, also known as Japanese chess, is a
strategy
Strategy (from Greek στρατηγία ''stratēgia'', "art of troop leader; office of general, command, generalship") is a general plan to achieve one or more long-term or overall goals under conditions of uncertainty. In the sense of the "art ...
board game
Board games are tabletop games that typically use . These pieces are moved or placed on a pre-marked board (playing surface) and often include elements of table, card, role-playing, and miniatures games as well.
Many board games feature a comp ...
for two players. It is one of the most popular board games in
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
and is in the same family of games as
Western chess
Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to distin ...
, ''
chaturanga
Chaturanga ( sa, चतुरङ्ग; ') is an ancient Indian strategy game. While there is some uncertainty, the prevailing view among chess historians is that it is the common ancestor of the board games chess (European), xiangqi (Chinese), ...
,
Xiangqi
''Xiangqi'' (; ), also called Chinese chess or elephant chess, is a strategy board game for two players. It is the most popular board game in China. ''Xiangqi'' is in the same family of games as '' shogi'', '' janggi'', Western chess, '' ch ...
'',
Indian chess
Indian chess is the name given to regional variations of chess played in India in the 18th and 19th centuries. It is distinct from chaturanga. There are several such variations, all quite similar to modern rules, with variants regarding castl ...
, and ''
janggi
''Janggi'' (including romanizations ''changgi'' and ''jangki''), sometimes called Korean chess, is a strategy board game popular on the Korean Peninsula. The game was derived from xiangqi (Chinese chess), and is very similar to it, including th ...
''. ''Shōgi'' means general's (''shō'' ) board game (''gi'' ). Western chess is sometimes called (''Seiyō Shōgi'' ) in Japan.
Shogi was the earliest chess-related historical game to allow captured pieces to be returned to the board by the capturing player.
This drop rule is speculated to have been invented in the 15th century and possibly connected to the practice of 15th century
mercenaries
A mercenary, sometimes also known as a soldier of fortune or hired gun, is a private individual, particularly a soldier, that joins a military conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any o ...
switching loyalties when captured instead of being killed.
The earliest predecessor of the game,
chaturanga
Chaturanga ( sa, चतुरङ्ग; ') is an ancient Indian strategy game. While there is some uncertainty, the prevailing view among chess historians is that it is the common ancestor of the board games chess (European), xiangqi (Chinese), ...
, originated in India in the sixth century, and the game was likely transmitted to Japan via China or
Korea
Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...
sometime after the
Nara period
The of the history of Japan covers the years from CE 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the cap ...
.
["Shogi". ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. 2002.] Shogi in its present form was played as early as the 16th century, while a direct ancestor without the drop rule was recorded from 1210 in a historical document ''
Nichūreki'', which is an edited copy of ''Shōchūreki'' and ''Kaichūreki'' from the late
Heian period
The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese. ...
(c. 1120).
Equipment
![Shogi Ban Koma](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/Shogi_Ban_Koma.jpg)
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 ''Sente'' (first player) and ''Gote'' (second player), but in English are conventionally referred to as Black and White, with Black 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.
Each player has a set of 20 flat wedge-shaped pentagonal pieces of slightly different sizes. Except for the kings, 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
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
* 1
rook
Rook (''Corvus frugilegus'') is a bird of the corvid family. Rook or rooks may also refer to:
Games
*Rook (chess), a piece in chess
*Rook (card game), a trick-taking card game
Military
*Sukhoi Su-25 or Rook, a close air support aircraft
* USS ' ...
* 1
bishop
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
* 2
gold generals
* 2
silver generals
* 2
knights
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...
* 2
lance
A lance is a spear designed to be used by a mounted warrior or cavalry soldier ( lancer). In ancient and medieval warfare, it evolved into the leading weapon in cavalry charges, and was unsuited for throwing or for repeated thrusting, unlike si ...
s
* 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
are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese ...
'' (Chinese characters used in 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.
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.
![DifferentStyleKoma](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/DifferentStyleKoma.jpg)
English 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
is a Japanese syllabary, part of the Japanese writing system, along with ''katakana'' as well as ''kanji''.
It is a phonetic lettering system. The word ''hiragana'' literally means "flowing" or "simple" kana ("simple" originally as contrast ...
symbol for the syllable "to") for ''tokin''.
The suggestion that the Japanese characters have deterred Western players from learning shogi has led to "
Westernized
Westernization (or Westernisation), also Europeanisation or occidentalization (from the ''Occident''), is a process whereby societies come under or adopt Western culture in areas such as industry, technology, science, education, politics, econo ...
" or "international" pieces which use iconic symbols instead of characters. 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. As a result, Westernized pieces have never become popular. Bilingual pieces with both Japanese characters and English captions have been developed as have pieces with animal cartoons.
Setup and gameplay
![Shogiban](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/Shogiban.png)
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
:
:Or
:
* 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.
![Furigoma](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0b/Furigoma.jpg)
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 usual goal of a game is for one player to
checkmate
Checkmate (often shortened to mate) is any game position in chess and other chess-like games in which a player's king is in check (threatened with ) and there is no possible escape. Checkmating the opponent wins the game.
In chess, the king is ...
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 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.
A king (玉/王) moves one square in any direction,
orthogonal
In mathematics, orthogonality is the generalization of the geometric notion of ''perpendicularity''.
By extension, orthogonality is also used to refer to the separation of specific features of a system. The term also has specialized meanings in ...
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
Promotion may refer to:
Marketing
* Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...
).
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
Promotion may refer to:
Marketing
* Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...
.)
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
Promotion may refer to:
Marketing
* Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...
.)
A pawn (歩) moves one square straight forward. It cannot retreat. Unlike
international chess pawns, shogi pawns capture the same as they move. A pawn ''must'' promote if it arrives at the furthest rank. (See
Promotion
Promotion may refer to:
Marketing
* Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...
.) In practice, however, a pawn is usually promoted whenever possible. There are two restrictions on where a pawn may be dropped. (See
Drops
Drop, DROP, drops or DROPS may refer to:
* Drop (liquid) or droplet, a small volume of liquid
** Eye drops, saline (sometimes mydriatic) drops used as medication for the eyes
* Drop (unit), a unit of measure of volume
* Falling (physics), allowin ...
.)
All pieces but the knight move either horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. These directions cannot be combined in a single move; one direction must be chosen.
Every piece blocks the movement of all other non-jumping pieces through the square it occupies.
If a piece occupies a legal destination for an opposing piece, it may be ''captured'' by removing it from the board and replacing it with the opposing piece. The capturing piece may not continue beyond that square on that turn. Shogi pieces capture the same as they move.
Normally, when moving a piece, a player snaps it to the board with the ends of the fingers of the same hand. This makes a sudden sound effect, bringing the piece to the attention of the opponent. This is also true for capturing and dropping pieces. On a traditional ''shogi-ban'', the pitch of the snap is deeper, delivering a subtler effect.
Promotion
A player's ''promotion zone'' consists of the furthest one-third of the board – the three ranks occupied by the opponent's pieces at setup. The zone is typically delineated on shogi boards by two inscribed dots. When a piece is moved, if part of the piece's path lies within the promotion zone (that is, if the piece moves into, out of, or wholly within the zone; but ''not'' if it is dropped into the zone – see
Drops
Drop, DROP, drops or DROPS may refer to:
* Drop (liquid) or droplet, a small volume of liquid
** Eye drops, saline (sometimes mydriatic) drops used as medication for the eyes
* Drop (unit), a unit of measure of volume
* Falling (physics), allowin ...
), then the player has the option to ''promote'' the piece at the end of the turn. Promotion is indicated by turning the piece over after it moves, revealing the character of the promoted piece.
Promoting a piece is usually not compulsory; however, if a pawn or lance is moved to the furthest rank, or a knight is moved to either of the two furthest ranks, that piece ''must'' promote (otherwise, it would have no legal move on subsequent turns). A silver general is never required to promote, and it is often advantageous to keep a silver general unpromoted (it is easier, for example, to extract an unpromoted silver from behind enemy lines: a promoted silver, with only one line of retreat, can be easily blocked.) Rooks, bishops and pawns are almost always promoted, as these pieces do not lose any of their powers upon promotion.
Promoting a piece changes the way it moves. The various pieces promote as follows:
* A silver general, knight, lance, or pawn has its normal power of movement replaced by that of a gold general.
* A rook or bishop keeps its original movement and gains the power to move one square in any direction (like a king). For a promoted bishop, this means it is able to reach any square on the board, given enough moves.
* A king or a gold general does not promote; nor can a piece that is already promoted.
When captured, a piece loses its promoted status. Otherwise promotion is permanent.
A promoted rook ("dragon king", 龍王 ''ryūō''; alternate forms: 龍, 竜) moves as a rook and as a king. It is also called a dragon.
![Shogi rook p](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/85/Shogi_rook_p.jpg)
A promoted bishop ("dragon horse", 龍馬 ''ryūma''; alternate form: 馬) moves as a bishop and as a king. It is also known as a horse.
![Shogi bishop p](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f1/Shogi_bishop_p.jpg)
A promoted silver (成銀 ''narigin''; alternate forms: 全, cursive 金), a promoted knight (成桂 ''narikei''; alternate forms: 圭, 今, cursive 金), a promoted lance (成香 ''narikyō''; alternate forms: 杏, 仝, cursive 金) and a promoted pawn (と金 ''tokin''; alternate forms: と, 个) all move the same way as a gold general. The promoted pawn is often called by its Japanese name tokin, even by non-Japanese players.
Drops
![Shogi S09 1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0b/Shogi_S09_1.jpg)
Captured pieces are retained in hand and can be brought back into play under the capturing player's control. The Japanese term for ''piece(s) in hand'' is either 持ち駒 ''mochigoma'' or 手駒 ''tegoma.'' On any turn, instead of moving a piece on the board, a player may select a piece in hand and place it – unpromoted side up and facing the opposing side – on any empty square. The piece is then one of that player's active pieces on the board and can be moved accordingly. This is called ''dropping'' the piece, or simply, a ''drop''. A drop counts as a complete move.
A drop cannot capture a piece, nor does dropping within the promotion zone result in immediate promotion. Capture and/or promotion may occur normally, however, on subsequent moves of the piece.
Restrictions. There are three restrictions on dropping pieces; the last two of these apply only to pawns.
# Piece with No Moves ( ja,
行き所のない駒 ''ikidokorononaikoma''): Pawns, lances and knights may not be dropped onto the last (9th) rank, and knights may not be dropped onto the penultimate (8th) rank; this is because such dropped pieces would have no legal moves on subsequent turns (as they can only move in the forward direction).
# Two Pawns ( ja,
二歩 ''nifu''): A pawn may not be dropped onto a file (column) containing another unpromoted pawn of the same player (promoted pawns do not count).
# Drop Pawn Mate ( ja,
打ち歩詰め ''uchifuzume''): A pawn may not be dropped to give an immediate
checkmate
Checkmate (often shortened to mate) is any game position in chess and other chess-like games in which a player's king is in check (threatened with ) and there is no possible escape. Checkmating the opponent wins the game.
In chess, the king is ...
. (This rule only applies specifically to pawns, drops ''and'' checkmates − to clarify, a player ''may'' deliver an immediate checkmate by dropping a non-pawn piece, a player ''may'' checkmate a king with a pawn that is already on the board, and a pawn ''may'' be dropped to give an immediate
check
Check or cheque, may refer to:
Places
* Check, Virginia
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Check'' (film), a 2021 Indian Telugu-language film
* ''The Checks'' (episode), a 1996 TV episode of ''Seinfeld''
Games and sports
* Check (chess), a thr ...
as long as it does not also result in checkmate.)
A corollary of the second restriction is that a player with an unpromoted pawn on every file is unable to drop a pawn anywhere. For this reason, it is common to sacrifice a pawn in order to gain flexibility for drops.
Captured pieces are typically kept on a wooden stand (駒台 ''komadai)'' which is traditionally placed so that its bottom-left corner aligns with the bottom-right corner of the board from the perspective of each player. It is not permissible to hide pieces from full view.
It is common for players to swap bishops, which oppose each other across the board, early in the game. This leaves each player with a bishop in hand to be dropped later. The ability for drops in shogi gives the game tactical richness and complexity. The fact that no piece ever goes entirely out of play accounts for the rarity of draws.
Check
When a player's move threatens to capture the opposing king on the next turn, the move is said to ''give check'' to the king and the king is said to be ''in check.'' If a player's king is in check, that player's responding move must remove the check if possible.
Ways to remove a check include moving the king away from the threat, capturing the threatening piece, or placing another interposing piece between the king and the threatening piece.
To announce check in Japanese, one can say ''ōte'' (), however, this is an influence of international chess and is not required, even as a courtesy. It may be common to announce ''ōte'' in beginner matches or for local rules to dictate that you have to announce it. Announcing a check vocally is unheard of in serious play.
End of the game
The usual way for shogi games to end is for one side to checkmate the other side's king, after which the losing player will be given the opportunity to admit defeat. Unlike western chess or xiangqi, checkmate is almost always the result in shogi since pieces never retire from play which gives the players a sufficient number of pieces to deliver checkmate. That said, there are three other possible ways for a game to end: ''repetition'' ( ''sennichite''), ''impasse'' ( ''jishōgi''), and an ''illegal move'' (). The first two – repetition and impasse – are particularly uncommon. Illegal moves are also uncommon in professional games although this may not be true with amateur players (especially beginners).
Unlike western chess, there is no tradition of offering a mutual
draw by agreement
A game of chess can end in a draw by agreement. A player may offer a draw at any stage of a game; if the opponent accepts, the game is a draw. In some competitions, draws by agreement are restricted; for example draw offers may be subject to the d ...
.
Checkmate
If the king is in check and there is no possible move which could protect the king, the move is said to ''
checkmate
Checkmate (often shortened to mate) is any game position in chess and other chess-like games in which a player's king is in check (threatened with ) and there is no possible escape. Checkmating the opponent wins the game.
In chess, the king is ...
'' (''tsumi'' 詰み) the king. Checkmate effectively means that the opponent wins the game as the player would have no remaining legal moves.
(See also:
tsumeshogi
or tsume (詰め) is the Japanese term for a shogi miniature problem in which the goal is to checkmate the opponent's king. Tsume problems usually present a situation that might occur in a shogi game (although unrealistic artistic tsume shogi exi ...
,
hisshi Brinkmate is the situation in which an unavoidable checkmate sequence will be created by the player's next move.
In shogi, brinkmate is known as hisshi (必至 "desperation, inevitability" or 必死 "sure kill"). Note that in shogi ''tsume'' is de ...
.)
Resignation
The losing player will usually resign when the situation is thought to be hopeless and may declare the resignation at any time during their turn. Although a player may resign just after they are checkmated, playing up to the checkmate point rarely occurs in practice as players normally resign as soon as a loss is deemed inevitable – such as when a ''tsume'' (forced mate sequence) is realized by the losing player. Similarly, if a player were to lose in an Entering King situation (see section below) by having less than 24 points (or by any of the other Impasse rules used by amateurs), then the player will usually resign before that point.
In traditional tournament play, a formal resignation is required – that is, a checkmate is not a sufficient condition for winning. The resignation is indicated by bowing and/or saying 'I lost' (負けました ''makemashita'') and/or placing the right hand over the piece stands. Placing the hand over the piece stand is a vestige of an older practice of gently dropping one's pieces in hand over the board in order to indicate resignation. In western practice, a handshake may be used.
Illegal move
In professional and serious (tournament) amateur games, a player who makes an illegal move loses immediately. The loss stands even if play continued and the move was discovered later in game. However, if neither the opponent nor a third party points out the illegal move and the opponent later resigned, the resignation stands as the result.
Illegal moves include:
* Violating the ''Two Pawns'' (''nifu'') restriction (See
§Drops above.)
* Violating the ''Drop Pawn Mate'' (''uchifuzume'') restriction
* Dropping or moving a piece to position where it cannot move (such as dropping a knight to an opponent's last two ranks, etc.)
* Dropping a piece with its promoted value
* Playing out of turn, e.g. making more than one move or white moving first instead of moving second.
* Making
perpetual check
In the game of chess, perpetual check is a situation in which one player can a draw by an unending series of checks. This typically arises when the player who is checking cannot deliver checkmate, and failing to continue the series of checks gives ...
four times (cf. ''
sennichite
''Sennichite'' (千日手, ''lit.'' "moves (for) a thousand days") or repetition draw is a rule in shogi stating that the game will end in a draw if the same position is repeated four times during a game as long as the repetitions do not involve ch ...
'')
* Leaving one's king in check, or moving one's king into check
* Moving a piece contrary to how its movements are defined (for example, moving a gold like a silver, or moving an unpromoted bishop off its legal diagonal)
In friendly amateur games, this rule is sometimes relaxed, and the player may be able to take back the illegal move and replay a new legal move.
In particular, the Two Pawn violation is the most common illegal move played by professional players. The Two Pawn violation played by
Takahiro Toyokawa
is a Japanese professional shogi player ranked 7-dan.
Early life
Toyokawa was born in Suginami, Tokyo on February 20, 1967. In December 1982, he entered the Japan Shogi Association's apprentice school at the rank 6-kyū under the guidance of ...
(against
Kōsuke Tamura
is a Japanese professional shogi player ranked 7-Dan (rank)#Modern usage in shogi, dan.
Early life
Kōsuke Tamura was born on March 16, 1976, in Uozu, Toyama. He won the in 1987 when he was a Elementary schools in Japan, sixth-grade student at ...
) in the 2004
NHK Cup is infamous since it was broadcast on television. On the 109th move, Toyokawa (playing as Black) dropped a pawn to the 29 square while he already had a pawn in play on the board on the 23 square and, thus, lost the game.
Repetition (draw)
If the same game position occurs four times with the same player to move and the same pieces in hand for each player, then the game ends in a repetition draw (千日手 ''sennichite,'' lit. "moves for a thousand days"), as long as the positions are not due to
perpetual check
In the game of chess, perpetual check is a situation in which one player can a draw by an unending series of checks. This typically arises when the player who is checking cannot deliver checkmate, and failing to continue the series of checks gives ...
. Perpetual check (連続王手の千日手) is an illegal move (see above), which ends the game in a loss in tournament play.
In professional shogi, a repetition draw outcome is not a final result as draws essentially do not count. There can be only one victorious through wins. In the case of a repetition draw, professional shogi players will have to immediately play a subsequent game (or as many games as necessary) with sides reversed in order to obtain a true win outcome. (That is, the player who was White becomes Black, and vice versa.) Also, depending on the tournament, professional players play the subsequent game in the remainder of the allowed game time.
Thus, aiming for a repetition draw may be a possible professional strategy for the White player in order to play the second replay game as Black, which has a slight statistical advantage and/or greater initiative. For instance,
Bishop Exchange Fourth File Rook
In shogi, the Bishop Exchange Fourth File Rook (角交換四間飛車 ''kaku kōkan shikenbisha'') or Open Bishop Diagonal Fourth File Rook (角道オープン四間飛車 ''kaku michi shikenbisha'') is a Fourth File Rook (Ranging Rook) op ...
is a passive strategy for White with the goal of a repetition draw (as it requires two tempo losses – swinging the rook and trading the bishops) while it is a very aggressive strategy if played by Black.
Repetition draws are rare in professional shogi occurring in about 1–2% of games and even rarer in amateur games. In professional shogi, repetition draws usually occur in the opening as certain positions are reached that are theoretically disadvantaged for both sides (
reciprocal zugzwang
Zugzwang (German for "compulsion to move", ) is a situation found in chess and other turn-based games wherein one player is put at a disadvantage because of their obligation to make a move; a player is said to be "in zugzwang" when any legal move ...
). In amateur shogi, repetition draws tend to occur in the middle or endgame as a result of player errors.
Impasse
The game reaches an Impasse or Deadlock (持将棋 ''jishōgi'') if both kings have advanced into their respective promotion zones – a situation known as 相入玉 (''ai-nyū gyoku'' "double entering kings") – and neither player can hope to mate the other or to gain any further material. An Impasse can result in either a win or a draw. If an Impasse happens, the winner is decided as follows: each player agrees to an Impasse, then each rook or bishop, promoted or not, scores 5 points for the owning player, and all other pieces except kings score 1 point each. A player scoring fewer than 24 points loses. (Note that in the start position, both players have 27 points each.) If neither player has fewer than 24, the game is no contest — a draw. In professional shogi, an Impasse result is always a draw since a player that cannot obtain the 24 points will simply resign. ''Jishōgi'' is considered an outcome in its own right rather than no contest, but there is no practical difference. As an Impasse needs to be agreed on for the rule to be invoked, a player may refuse to do so and attempt to win the game in future moves. If that happens, there is no official rule about the verdict of the game.
However, in amateur shogi, there are different practices most of which force a win resolution to the Impasse in order to avoid a draw result.
The first draw by Impasse occurred in 1731 in a
bishop handicap game between the seventh
Lifetime Meijin
is one of the eight titles in Japanese professional shogi, and is the most prestigious title, along with Ryūō. The word ''meijin'' (名 ''mei'' "excellent, artful", 人 ''jin'' "person") refers to a highly skilled master of a certain field (t ...
, , and his brother, Sōkei Ōhashi.
=Entering King
=
As a practical matter, when an opponent's king has entered a player's own territory especially with supporting defending pieces, the opponent's king is often very difficult to mate given the forward attacking nature of most shogi pieces. This state is referred to as entering king (入玉 ''nyū gyoku''). If both players' kings are in entering king states, the game becomes more likely to result in an impasse.
In the adjacent diagram example, although White's king is in a strong
Bear-in-the-hole castle
The Bear-in-the-hole or Anaguma castle (穴熊 ''anaguma'', badger, lit. "hole-bear") is a castle used in shogi. (An anaguma is a Japanese badger.) It is commonly used in professional shogi.
History
The Bear-in-the-hole was initially a castle ...
, Black's king has entered White's territory making it very difficult to mate. Therefore, this position favors Black.
An example of Entering King occurred in the fourth game of the 60th
Ōi title match between
Masayuki Toyoshima
is a Japanese professional shogi player, ranked 9-dan. He is a former holder of the Ryūō, Meijin, Ōi, Kisei and Eiō titles.
Toyoshima, together with Akira Inaba, Tetsurō Itodani and Akihiro Murata, is one of four Kansai-based young shog ...
and
Kazuki Kimura
is a Japanese professional shogi player, ranked 9- dan. He is a former Ōi title holder. He is also the oldest player to win a major title for the first time.
Early life
Kimura was born in Yotsukaidō, Chiba Prefecture on June 23, 1973. He lea ...
held on August 2021, 2019. After being unsuccessful in attacking Kimura and also in defending his own king within his camp, Toyoshima (playing as White) moved his king away from Kimura's attacking pieces by fleeing up the second file, ultimately entering his king into Kimura's camp by move 150. Although Toyoshima had achieved Entering King, he still had only 23 pointsone point shy of the required 24 points for an
Impasse
A bargaining impasse occurs when the two sides negotiating an agreement are unable to reach an agreement and become deadlocked. An impasse is almost invariably mutually harmful, either as a result of direct action which may be taken such as a st ...
drawwhile Kimura (Black) had 31 points. Toyoshima then spent the next 134 moves trying to bring his point total, which fluctuated between 17 and 23, up to the necessary 24. By the 231st move, the game had reached a Double Entering Kings state, and by move 285 Kimura had successfully kept Toyoshima's point total at bay. Here, Toyoshima with 20 points (and Kimura at 34 points) resigned. Incidentally, this game broke the record of longest game in a title match.
=Amateur resolutions
=
For amateur games, there are various guidances with little standardization.
Fairbairn
Fairbairn is a surname of Scottish origin which means "a handsome child." Notable people with the surname include:
* Andrew Fairbairn (disambiguation), several people
*Bill Fairbairn (born 1947), Canadian ice hockey player
* Bruce Fairbairn (1949 ...
reports a practice in the 1980s (considered a rule by the now defunct Shogi Association for The West) where the dispute is resolved by either player moving all friendly pieces into the promotion zone and then the game ends with points tallied.
Another resolution is the 27-Point (27点法) rule used for some amateur tournaments. One version of this is simply the player who has 27 or more points is the winner of the Impasse. Another version is a 27-Point Declaration rule. For instance, the Declaration rule on the online shogi site,
81Dojo
81Dojo (Japanese: ''hachi-jū-ichi dōjō,'' ''hachi-jū-ichi'' or ''hachi-ichi'') is a non-profit internet shogi server and internet forum. While the site is based in Japan, there is an additional English language version of the website, making i ...
, is that the player who wants to declare an Impasse win must (i) declare an intention to win via Impasse, (ii) have the king in the enemy camp (the promotion zone for that player), (iii) 10 other pieces must be in the promotion zone, (iv) not be in check, (v) have time remaining, and (vi) must have 28 points if Black or 27 points if White. If all of these conditions are met, then the Impasse declarer will win the game regardless of whether the opponent objects.
Yet another resolution to Impasse is the so-called Try Rule (トライルール ''torairūru''). In this case, after both kings have entered their corresponding promotion zones, then the player who first moves the king to the opponent's king's start square (51 for Black, 59 for White) first will be the winner. As an example, the popular
将棋ウォーズ (Shogi Wars) app by
HEROZ Inc. used the Try Rule up until 2014. (Now the app uses a variant of the 27-Point Declaration Rule – although it differs from the variant used on the 81Dojo site.) The idea of "Try Rule" was taken from
rugby football
Rugby football is the collective name for the team sports of rugby union and rugby league.
Canadian football and, to a lesser extent, American football were once considered forms of rugby football, but are seldom now referred to as such. The ...
(see
Try (rugby)
A try is a way of scoring points in rugby union and rugby league football. A try is scored by grounding the ball in the opposition's in-goal area (on or behind the goal line). Rugby union and league differ slightly in defining "grounding the bal ...
).
Draws in tournaments
In professional tournaments, the rules typically require drawn games to be replayed with sides reversed, possibly with reduced time limits. This is rare compared to
chess
Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...
and
xiangqi
''Xiangqi'' (; ), also called Chinese chess or elephant chess, is a strategy board game for two players. It is the most popular board game in China. ''Xiangqi'' is in the same family of games as '' shogi'', '' janggi'', Western chess, '' ch ...
, occurring at a rate of 1–2% even in amateur games.
The 1982
''Meijin'' title match between
Makoto Nakahara
is a retired Japanese professional shogi player who achieved the rank of 9-dan. He is one of the strongest shogi players of the Shōwa period (1926–1989) and holds the titles of Lifetime Kisei, Lifetime Meijin, , Lifetime Ōi, and Lifetime ...
and
Hifumi Katoh
Hifumi (written: 一二三) is a unisex Japanese given name, as well as a family name.
Notable people with the given name include:
*, Japanese judoka
*, Japanese shogi player
*, Japanese classical composer
*Hifumi Suzuki (born 1957), Japanese Par ...
was unusual in this regard with an impasse draw in the first (
Double Fortress
The Double Fortress (相矢倉 or 相櫓 ''aiyagura'') is a shogi opening in which both players construct Fortress formations.
Double Fortress games are the most common type of Fortress games found at all levels of play.
Historical Fortress
...
) game on April 13–14 (only the fifth draw in the then 40-year history of the tournament). This game (with Katoh as Black) lasted for 223 moves with 114 minutes spent pondering a single move. One of the reasons for the length of this game was that White (Nakahara) was very close to falling below the minimum of 24 points required for a draw. Thus, the end of the endgame was strategically about trying to keep White's points above the 24-point threshold. In this match, ''sennichite'' occurred in the sixth and eighth games. Thus, this best-of-seven match lasted eight games and took over three months to finish; Black did not lose a single game and the eventual victor was Katoh at 4–3.
Time control
Professional games are timed as in international chess, but
professional shogi players
A professional shogi player (将棋棋士 ''shōgi kishi'' or プロ棋士 ''puro kishi'' "professional player") is a shogi player who is usually a member of a professional guild of shogi players.
There are two categories of professional player ...
are almost never expected to keep time in their games. Instead a timekeeper is assigned, typically an apprentice professional. Time limits are much longer than in international chess (9 hours a side plus extra time in the prestigious
''Meijin'' title match), and in addition ''byōyomi'' (literally "second counting") is employed. This means that when the ordinary time has run out, the player will from that point on have a certain amount of time to complete every move (a ''byōyomi'' period), typically upwards of one minute. The final ten seconds are counted down, and if the time expires the player to move loses the game immediately. Amateurs often play with electronic clocks that beep out the final ten seconds of a ''byōyomi'' period, with a prolonged beep for the last five.
Player rank and handicaps
Amateur players are ranked from 15 ''
kyū
is a Japanese term used in modern martial arts as well as in tea ceremony, flower arranging, Go, shogi, academic tests and other similar activities to designate various grades, levels or degrees of proficiency or experience. In Mandarin Chin ...
'' to 1 kyū and then from 1 ''
dan
Dan or DAN may refer to:
People
* Dan (name), including a list of people with the name
** Dan (king), several kings of Denmark
* Dan people, an ethnic group located in West Africa
**Dan language, a Mande language spoken primarily in Côte d'Ivoir ...
'' to 8 dan. Amateur 8 dan was previously only honorarily given to famous people. While it is now possible to win amateur 8 dan by actual strength (winning amateur Ryu-oh 3 times), this has yet to be achieved.
Professional players operate with their own scale, from 6 kyū to 3 dan for pro-aspiring players and professional 4 dan to 9 dan for formal professional players. Amateur and professional ranks are offset (with amateur 4 dan being equivalent to professional 6 kyū).
Handicaps
Shogi has a handicap system (like
go) in which games between players of disparate strengths are adjusted so that the stronger player is put in a more disadvantageous position in order to compensate for the difference in playing levels. In a
handicap game, one or more of White's pieces are removed from the setup, and instead White plays first.
Notation
![ISF6 final](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8b/ISF6_final.jpg)
There are two common systems used to notate piece movements in shogi game records. One is used in Japanese language texts while a second was created for western players by George Hodges and Glyndon Townhill in the English language. This system was updated by Hosking to be closer to the Japanese standard (two numerals). Other systems are used to notate shogi board positions. Unlike chess, the origin (11 square) is at the top right of a printed position rather than the bottom left.
In western piece movement notation, the format is the piece initial followed by the type of movement and finally the file and rank where the piece moved to. The piece initials are K (King), R (Rook), B (Bishop), G (Gold), S (Silver), N (Knight), L (Lance), and P (Pawn). Simple movement is indicated with -, captures with x, and piece drops with *. The files are indicated with numerals 1–9. The older Hodges standard used letters a–i for ranks, and the newer Hosking standard also uses numerals 1–9 for the ranks. Thus, Rx24 indicates 'rook captures on 24'. Promoted pieces are notated with + prefixed to the piece initial (e.g. +Rx24). Piece promotion is also indicated with + (e.g. S-21+) while unpromotion is indicated with = (e.g. S-21=). Piece ambiguity is resolved by notating which square a piece is moving from (e.g. N65-53+ means 'knight from 65 moves to 53 and promotes,' which distinguishes it from N45-53+).
The Japanese notation system uses Japanese characters for pieces and promotion indication and uses Japanese numerals instead of letters for ranks. Movement type aside from drops is not indicated, and the conventions for resolving ambiguity are quite different from the western system. As examples, the western Rx24 would be in Japanese notation, +Rx24 would be , S-21+ would be , S-21= would be , and N65-53+ would be showing that the leftmost knight jumped (implicitly from the 65 square), which distinguishes it from in which the rightmost knight jumped.
Although not strictly part of the notational calculus for games, game results are indicated in Japanese newspapers, websites, etc. with wins indicated by a white circle and losses indicated by a black circle.
Strategy and tactics
Shogi is similar to chess but has a much larger
game tree complexity
Combinatorial game theory has several ways of measuring game complexity. This article describes five of them: state-space complexity, game tree size, decision complexity, game-tree complexity, and computational complexity.
Measures of game comple ...
because of the use of drops, greater number of pieces, and larger board size. In comparison, shogi games average about 140 (half-)moves per game (or 70 chess move-pairs) whereas chess games average about 80 moves per game (or 40 chess move-pairs) and
minishogi
Minishogi (5五将棋 ''gogo shōgi'' "5V chess" or "5×5 chess") is a modern variant of shogi (Japanese chess). The game was invented (or rediscovered) around 1970 by Shigenobu Kusumoto of Osaka, Japan. The rules are nearly identical to those of ...
averages about 40 moves per game (or 20 chess move-pairs).
Like chess, however, the game can be divided into the opening, middle game and endgame, each requiring a different strategy. The
opening
Opening may refer to:
* Al-Fatiha, "The Opening", the first chapter of the Qur'an
* The Opening (album), live album by Mal Waldron
* Backgammon opening
* Chess opening
* A title sequence or opening credits
* , a term from contract bridge
* , ...
consists of arranging one's defenses usually in a
castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...
and positioning for attack; the mid game consists of attempting to break through the opposing defenses while maintaining one's own; and the endgame starts when one side's defenses have been compromised.
In the adjacent diagram, Black has chosen a
Ranging Rook
Ranging Rook or Swinging Rook (振り飛車 ''furibisha'') openings in shogi position the rook to the center or left of the player's board to support an attack there.
Ranging Rook strategies used in Ranging Rook vs Static Rook are among the old ...
position (specifically
Fourth File Rook
In shogi, Fourth File Rook (四間飛車 ''shikenbisha'') is a class of Ranging Rook openings in which the rook is initially positioned on the fourth file if played by White or the sixth file if played by Black.
History
The earlie ...
) where the rook has been moved leftward away from its starting position. Additionally, Black is utilizing a
Silver Crown castle, which is a type of fortification structure constructed with one silver and two gold pieces and the king moved inside of the fortification – the ''silver crown'' name comes from the silver being positioned directly above the king's head on the 27 square as if it were a crown. In the diagram, White has chosen a
Static Rook
Static Rook (居飛車 ''ibisha'') openings in shogi typically have the player's rook at its start position, which is the second file (on the 28 square) for Black and the eighth file (on the 82 square) for White.
Explanation
Static Rook is a ...
position, in which the rook remains on its starting square. This Static Rook position is specifically a type of Counter-Ranging Rook position known as
Bear-in-the-hole Static Rook
In shogi, Bear-in-the-hole Static Rook or Anaguma Static Rook (居飛車穴熊 ''ibisha anaguma'') is a Static Rook opening that utilizes a Bear-in-the-hole castle.
It is typically played against Ranging Rook opponents.
vs Fourth File Rook, ...
that uses a
Bear-in-the-hole castle
The Bear-in-the-hole or Anaguma castle (穴熊 ''anaguma'', badger, lit. "hole-bear") is a castle used in shogi. (An anaguma is a Japanese badger.) It is commonly used in professional shogi.
History
The Bear-in-the-hole was initially a castle ...
. The Bear-in-the-hole fortification has the king moved all the way into very edge corner of the board on the 11 square as if it were a badger in a hole with a silver moved to the 22 square in order to close up the hole and additional reinforcing golds on 31 and 32 squares. This board position required 33 moves (or 12 move pairs as counted in western chess) to construct.
Etiquette
![Playingshogiinuenopark-april11-2014](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/56/Playingshogiinuenopark-april11-2014.jpg)
Shogi players are expected to follow etiquette in addition to rules explicitly described. Commonly accepted etiquette include the following:
* Greetings to the opponent both before and after the game
* Avoiding disruptive actions both during the game and after, for instance:
** Not changing the move once realized on the board
** Fair withdrawal without any disruption, such as scattering pieces on the board to demonstrate frustration
* Announcing one's resignation
Shogi piece sets may contain two types of king pieces, (king) and (jewel). In this case, the higher classed player, in either social or genuine shogi player rank, may take the king piece. For example, in
titleholder system {{Unreferenced, date=August 2007
The titleholder system is the most common type of structure used in professional tournaments in the game of go and shogi.
Overview
In practice these events almost always are based in East Asian countries with a prof ...
games, the current titleholder takes the king piece as the higher.
The higher-ranked (or older) player also sits facing the door of the room and is the person who takes the pieces out of the piece box.
Shogi does not have a
touch-move rule
The touch-move rule in chess specifies that a player, having the move, who deliberately touches a piece on the board must move or capture that piece if it is legal to do so. If it is the player's piece that was touched, it must be moved if the ...
as in western chess tournament play or
chu shogi
Chu shogi ( or Middle Shogi) is a strategy board game native to Japan. It is similar to modern shogi (sometimes called Japanese chess) in its rules and gameplay. Its name means "mid-sized shogi", from a time when there were three sizes of shogi ...
. However, in professional games, a piece is considered to be moved when the piece has been let go of. In both amateur and professional play, any piece may be touched in order to adjust its centralization within its square (to look tidy).
Taking back moves (待った ''matta'') in professional games is prohibited. However, in friendly amateur games in Japan, it is often permitted.
Professional players are required to follow several ritualistic etiquette prescriptions such as kneeling exactly 15 centimeters from the shogi board, sitting in the formal
seiza
): "proper/correct sitting", seiza ( ja, , link=no): "quiet sitting" , Jing zuo
'' Seiza '' ( or , literally "proper sitting") is the formal, traditional way of sitting in Japan.
Form
To sit ''seiza''-style, one must first be kneeling on the ...
position, etc.
Game setup
Traditionally, the order of placing the pieces on the board is determined. There are two commonly used orders, the ''Ōhashi'' order 大橋流 and the ''Itō'' order 伊藤流. Placement sets pieces with multiples (generals, knights, lances) from left to right in all cases, and follows the order:
# King
# Gold generals
# Silver generals
# Knights
:In ito, the player now places:
::5. Pawns (left to right starting from the leftmost file)
::6. Lances
::7. Bishop
::8. Rook
:In ohashi, the player now places:
::5. Lances
::6. Bishop
::7. Rook
::8. Pawns (starting from center file, then alternating left to right one file at a time)
Furigoma
Among amateur tournaments, the higher-ranked player or defending champion performs the piece toss. In professional games, the furigoma is done on the behalf of the higher-ranked player/champion by the timekeeper who kneels by the side of the higher-ranked player and tosses the pawn pieces onto a silk cloth. In friendly amateur games, a player will ask the opponent to toss the pawns out of politeness. Otherwise, the person who tosses the pawns can be determined by
Rock–paper–scissors
Rock paper scissors (also known by other orderings of the three items, with "rock" sometimes being called "stone," or as Rochambeau, roshambo, or ro-sham-bo) is a hand game originating in China, usually played between two people, in which each p ...
.
History
![Masuda Kozo](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/Masuda_Kozo.JPG)
From ''
The Chess Variant Pages
''The Chess Variant Pages'' is a non-commercial website devoted to chess variants. It was created by Hans Bodlaender in 1995. The site is "run by hobbyists for hobbyists" and is "the most wide-ranging and authoritative web site on chess variants". ...
'':
It is not clear when chess was brought to Japan. The earliest generally accepted mention of shogi is (1058–1064) by Fujiwara Akihira. The oldest archaeological evidence is a group of 16 shogi pieces excavated from the grounds of
Kōfuku-ji
is a Buddhist temple that was once one of the powerful Seven Great Temples in the city of Nara, Japan. The temple is the national headquarters of the Hossō school.
History
Kōfuku-ji has its origin as a temple that was established in 669 b ...
in
Nara Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Nara Prefecture has a population of 1,321,805 and has a geographic area of . Nara Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the north, Osaka Prefecture to the northwest, Wakayama P ...
. As it was physically associated with a wooden tablet written on in the sixth year of
Tenki (1058), the pieces are thought to date from that period. These simple pieces were cut from a writing plaque in the same five-sided shape as modern pieces, with the names of the pieces written on them.
The dictionary of common folk culture, (c. 1210–1221), a collection based on the two works and , describes two forms of shogi, large ''(dai)'' shogi and small ''(shō)'' shogi. These are now called
Heian shogi Heian shōgi (平安将棋 "Heian era chess") is a predecessor of modern shogi (Japanese chess). Some form of chess almost certainly reached Japan by the 9th century, if not earlier, but the earliest surviving Japanese description of the rules dat ...
(or Heian small shogi) and
Heian dai shogi Heian dai shogi ( ja, 平安大将棋 'Heian (Era) large chess') is an early large board variant of shogi (Japanese chess) as it was played in the Heian period. The same 12th century document which describes the Heian form of shogi also describes ...
. Heian small shogi is the version on which modern shogi is based, but the ''Nichūreki'' states that one wins if one's opponent is reduced to a single king, indicating that drops had not yet been introduced. According to Kōji Shimizu, chief researcher at the Archaeological Institute of Kashihara, Nara Prefecture, the names of the Heian shogi pieces keep those of
chaturanga
Chaturanga ( sa, चतुरङ्ग; ') is an ancient Indian strategy game. While there is some uncertainty, the prevailing view among chess historians is that it is the common ancestor of the board games chess (European), xiangqi (Chinese), ...
(general, elephant, horse, chariot and soldier), and add to them the five treasures of Buddhism (jade, gold, silver,
katsura tree
''Cercidiphyllum'' is a genus containing two species of plants, both commonly called katsura. They are the sole members of the monotypic family Cercidiphyllaceae. The genus is native to Japan and China and unrelated to ''Cercis'' (redbuds).
Desc ...
, and incense).
Around the 13th century the game of
dai shogi
Dai shogi (大将棋, 'large chess') or Kamakura dai shogi (鎌倉大将棋) is a chess variant native to Japan. It derived from Heian era shogi, and is similar to standard shogi (sometimes called Japanese chess) in its rules and game play. Dai sho ...
developed, created by increasing the number of pieces in Heian shogi, as was
sho shogi Shō shōgi (小将棋 'small chess') is a 16th-century form of shogi (Japanese chess), and the immediate predecessor of the modern game. It was played on a 9×9 board with the same setup as in modern shogi, except that an extra piece stood in front ...
, which added the rook, bishop, and drunken elephant from dai shogi to Heian shogi. The drunken elephant steps one square in any direction except directly backward, and promotes to the prince, which acts as a second king and must also be captured along with the original king for the other player to win. Around the 15th century, the rules of dai shogi were simplified, creating the game of
chu shogi
Chu shogi ( or Middle Shogi) is a strategy board game native to Japan. It is similar to modern shogi (sometimes called Japanese chess) in its rules and gameplay. Its name means "mid-sized shogi", from a time when there were three sizes of shogi ...
. Chu shogi, like its parent dai shogi, contains many distinct pieces, such as the queen (identical with Western chess) and the lion (which moves like a king, but twice per turn, potentially being able to capture twice, among other idiosyncrasies). The popularity of dai shogi soon waned in favour of chu shogi, until it stopped being played commonly. Chu shogi rivalled sho shogi in popularity until the introduction of drops in the latter, upon which standard shogi became ascendant, although chu shogi was still commonly played until about World War II, especially in
Kyoto
Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...
.
It is thought that the rules of standard shogi were fixed in the 16th century, when the drunken elephant was removed from the set of pieces present in sho shogi. There is no clear record of when drops were introduced, however.
In the
Edo period
The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...
, shogi variants were greatly expanded:
tenjiku shogi
Tenjiku shogi (天竺将棋 ''tenjiku shōgi,'' "Indian chess" or 天竺大将棋 ''tenjiku dai shōgi'' "great Indian chess") is a large-board variant of shogi (Japanese chess). The game dates back to the 15th or 16th century and was based on the ...
,
dai dai shogi Dai dai shōgi (大大将棋 'huge chess') is a large board variant of shogi (Japanese chess). The game dates back to the 15th century and is based on the earlier dai shogi. Apart from its size, the major difference is in the range of the pieces a ...
,
maka dai dai shogi
Maka dai dai shōgi (摩訶大大将棋 or 摩𩹄大大象戯 'ultra-huge chess') is a large board variant of shogi (Japanese chess). The game dates back to the 15th century and is based on dai dai shogi and the earlier dai shogi. The three Edo-e ...
,
tai shogi
Tai shogi (泰将棋 ''tai shōgi'' or 無上泰将棋 ''mujō tai shōgi'' "grand chess", renamed from 無上大将棋 ''mujō dai shōgi'' "supreme chess" to avoid confusion with 大将棋 '' dai shōgi'') is a large-board variant of shogi (Jap ...
, and
taikyoku shogi
is the largest known variant of shogi (Japanese chess). The game was created around the mid-16th century (presumably by priests) and is based on earlier large board shogi games. Before the rediscovery of taikyoku shogi in 1997, tai shogi was be ...
were all invented. It is thought that these were played to only a very limited extent, however. Both standard shogi and
Go were promoted by the
Tokugawa shogunate
The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...
. In 1612, the shogunate passed a law giving endowments to top shogi players (). During the reign of the eighth shōgun,
Tokugawa Yoshimune
was the eighth ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, ruling from 1716 until his abdication in 1745. He was the son of Tokugawa Mitsusada, the grandson of Tokugawa Yorinobu, and the great-grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu.
Lineage
Yoshimune ...
, castle shogi tournaments were held once a year on the 17th day of
Kannazuki
Japanese calendar types have included a range of official and unofficial systems. At present, Japan uses the Gregorian calendar together with year designations stating the year of the reign of the current Emperor. The written form starts with t ...
, corresponding to November 17, which is Shogi Day on the modern calendar.
The title of ''meijin'' became hereditary in the Ōhashi and Itō families until the fall of the shogunate, when it came to be passed by recommendation. Today the title is used for the winner of the
Meijin-sen competition, the first modern title match. From around 1899,
newspaper
A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background.
Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...
s began to publish records of shogi matches, and high-ranking players formed alliances with the aim of having their games published. In 1909, the was formed, and in 1924, the was formed. This was an early incarnation of the modern , or JSA, and 1924 is considered by the JSA to be the date it was founded.
In 1935, ''meijin''
Kinjirō Sekine
Kinjirō, Kinjiro or Kinjirou (written: , , or ) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include:
*, American inventor and politician
*, Japanese table tennis player
*, later known as , Japanese agricultural leader.
*, Ja ...
stepped down, and the rank of meijin came to be awarded to the winner of a . became the first Meijin under this system in 1937. This was the start of the
shogi title matches (see
titleholder system {{Unreferenced, date=August 2007
The titleholder system is the most common type of structure used in professional tournaments in the game of go and shogi.
Overview
In practice these events almost always are based in East Asian countries with a prof ...
). After the war other tournaments were promoted to title matches, culminating with the in 1988 for the modern line-up of seven. About 200 professional shogi players compete. Each year, the title holder defends the title against a challenger chosen from knockout or round matches.
After the Second World War,
SCAP
SCAP may refer to:
* S.C.A.P., an early French manufacturer of cars and engines
* Security Content Automation Protocol
* ''The Shackled City Adventure Path'', a role-playing game
* SREBP cleavage activating protein
* Supervisory Capital Assessment ...
(occupational government mainly led by US) tried to eliminate all "feudal" factors from Japanese society and shogi was included in the possible list of items to be banned along with
Bushido
is a moral code concerning samurai attitudes, behavior and lifestyle. There are multiple bushido types which evolved significantly through history. Contemporary forms of bushido are still used in the social and economic organization of Japan. ...
(philosophy of samurai) and other things. The reason for banning shogi for SCAP was its exceptional character as a board game seen in the usage of captured pieces. SCAP insisted that this could lead to the idea of prisoner abuse. But
Kozo Masuda, then one of the top professional shogi players, when summoned to the SCAP headquarters for an investigation, criticized such understanding of shogi and insisted that it is not shogi but western chess that potentially contains the idea of prisoner abuse because it just kills the pieces of the opponent while shogi is rather democratic for giving prisoners the chance to get back into the game. Masuda also said that chess contradicts the ideal of gender equality in western society because the king shields itself behind the queen and runs away. Masuda's assertion is said to have eventually led to the exemption of shogi from the list of items to be banned.
Tournament play
![WOSC-2013](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/WOSC-2013.jpg)
There are two organizations for shogi professional players in Japan: the JSA, and the , or LPSA. The JSA is the primary organization for men and women's professional shogi
while the LPSA is a group of women professionals who broke away from the JSA in 2007 to establish their own independent organization. Both organize tournaments for their members and have reached an agreement to cooperate with each other to promote shogi through events and other activities. Top professional players are fairly well-paid from tournament earnings. In 2016, the highest tournament earners were
Yoshiharu Habu
is a professional shogi player and a chess FIDE Master. His master is Tatsuya Futakami. He is the only person to simultaneously hold seven major professional shogi titles at the same time and is also the only person to qualify as a lifetime tit ...
and
Akira Watanabe who earned ¥91,500,000 and ¥73,900,000. (The tenth highest earner,
Kouichi Fukaura, won ¥18,490,000.)
The JSA recognizes two categories of shogi professionals: , and . Sometimes ''kishi'' are addressed as , a term from
Go used to distinguish ''kishi'' from other classes of players. JSA professional ranks and female professional ranks are not equivalent and each has their own promotion criteria and ranking system. In 2006, the JSA officially granted women "professional status". This is not equivalent, however, to the more traditional way of "gaining professional status", i.e., being promoted from the : leagues of strong amateur players aspiring to become a professional. Rather, it is a separate system especially designed for female professionals. Qualified amateurs, regardless of gender, may apply for the "Shoreikai System" and all those who successfully "graduate" are granted ''kishi'' status; however, no woman has yet to accomplish this feat (the highest women have reached is "Shoreikai 3 ''dan'' league" by
Kana Satomi
is a Japanese women's professional shogi player ranked 6-dan. She is the current holder of the Women's and titles as well as the , and titles, thus making her a . She is also the career leader in women's professional shogi major titles.
Sat ...
and
Tomoka Nishiyama
is a Japanese women's professional shogi player ranked 4-dan. She is the current holder of the and titles as well as a former holder of the and titles.
Early life and education
Nishiyama was born on June 27, 1995 in Ōsakasayama, Osaka. ...
), so ''kishi'' is
de facto
''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...
only used to refer to male shogi professionals.
The JSA is the only body which can organize tournaments for professionals, e.g., the eight major tournaments in the
titleholder system {{Unreferenced, date=August 2007
The titleholder system is the most common type of structure used in professional tournaments in the game of go and shogi.
Overview
In practice these events almost always are based in East Asian countries with a prof ...
and other professional tournaments. In 1996,
Yoshiharu Habu
is a professional shogi player and a chess FIDE Master. His master is Tatsuya Futakami. He is the only person to simultaneously hold seven major professional shogi titles at the same time and is also the only person to qualify as a lifetime tit ...
became the only ''kishi'' to hold seven major titles at the same time. For female professionals, both the JSA and LPSA organize tournaments, either jointly or separately. Tournaments for amateurs may be organized by the JSA and LPSA as well as local clubs, newspapers, private corporations, educational institutions or municipal governments for cities or prefectures under the guidance of the JSA or LPSA.
Since the 1990s, shogi has grown in popularity outside Japan, particularly in the
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
, and especially in
Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
. The January 2006 edition of stated that there were 120,000 shogi players in Shanghai. The spread of the game to countries where Chinese characters are not in common use, however, has been slower.
In Europe
![Shogi nidan](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3c/Shogi_nidan.JPG)
, in Europe there are currently over 1,200 active players.
Computer shogi
Shogi has the highest
game complexity
Combinatorial game theory has several ways of measuring game complexity. This article describes five of them: state-space complexity, game tree size, decision complexity, game-tree complexity, and computational complexity.
Measures of game comple ...
of all popular chess variants. Computers have steadily improved in playing shogi since the 1970s. In 2007, champion Yoshiharu Habu estimated the strength of the 2006 world computer shogi champion Bonanza at the level of two-dan shoreikai.
The JSA prohibits its professionals from playing computers in public without prior permission, with the reason of promoting shogi and monetizing the computer–human events.
On October 12, 2010, after some 35 years of development, a computer finally beat a professional player, when the top ranked female champion Ichiyo Shimizu was beaten by the Akara2010 system in a game lasting just over 6 hours.
On July 24, 2011, computer shogi programs Bonanza and Akara crushed the amateur team of Kosaku and Shinoda in two games. The allotted time for the amateurs was one hour and then three minutes per move. The allotted time for the computer was 25 minutes and then 10 seconds per move.
On April 20, 2013, GPS Shogi defeated 8-dan professional shogi player
Hiroyuki Miura in a 102-move game which lasted over 8 hours.
On December 13, 2015, the highest rated player on Shogi Club 24 was computer program Ponanza, rated 3455.
On April 10, 2016, Ponanza defeated Takayuki Yamasaki, 8-dan in 85 moves. Takayuki used 7 hours 9 minutes.
In October 2017,
DeepMind
DeepMind Technologies is a British artificial intelligence subsidiary of Alphabet Inc. and research laboratory founded in 2010. DeepMind was List of mergers and acquisitions by Google, acquired by Google in 2014 and became a wholly owned subsid ...
claimed that its program
AlphaZero
AlphaZero is a computer program developed by artificial intelligence research company DeepMind to master the games of chess, shogi and go. This algorithm uses an approach similar to AlphaGo Zero.
On December 5, 2017, the DeepMind team rel ...
, after a full nine hours of training, defeated
elmo
Elmo is a red Muppet monster character on the long-running PBS/ HBO children's television show ''Sesame Street''. A furry red monster who has a falsetto voice and illeism, he hosts the last full five-minute segment (fifteen minutes prio ...
in a 100-game match, winning 90, losing 8, and drawing two.
From a
computational complexity
In computer science, the computational complexity or simply complexity of an algorithm is the amount of resources required to run it. Particular focus is given to computation time (generally measured by the number of needed elementary operations) ...
point of view, generalized shogi is
EXPTIME-complete
In computational complexity theory, the complexity class EXPTIME (sometimes called EXP or DEXPTIME) is the set of all decision problems that are solvable by a deterministic Turing machine in exponential time, i.e., in O(2''p''(''n'')) time, whe ...
.
Video games
Hundreds of
video game
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...
s were released exclusively in Japan for several
consoles.
Culture
According to professional player
Yoshiharu Habu
is a professional shogi player and a chess FIDE Master. His master is Tatsuya Futakami. He is the only person to simultaneously hold seven major professional shogi titles at the same time and is also the only person to qualify as a lifetime tit ...
, in Japan shogi is viewed as not merely a game as entertainment or a mind sport but is instead an art that is a part of traditional Japanese culture along with
haiku
is a type of short form poetry originally from Japan. Traditional Japanese haiku consist of three phrases that contain a ''kireji'', or "cutting word", 17 '' on'' (phonetic units similar to syllables) in a 5, 7, 5 pattern, and a ''kigo'', or se ...
,
tanka
is a genre of classical Japanese poetry and one of the major genres of Japanese literature.
Etymology
Originally, in the time of the ''Man'yōshū'' (latter half of the eighth century AD), the term ''tanka'' was used to distinguish "short poem ...
,
noh
is a major form of classical Japanese dance-drama that has been performed since the 14th century. Developed by Kan'ami and his son Zeami, it is the oldest major theatre art that is still regularly performed today. Although the terms Noh and ' ...
,
ikebana
is the Japanese art of flower arrangement. It is also known as . The tradition dates back to Heian period, when floral offerings were made at altars. Later, flower arrangements were instead used to adorn the (alcove) of a traditional Japan ...
, and the
Japanese tea ceremony
The Japanese tea ceremony (known as or ) is a Japanese cultural activity involving the ceremonial preparation and presentation of , powdered green tea, the procedure of which is called . While in the West it is known as "tea ceremony", it is se ...
. Its elevated status was established by the ''
iemoto
is a Japanese term used to refer to the founder or current Grand Master of a certain school of traditional Japanese art. It is used synonymously with the term when it refers to the family or house that the iemoto is head of and represents.
Th ...
'' system supported by the historical
shogunate
, officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakur ...
.
The backwards ''uma'' (shogi horse symbol) is often featured on merchandise (such as on large decorative shogi piece sculptures, keychains, and other keepsakes) available for sale in
Tendō. It also serves as a symbol of good luck. (Cf.
Rabbit's foot
In some cultures, the foot of a rabbit is carried as an amulet believed to bring good luck. This belief is held by individuals in a great number of places around the world, including Europe, China, Africa, and North and South America. In variatio ...
.) There are multiple theories on its origin. One is that ''uma'' (うま ) spelled in the Japanese syllabary backwards is まう ''mau'' (舞う), which means ''(to) dance'' and dancing horses are a good luck omen.
File:左馬.gif, The backwards 馬 ''uma'' (左馬 ''hidari uma'')
File:Ningen shogi himeji.jpg, Ningen Shogi held in Himeji City with real people (2015)
File:Tendo station and shogi museum.jpg, Tendō shogi museum (right) next to Tendō Station
is a railway station in the city of Tendō, Yamagata, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East).
Lines
Tendō Station is served by the Ōu Main Line and the Yamagata Shinkansen, and is located rail kilometers from the terminus o ...
(top)
In popular culture
In the manga and anime series ''
Naruto
''Naruto'' is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. It tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, a young ninja who seeks recognition from his peers and dreams of becoming the Hokage, the leader of his village. T ...
'', shogi plays an essential part in
Shikamaru Nara
is a fictional character in the manga and anime franchise, ''Naruto'', created by Masashi Kishimoto. In the anime and manga, Shikamaru is a ninja affiliated with the village Hidden in the Leaves. He is a member of Team 10, a group of ninja consis ...
's character development. He often plays it with his sensei,
Asuma Sarutobi
The manga and anime series features an extensive cast of characters created by Masashi Kishimoto. The series takes place in a fictional universe where countries vie for power by employing ninja who can use superhuman abilities in combat. The ...
, apparently always beating him. When Asuma is fatally injured in battle, he reminds Shikamaru that the shogi king must always be protected, and draws a parallel between the king in shogi and the children who would grow up to take care of the Hidden Leaf (Konoha) in the future, as well as his yet-unborn daughter, Mirai, whom he wanted Shikamaru to guide.
Shogi has been a central plot point in the manga and anime ''
Shion no Ō
, subtitled ''The Flowers of Hard Blood'', is a Japanese manga series written by Masaru Katori and illustrated by Jiro Ando. It is published by Kodansha in the seinen manga magazine ''Monthly Afternoon'', and is collected in eight bound vo ...
'', the manga and anime ''
March Comes in Like a Lion'',
and the manga and television drama ''
81diver
is a manga written by Yokusaru Shibata. It was serialized in ''Weekly Young Jump'', published by Shueisha. It is aired as a drama series from May 3, 2008, starring Junpei Mizobata and Riisa Naka. The title refers to the main character's shogi ...
''.
In the manga and anime ''
Durarara!!
, often shortened to ''DRRR!!'', is a Japanese light novel series written by Ryohgo Narita, with illustrations by Suzuhito Yasuda. ''Durarara!!'' tells the story of a dullahan working as an underworld courier in Ikebukuro, an internet ...
'', the information broker Izaya Orihara plays a twisted version of chess, go and shogi, where he mixes all three games into one as a representation of the battles in
Ikebukuro
is a commercial and entertainment district in Toshima, Tokyo, Japan. Toshima ward offices, Ikebukuro station, and several shops, restaurants, and enormous department stores are located within city limits. It is considered the second largest ...
.
In the video game ''
Persona 5
is a 2016 role-playing video game developed by Atlus. It takes place in modern-day Tokyo and follows a high school student known by the pseudonym Joker who transfers to a new school after being falsely accused of assault and put on probation. ...
'', the Star confidant, a girl named Hifumi Togo, is a high school shogi player looking to break into the ranks of the professionals. The player character will gain a knowledge stat when spending time with the confidant, supposedly from learning to play shogi. The abilities learned from ranking up the confidant comes from Japanese shogi terms.
In the manga and anime ''
When Will Ayumu Make His Move?'', second-year high school student Urushi Yaotome is the president of her school's shogi club, though the club is considered illegitimate due to not having enough members, the only other member being first-year student Ayumu Tanaka.
See also
*
Mind sport
A mind sport, is a game of skill based on intellectual ability.
Etymology
The first major use of the term was as a result of the Mind Sports Olympiad in 1997. The phrase had been used prior to this event such as backgammon being described as ...
*
Shogi tactics
Many basic tactics (手筋 ''tesuji'', also translated as 'clever move') of shogi are similar to those of chess tactics, involving forks, pins, removing the defender and other techniques, all of which are considered very strong when used effectivel ...
*
Shogi strategy
Shogi, like western chess, can be divided into the opening, middle game and endgame, each requiring a different strategy. The opening consists of arranging one's defenses and positioning for attack, the middle game consists of attempting to break t ...
*
Shogi variant
A shogi variant is a game related to or derived from shogi (Japanese chess). Many shogi variants have been developed over the centuries, ranging from some of the largest chess-type games ever played to some of the smallest. A few of these variant ...
s
**
Chu shogi
Chu shogi ( or Middle Shogi) is a strategy board game native to Japan. It is similar to modern shogi (sometimes called Japanese chess) in its rules and gameplay. Its name means "mid-sized shogi", from a time when there were three sizes of shogi ...
**
Dai shogi
Dai shogi (大将棋, 'large chess') or Kamakura dai shogi (鎌倉大将棋) is a chess variant native to Japan. It derived from Heian era shogi, and is similar to standard shogi (sometimes called Japanese chess) in its rules and game play. Dai sho ...
**
Dōbutsu shōgi
is a small shogi variant for young children. It was invented by :Professional shogi player#Women's professionals, women's professional shogi player , partially to attract young girls to the game. It is played on a 3×4 board and generally follo ...
*
Tsumeshogi
or tsume (詰め) is the Japanese term for a shogi miniature problem in which the goal is to checkmate the opponent's king. Tsume problems usually present a situation that might occur in a shogi game (although unrealistic artistic tsume shogi exi ...
*
Chess variant
A chess variant is a game related to, derived from, or inspired by chess. Such variants can differ from chess in many different ways.
"International" or "Western" chess itself is one of a family of games which have related origins and could be co ...
s
**
Crazyhouse
Crazyhouse (also known as drop chess, mad chess, reinforcement chess, turnabout chess and schizo-chess) is a chess variant in which captured enemy pieces can be reintroduced, or ''dropped'', into the game as one's own. The drop rule resembles tha ...
*
Computer shogi
*
List of world championships in mind sports
This article gives a list of world championships in mind sports which usually represent the most prestigious competition for a specific board game, card game or mind sport. World championships can only be held for most games or mind sports with th ...
*
Janggi
''Janggi'' (including romanizations ''changgi'' and ''jangki''), sometimes called Korean chess, is a strategy board game popular on the Korean Peninsula. The game was derived from xiangqi (Chinese chess), and is very similar to it, including th ...
*
Xiangqi
''Xiangqi'' (; ), also called Chinese chess or elephant chess, is a strategy board game for two players. It is the most popular board game in China. ''Xiangqi'' is in the same family of games as '' shogi'', '' janggi'', Western chess, '' ch ...
Notes
References
Bibliography
* ''SHOGI Magazine'' (70 issues, January 1976 – November 1987) by The Shogi Association (edited by George Hodges)
*
*
*
*
*
*
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*
External links
Shogi Shack
Shogi Hubportal for current information about the shogi world (tournaments, news, etc.)
Shogi-Lshogi mailing list
Japanese–English shogi glossaryInternational Shogi Magazine
Rules
* Shogi Harbour
Level 1 Shogi Courseby women's professional player
Karolina Styczyńska
Karolina Fortin ( (), Japanese: カロリーナ・ステチェンスカ; born June 17, 1991) is a retired Polish women's professional shogi player who achieved the rank of 1-dan. She is the first non-Japanese to be awarded professional status b ...
40 shogi lessonson YouTube by HIDETCHI
by
Hans Bodlaender
Hans Leo Bodlaender (born April 21, 1960) is a Dutch computer scientist, a professor of computer science at Utrecht University. Bodlaender is known for his work on graph algorithms and parameterized complexity and in particular for algorithms relat ...
and Fergus Duniho, ''
The Chess Variant Pages
''The Chess Variant Pages'' is a non-commercial website devoted to chess variants. It was created by Hans Bodlaender in 1995. The site is "run by hobbyists for hobbyists" and is "the most wide-ranging and authoritative web site on chess variants". ...
''
Rules and Manners of Shogiby Tomohide Kawasaki (a.k.a. HIDETCHI)
FESA - Shogi official playing rulesby Jean-Louis Cazaux
Shogi and Dobutsu-Animal shogi rules to downloadby Filip Marek
Online play
81DojoEnglish-language shogi play online
LishogiShogi Dojo 24shogi server in Japan
Shogi WarsShogi QuestPlayOK shogiGoldTokenonline turn-based shogi
World Shogi Leagueinternational online tournament associated with 81Dojo and the
Japan Shogi Association
The , or JSA, is the primary organizing body for professional shogi in Japan. The JSA sets the professional calendar, negotiates sponsorship and media promotion deals, helps organize tournaments and title matches, publishes shogi-related materia ...
HamShogihandicap shogi against the computer
instructionsreal time play against human or (weak) computer players.
Online tools
将棋DB2shogi game record database
Kyokumenpediagame record databases as move decision tree with user-generated wiki annotations (associated with 81Dojo)
Shogi Playgroundrecord or play through games, mate problems, board positions
{{Authority control
Abstract strategy games
Japanese games
Traditional board games
Games related to chaturanga