and captured Pawns disappear all together, allowing overall material to decrease during the game. Kamikaze Mortal Shogi is an improved version of Mortal Shogi, created by Fergus Duniho, in which captured Pawns demote to Kamikazes. Kamikazes leap two spaces forward, and they disappear upon capturing or being captured.

The Shogi ZRF is a major update to one I first wrote in 1999. It is faster, smarter, and better-looking than the Shogi ZRF that comes with Zillions of Games. The other two ZRFs are based on this ZRF. Here are the main advantages of my Shogi ZRF over ZoG's. (1) It handles drops much more efficiently. (2) Piece values have been finetuned. (3) Neither side is limited to capturing 27 pieces without dropping any, for excess captured pieces can overflow to the other side. (4) The board is flippable, and flipped piece sets are included, allowing you to play White from your own perspective. (5) Besides the graphics that come with ZoG, it includes four more piece sets and two more boards, and it lets you pick any combination of board and pieces. (6) It uses arabic numeral / roman letter coordinates instead of the arabic numeral / roman numeral coordinates used by the official Zillions script. Numeral/letter coordinates are more standard, and I personally find letters easier to identify than roman numerals.

Back in 1999, Zillions had recently debuted, and it had come with its own Shogi ZRF, but it played poorly, had poor graphics, and met with other problems too. So, on opposite sides of the globe, Steve Evans and I each began to write a new Shogi ZRF. I focused on making drops more efficient. Steve focused on fixing piece values, for ZoG's ZRF was valuing Bishops and Rooks more than their promoted counterparts. I released mine first, and instead of releasing his too, Steve told me what he was doing, and I combined our ideas together. After ZoG2 debuted in 2003, I improved the ZRF even more. I made drops somewhat more efficient by optimizing the code better. I also discovered a way to finetune piece values without adding redundant moves. I went on to make individual variants with different tunings of piece values. One tuning was based on piece values that are generally accepted among Shogi authorities. Others have been based on my own hypotheses and experiments. While extensive testing is time-consuming, what tests I have done have revealed that my ZRF plays better than ZoG's and also better than such freeware programs as Steve Evans's Shogi Variants, Glen Miner's Winshogi, and even Pauli Misikangas's Shocky 2.05. It is no match for good commercial and shareware Shogi programs, but it does come with nicer graphics and has all the user-friendliness of ZoG.

Below are reduced images of two of the graphic sets available. One shows abstract symbolic pieces on a checkered board, while the other shows single-character Japanese pieces on a marble board. Both are the same dimensions as the boards that come with Zillions. The two piece sets shown are the only sets used by Kamikaze Mortal Shogi, since they are the only two that include a Kamikaze piece. But Shogi and Mortal Shogi may use any set included with Zillions plus two other sets created by myself. One is a diagrammatic set, while the other is based on Armando Marroquin's Chess Motif font. In the symbolic set shown below, as well as in the Motif set not shown, Gold and Silver Generals are represented by alchemical symbols for Gold and Silver. These correspond to the astrological symbols for sun and moon. Most other pieces in the symbolic set are based on my Abstract set for Chess variants.