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2.5 Differences between shogi and chess

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- -Some differences between shogi and international chess have been -mentioned elsewhere in this document; I summarize them here for people -who are interested in game comparisons. I won't try to deal with the -thorny question of which game is "better" although my bias may have -already come through :-) In fact, the drop rule makes the two games so -different in character that arguing over which game is better is like -comparing apples to oranges (you'd be better off comparing chess to Chu -shogi (see section 2.4 Shogi variants). However, I believe that if you are a -chess fan you'll really like shogi as well, and shogi is also popular -with many people who don't particularly like chess. -

- -Here are the significant differences between chess and shogi: -

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  1. -In shogi, captured pieces become the property of the capturer and can -re-enter play by being dropped onto almost any vacant square. In chess, -captured pieces are out of the game. Thus, in shogi, piece exchanges -complicate the play significantly while in chess they simplify it. -

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  2. -The shogi board is 9x9; the chess board is 8x8. -

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  3. -Shogi has five pieces with no counterpart in chess: the gold and silver -generals, the lance, the promoted rook and the promoted bishop. Chess -has one piece with no counterpart in shogi: the queen. The knight's -move in shogi is much more restrictive than in chess. Pieces in shogi -generally have a much smaller range of movement than in chess (unless -they are in hand). -

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  4. -In shogi, all pieces except the gold general and the king can promote, -but only to one kind of piece. Promotion is easier in shogi because the -promotion zone is closer to the starting position of the pieces -(especially pawns). In chess, only the pawn can promote, but it can -promote to any other piece except the king. -

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  5. -In shogi, pawns capture the same way they move. There is no initial -two-space pawn move and hence no en-passant captures. In chess, -pawns capture diagonally which means that opposing pawns can block each -other. -

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  6. -In shogi, you only have one rook and one bishop. Note that the bishop -is not restricted to only one "color" square (squares in shogi aren't -colored, but never mind) because promoted bishops can also move one -square orthogonally. -

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  7. -There is no special castling move in shogi. The term "castle" is -used in shogi to denote a defensive formation consisting of (usually) -three generals which protect the king. There are many such castles -(about 40 or so have names). See section 2.2 Sample game. -

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  8. -Draws are much rarer in shogi than in chess. Perpetual check is not -allowed. Stalemate is a virtual impossibility, and is a loss for the -stalematee. -

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  9. -Since pieces are never out of play in shogi, chess-type endgames -involving only a few pieces do not occur. -

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  10. -Shogi games are generally longer than chess games (about 60-70 moves is -typical). -

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  11. -Shogi has a well-developed handicap system which is in general use; -chess does not. -

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- -The effects of all these differences on play include (in my opinion): -

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  1. -Piece/pawn structures in chess are more rigid than in shogi. Pawns -block each other and pawns, once advanced, cannot ever retreat. In -shogi, you can repair the hole caused by a pawn advance by exchanging -the pawn and dropping it back where you want it. Thus shogi is more -fluid than chess and less "structural". -

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  2. -Counterattack is MUCH more common in shogi than in chess. Games -typically end in mutual mating attacks, where each player is trying to -checkmate the other player before being checkmated himself. This makes -tempo incredibly important and also makes sacrificial play quite common. -

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  3. -Attacks involving only ranging pieces are more a feature of chess than -of shogi. A shogi attack typically uses a ranging piece or pieces to -support an attack by short-range pieces (especially generals). It is -very rare to mate a king with a non-adjacent ranging piece in shogi -since the player whose king is threatened can almost always interpose by -dropping a piece. -

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