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2.4 Shogi variants

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- -Several historical variants of shogi exist. Most of these were invented -before modern shogi (in some cases hundreds of years before), are much -larger than modern shogi and are not played with drops. Thus, in many -ways they are really more like giant chess games than like modern shogi. -The only one of these games to have survived in Japan is Chu (middle) -shogi, which is still played a little bit. Thanks to the efforts of -George Hodges and John Fairbairn of the Shogi Association (two British -shogi enthusiasts), these games were resurrected and rules and sets for -them can still be purchased from George Hodges (see section 5. References and links). I hope to eventually extend GNU shogi so that it can play at -least some of these games. There are also several non-historical -variants of shogi; I don't know much about them but you can find -information about them on the internet (see section 5. References and links). -

- -The historical variants include: -

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  1. -Tori (bird) shogi, played on a 7x7 board with 32 pieces in all; this is -the only variant that is known to have been played with drops. -

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  2. -Wa shogi, played on an 11x11 board with 54 pieces. This game can be -played with or without drops but the historical evidence favors the view -that it was played without drops. However, most people who have tried -it claim it is a much better game with drops, being even more intricate -than standard shogi. -

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  3. -Chu (middle) shogi, played on a 12x12 board with 92 pieces. This was -(and is) by far the most popular of the variants, and has 21 different -kinds of pieces in the starting line-up alone (along with several others -that appear upon promotion). Unlike modern shogi, there are a -tremendous number of ranging pieces and the game is definitely not -played with drops. There is also an amazing piece called the Lion which -has a double king move and can capture two pieces at once! Chu shogi -has a small but fanatical following, some of whom consider it better -than modern shogi. -

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  4. -Dai (great) shogi, played on a 15x15 board with 130 pieces. Other than -the larger board, this game is very similar to Chu shogi. -

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  5. -Tenjiku (exotic) shogi, played on a 16x16 board with 176 pieces. This -game is possibly the most complex tactical game in existence. There are -many astoundingly powerful pieces, including one (the Fire Demon) that -can capture up to eight opposing pieces in a single move! Despite the -size of the game, checkmates can occur very suddenly (and often very -early on) if one player makes a wrong move. Tenjiku also has a small -but fanatical following, one of whom (Colin Adams) has written a book on -the game which is available for download at -http://www.colina.demon.co.uk/tenjiku.html. -

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  6. -Dai-dai (great-great) shogi, played on a 17x17 board with 192 pieces. -The opening setup alone has 64 different kinds of pieces! This game and -the larger ones that follow sound pretty outlandish, but they have -actually been played; a game of Dai-dai can supposedly be played in -about 12 hours. -

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  7. -Maka-dai-dai (great-great-great) shogi, played on a 19x19 board with 192 -pieces. For those for whom Dai-dai shogi is just too small :-) -

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  8. -Tai (grand) shogi, played on a 25x25 board with 354 pieces! Until -recently, this was thought to be the biggest chess game ever devised, -but now there is... -

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  9. -Kyoku tai (extremely grand?) shogi, played on a 36x36 board with 402 -pieces. The rules for this have just been unearthed in an old Japanese -book. Hopefully someone will soon organize a postal Kyoku tai shogi -championship; maybe their distant ancestors could finish it :-) -

    - -It is thought that the really huge games (Dai-dai and up) were never -really played to any significant extent (gee, wonder why?) and were -devised merely so that the creators could have the fun of inventing -enormous games, amazing their friends and confounding their enemies. -However, the games up to Tenjiku shogi at least appear to be quite -playable, assuming one has the time. -

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- -This document was generated -by Michael C. Vanier on July, 7 2004 -using texi2html - - -