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+<TITLE>GNU Shogi manual - Drops</TITLE>
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+
+
+<H3><A NAME="SEC11">Drops</A></H3>
+<P>
+<A NAME="IDX8"></A>
+
+
+<P>
+When a player captures a piece, that piece is not removed from play.
+Instead, it becomes the property of the capturer and can re-enter play
+by being placed on (almost) any vacant square during the player's move.
+This is known as a "drop" and counts as a full move (in other words,
+you can either move a piece on the board or drop a piece onto the board
+during your move, but not both). All pieces drop in the unpromoted
+state. Pieces may be legally dropped in their promotion zone, but they
+do not promote on that turn.
+
+
+<P>
+There are several restrictions on drops:
+
+
+
+<OL>
+
+<LI>A pawn may not be dropped onto a file if there is already an
+
+unpromoted pawn belonging to the same player on that file. It is legal
+to drop a pawn on a file which contains a <EM>promoted</EM> pawn belonging
+to the same player, however.
+
+<LI>A pawn may not be dropped to give immediate checkmate on the
+
+move. A pawn is, however, permitted to be moved on the board to give
+immediate checkmate. This is a curious rule, and if anyone knows the
+reason for it I would appreciate it if they would contact me and explain
+it to me :-)
+
+<LI>A pawn or piece may not be dropped onto a square from which they
+
+would have no legal move. This means that pawns and lances may not be
+dropped onto the last rank, and the knight may not be dropped onto the
+last or second-to-last rank.
+
+</OL>
+
+<P>
+It is entirely permissible (and often advisable) to drop a piece or pawn
+between one's King and an attacking ranging piece. For this reason,
+the final checkmating move is nearly always an attack on the King from
+an adjacent square (except for an attack by a Knight).
+
+
+<P>
+Captured pieces are said to be pieces "in hand".
+
+
+<P>
+The drop is the primary distinguishing feature of Japanese chess, shared
+with no other popular chess-type game. It gives shogi a very aggressive
+quality, and dramatically increases the number of possible moves once a
+few pieces have been captured. Another interesting feature of shogi is
+that exchanges complicate play rather than simplifying it (as in
+international chess), because of the drop rule.
+
+
+<P></P><HR>
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