Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!cmcl2!seismo!rlgvax!takashi From: takashi@rlgvax.UUCP (Takashi Iwasawa) Newsgroups: net.games.chess Subject: Re: Shogi/Japanese Chess Variant Message-ID: <927@rlgvax.UUCP> Date: Tue, 18-Feb-86 13:30:19 EST Article-I.D.: rlgvax.927 Posted: Tue Feb 18 13:30:19 1986 Date-Received: Wed, 19-Feb-86 20:34:02 EST References: <951@houxa.UUCP> Organization: CCI Office Systems Group, Reston, VA Lines: 153 > I recently discovered a Japanese chess variation, called > "Shogi", which I believe some of you might find interesting. > What follows here is a description of the game. > > The major differences between 'our' chess and Shogi are as > follows: > > 1) Shogi is played on a 9x9 board > 2) Pieces have slightly different capabilities. > 3) All pieces, with the exception of the 'king' and a > 'gold' (explanation to follow) are allowed to promote. > Promotion is fixed (that is, each piece turns into > another certain kind of piece. Under-promotion is > not allowed). > 4) Promotion occurs when pieces reach the 7th, 8th, or 9th > rows, not just the last. > 5) A player, in his turn, has the option of moving a piece > or, if he has captured any of the opponent's pieces, can > 'warp in' one of these captured pieces AS HIS OWN, on > any unoccupied square. If placed in the 7th, 8th, or > 9th rows the piece does not promote until it is moved > once, and then only if it is not moved to the first > six rows. > > The initial board configuration is as follows: > > L N S G K G S N L > . R . . . . . B . > P P P P P P P P P > . . . . . . . . . > . . . . . . . . . > . . . . . . . . . > p p p p p p p p p > . b . . . . . r . > l n s g k g s n l > > where: > > L is a 'lance'. Lances move straight forward only, any number of > squares. They promote to 'Golds'. > > N is a knight. Knights move as do traditional knights, and as with > traditional knights they are allowed to 'jump over' other pieces. > No other piece has this capability. Lances promote to Golds. > > S is a 'silver'. Silvers have no counterpart in traditional chess, > and move as follows: they can move one square to the three squares > in front of them, or to the two rear diagonals but NOT directly > back, to the left, or to the right. As follows: > > X X X > . S . > X . X > > where the X's indicate possible moves. Silvers promote to > golds. > > G is a 'gold'. Using the notation above, golds have the possible > moves > > X X X > X G X > . X . > > Golds do not promote: that is, they remain golds. Golds > and silvers can be thought of as have slightly restricted > variations of a king's movement. > > K is a king, and moves as does a normal king. > > R is a rook, and moves as does a normal rook. Upon promotion, > it turns into a 'super-rook': it is still able to move as > does a rook, but if required, it can instead move to any > adjacent square. (Think of a super-rook's movement as being > that of a rook or that of a king.) > > B is a bishop, and moves as does a normal bishop. Upon promotion, > it turns into a 'super-bishop': it is still able to move as > does a bishop, but if required, it can instead move to any > adjacent square. (Once again, it has either a king's movement > or an ordinary bishop's). > > P is a pawn. Pawns move one square at a time, directly forward > only. They do not capture to the diagonals, and are not > allows the 'en-passant' moves or the initial double-jump. > > All pieces capture on squares they can move to. > > The physical implementation of the board requires that all > pieces be the same color since an opponent's piece can become > your own, and vice versa. Instead of color-differentiation, > Shogi uses orientation-differentiation. Pieces are yours > if they 'point' towards the opponent, and the opponent's if > they 'point' towards you. They generally have the following > shape: > > > ----- > / --- \ > / ----- \ > / ------- \ > / --------- \ > ------------- > > Furthermore, they are flat, such that they can be turned over > when promoted. (Each side has a character indicating the piece's > value; note that although most pieces promote to golds, the promotion- > side character on a lance is different from that on the promotion-side > of a silver, even though they both become golds. This is because > Captured pieces, when warped back onto the board, revert to their > original status even though they may have been promoted while under > the opponent's control. One needs a way to differentiate between > promoted knights, silvers, pawns, etc. since this has a serious effect > one one's strategy.) > > That's it! If anyone is interested either in play-by-email, or > in person if you live in New Jersey near Holmdel/Eatontown/Rumson, > please contact me. I will also answer any questions you may > have about the game. > > J. Christopher Ramming > HOME: (201) 542-2079 > WORK: (201) 949-9531 > UUCP: decvax!bellcore!houxa!qts *** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR MESSAGE *** I haven't played shogi since I was a child in Japan, so I might be wrong, but I think Mr. Ramming has left out a few rules. * Movement out of 7, 8, and 9th ranks allow you to promote. * Promotion is voluntary (but see next rule). * You can't have a piece that can't move. I.e. you can't have a pawn or lance on the ninth rank, or a knight on 8th or 9th rank. If you have an unpromoted pawn on the 8th rank and move it to the 9th, you must promote it. * You cannot "warp in" a pawn on a column that already has an unpromoted pawn that you own. * You cannot mate by "warping in" a pawn (other pieces are OK). * Knights move only forward. * Pawns promote to "gold". Why would you ever want a piece that can't move? Well, if your king is on the 9th rank and is under check from a rook or a bishop, and you have a pawn or a knight, you might want to "warp in" a pawn on the 9th rank or knight on 8th rank to get out of check....but you can't do it. Takashi Iwasawa