Shogi

Shogi (将棋, shōgi, generals' chess) is a board game from Japan. In English, it is also known as Japanese chess. It is a 2-player board game in the same family as International chess, and Chinese Xiangqi. Shogi is the most popular of a family of chess variants, and is native to Japan. Shōgi means general's (shō) boardgame (gi). In early years, however, shogi was written 象棋 (the same as Xiangqi, "elephant chess"). Each player starts with 20 pieces in the beginning of the game.

Shogi

A game of shogi (Fortress opening)
Genre(s)	Board game Abstract strategy game Mind sport
Players	2
Setup time	< 2 minutes
Playing time	30 mins. to 2 hours (typically)
Random chance	None
Random chance	None
Skill(s) required	Strategy, tactics
Synonym(s)	Japanese chess Game of Generals

The earliest predecessors of the game, chaturanga, originated in India in the 6th century AD, and spread from China to Japan, where it spawned a number of variants. 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was played as early as the 16th century, while a direct ancestor without the "drop rule" was recorded from 1210 in a historical document Nichūreki, which is an edited copy of Shōchūreki and Kaichūreki from the late Heian period (~1120).

According to ChessVariants.com, "Perhaps the enduring popularity of Shogi can be attributed to its 'drop rule'; it was the first chess variant wherein captured pieces could be returned to the board to be used as one's own. This has the consequence that few games are drawn, which is a weakness of international chess. David Pritchard credits the drop rule to the practice of 16th century mercenaries (ronin) who switched loyalties when captured—no doubt as an alternative to execution".

Pieces

• King

• Gold General

• Silver General

• Knight

• Lance

• Rook

• Bishop

• Pawn

Movement

Normal Pieces

• King: Moves like the king in chess.
• Gold General: Moves one square in any direction except diagonally backwards.
• Silver General: Moves one square diagonally in any direction and 1 square forward.
• Knight: Moves like the knight in chess, but it cannot go sideways or backwards and it can also jump over other pieces.
• Lance: Moves any number of squares forwards.
• Rook: Moves like the rook in chess.
• Bishop: Moves like the bishop in chess.
• Pawn: Moves like the pawn in chess and unlike the chess pawn, the shogi pawn captures the same way as they move.

Promoted Pieces

• Promoted Silver General, Knight, Lance and Pawn: Moves as the Gold General.
• Promoted Rook: Moves the same as the demoted Rook, but it can move one square diagonally in any direction.
• Promoted Bishop: Moves the same as the demoted Bishop, but it can move one square orthogonally (it means forwards, backwards, left or right) in any direction.

Famous players

• Hiroe Nakai, Ichiyo Shimizu, Kana Satomi - One of the strongest women shogi players in Japan

Related pages

• History of chess
• Xiangqi
• Chess