Introduction to Shogi Will Maynard South Bay Shogi Club Introduction to Shogi Introduction Shogi (将 棋) is the Japanese variant of chess. Western chess and shogi share a common ancestor from India, Chaturanga. Consequently, shogi shares many of the game mechanics of Western chess.One unique feature of shogi allows captured pieces to return to the board: the drop rule. This key difference means that a material advantage is less impactful than in chess; trading a powerful piece for a weaker one may be advantageous for a player. The drop rule became a core component of shogi in the 16th century and marks the last major change to the game. Since its addition, the outcome of a match is more likely to be uncertain until the endgame. Setup Board, Pieces, and Accessories Players sit on opposite sides of a board of 9 ranks (rows) and 9 files (columns), resulting in an 81-space area. Unlike chess, pieces are not identified by color but rather by their orientation. Each piece has a pointed pentagonal shape aimed away from its owner. Each player has 20 pieces. Listed by ascending value, these are: 9 pawns, 2 lances, 2 knights, 2 silver generals, 2 gold generals, 1 bishop, 1 rook, and 1 king. A small stand (“k omadai ”) sits next to the board on each player’s right side to hold captured pieces. In casual games, players often use the wooden box that stores the shogi pieces instead. Initial Board State 1 Introduction to Shogi Figure 1. Representation of the board before the game starts. Pictured in Figure 1, players arrange their pieces in radial symmetry using the following rules: ● The player places their king in the center file of the rank closest to their seat. ● Starting from the king to the edge of the board, the player places in order: a gold general, a silver general, a knight, and a lance. The player repeats this for the other side. ● In the second rank, the player places their bishop above the left knight and their rook above the right knight. ● Finally, the player fills the third rank with pawns. Determining Player Order A piece toss (“ furigoma” ) determines player order. To do this, one player collects the five central pawns and rolls them onto the board. Players reroll pieces that land on their side. If three or more pawns land in their unpromoted state, the player who performed the toss is first (“ sente” ). Otherwise, the player is second (“go te ”). Once the player returns the pawns to their starting position, the game proceeds. Players alternate turns either moving or dropping pieces until the end of the game. Rules Goal As in chess, players aim to checkmate the opponent's king. Players use their pieces to attack in such a way that their opponent cannot move or protect their king. Moving Pieces There are three types of movement in shogi: ● Step: a piece moves to an adjacent square. ● Jump: a piece moves to a space regardless of obstacles. Only an unpromoted knight may do this. ● Range: a piece moves any number of spaces in a particular direction. Piece promotions alter available movement. Most pieces promote to share the same move set as a gold general. The rook and bishop, however, add one step to each direction they cannot otherwise move to. Table 1, below, details each piece’s available move sets both before and after promotion. 2 Introduction to Shogi Table 1 . Detailed information about each piece. Promoted Piece English Kanji (pronunciation) Movement Movement Pawn 歩 兵 (fuhyō) と ⾦ (tokin) Lance ⾹ ⾞ (kyōsha) 成 ⾹ (narikyō) Knight 桂 ⾺ (keima) 成 桂 (narikei) Silver General 銀 將 (ginshō) 成 銀 (narigin) Gold General ⾦ 將 (kinshō) King 王 將 (ōshō) ⽟ 將 (gyokushō) Rook ⾶ ⾞ (hisha) ⿓ 王 (ryūō) Bishop ⾓ ⾏ (kakugyō) ⿓ ⾺ (ryūma) Capturing Pieces When a player moves a piece onto a space occupied by an opponent's piece, they capture that piece. The player removes the captured piece and places it on their k omadai in its unpromoted state. The player may later use this piece as a drop. 3 Introduction to Shogi Dropping Pieces Drops are the driving force behind the complexity and excitement of a shogi game. Because pieces are never lost, unlike western chess, draws are rare. Furthermore, a piece’s true value varies depending on the board state. Players often trade high-value pieces for minor pieces, saving material for drop attacks. Rather than move a piece on the board, players may instead “drop” a captured piece. To do this, players remove a piece from their komadai and place it on a vacant space on the board. A piece drop must adhere to the following restrictions: ● Two Pawns (“n ifu” ): No file may contain two unpromoted pawns for any given player. ● Drop Pawn Mate (“ uchifudzume” ): Players may not checkmate opponents with a pawn drop. ● No legal move: A dropped piece must be able to move on a future turn. For example, a pawn dropped on the last rank can never move later, so this is not a legal drop. Any vacant space is valid as long as a player follows these rules. Additionally, a piece may not promote the same turn the player drops it. Promotions Most pieces in shogi may promote; only the gold general and king do not. When a piece enters, exits, or moves within the enemy camp (the furthest three ranks from the player), that piece is eligible to promote. To promote a piece, its owner flips it over, keeping the piece pointed at their opponent. This piece then remains promoted until captured or the end of the game. In a situation where a piece would no longer be able to move on any future turn, it must promote. For example, when a lance advances to the last rank, it cannot have a valid move on any subsequent turn, so it forcefully promotes. Check When a piece threatens the opposing king, that king is in "check". The king's owner must use their next move to protect it if they are able. Options include: ● Capturing the attacking piece ● Moving the king to a space where it is no longer in danger ● Blocking the attacking piece with a friendly piece or a drop It is not required to disclose check during a shogi game. Contrary to popular belief, chess does not require players to say "check", either! When a player is in check and unable to make a move that would remove all threats to their king, they are in "checkmate" and have lost the game. 4 Introduction to Shogi Winning, Losing, and Ties Most games end with a checkmate or resignation. Players may resign at any time if they believe victory is impossible. This is frequently the case when a player realizes they are on the losing side of a t sume, a forced mate sequence. In these cases, one player is able to threaten the opposing king with every move until checkmate. Players announce their resignation with the phrase " makemashita" (“I lost”). It is impolite to continue playing when loss is inevitable. Illegal Moves Should a player make an illegal move at any point in the game, the game may be an automatic loss for that player. This occurs when their opponent notices the illegal move, even if gameplay progressed past the error. However, if a match ends with the illegal move unnoticed, the result of the game stands. Illegal moves include: ● Dropping a piece where it would never have possible movement ● Dropping a piece in its promoted state ● Dropping a pawn in a file that already has an unpromoted pawn ● Dropping a pawn to checkmate an opponent ● Moving a piece to a space that it cannot legally move to ● Ending a turn with the king in check Of course, during casual play, it's encouraged to allow players to undo illegal moves! In tournament settings, each match employs a timer. Like chess, a player who has completely run out of time loses the game. There is a short grace period, or byōyomi , once the main timer has expired. The b yōyomi duration varies depending on tournament rules, but it grants players a short secondary timer that resets with every move. Should a player fail to make a move once the b yōyomi expires, the game ends in their defeat. Repetition The Rule of Repetition prevents moves repeating indefinitely. If a board state repeats on any four separate occasions, the game is usually considered to be a draw. If one player is in perpetual check, however, the player giving check loses the game. Impasse If both kings cross into their respective enemy’s camp, the game stops and each player calculates a score. Each rook or bishop awards 5 points and each other non-king piece awards 1 point. This count includes pieces on the komadai. A player scoring less than 24 points in this way loses the game. If both players have 24 or more points, the game is a draw. This prevents a long, drawn-out game; kings in enemy camps are very difficult to attack. 5 Introduction to Shogi Draws in Professional Games In professional matches, draws are not recognized as valid results. If a game ends in a draw, players switch the starting turn order and play a second game using their remaining match time. Handicaps Handicaps give weaker players an advantage against stronger opponents. Handicaps involve removing pieces from the game corresponding to strength differences. For a greater handicap, the stronger player removes more pieces. Typically, a one-piece handicap involves removing either the bishop or rook. A two-piece handicap removes both, a four-piece handicap removes the lances, and so on.