+++ /dev/null
-<HTML>
-<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
-<!-- Created on July, 7 2004 by texi2html 1.64 -->
-<!--
-Written by: Lionel Cons <Lionel.Cons@cern.ch> (original author)
- Karl Berry <karl@freefriends.org>
- Olaf Bachmann <obachman@mathematik.uni-kl.de>
- and many others.
-Maintained by: Olaf Bachmann <obachman@mathematik.uni-kl.de>
-Send bugs and suggestions to <texi2html@mathematik.uni-kl.de>
-
--->
-<HEAD>
-<TITLE>GNU Shogi manual: Shogi variants</TITLE>
-
-<META NAME="description" CONTENT="GNU Shogi manual: Shogi variants">
-<META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="GNU Shogi manual: Shogi variants">
-<META NAME="resource-type" CONTENT="document">
-<META NAME="distribution" CONTENT="global">
-<META NAME="Generator" CONTENT="texi2html 1.64">
-
-</HEAD>
-
-<BODY LANG="" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#000000" LINK="#0000FF" VLINK="#800080" ALINK="#FF0000">
-
-<A NAME="SEC17"></A>
-<TABLE CELLPADDING=1 CELLSPACING=1 BORDER=0>
-<TR><TD VALIGN="MIDDLE" ALIGN="LEFT">[<A HREF="gnushogi_16.html#SEC16"> < </A>]</TD>
-<TD VALIGN="MIDDLE" ALIGN="LEFT">[<A HREF="gnushogi_18.html#SEC18"> > </A>]</TD>
-<TD VALIGN="MIDDLE" ALIGN="LEFT"> <TD VALIGN="MIDDLE" ALIGN="LEFT">[<A HREF="gnushogi_5.html#SEC5"> << </A>]</TD>
-<TD VALIGN="MIDDLE" ALIGN="LEFT">[<A HREF="gnushogi_5.html#SEC5"> Up </A>]</TD>
-<TD VALIGN="MIDDLE" ALIGN="LEFT">[<A HREF="gnushogi_19.html#SEC19"> >> </A>]</TD>
-<TD VALIGN="MIDDLE" ALIGN="LEFT"> <TD VALIGN="MIDDLE" ALIGN="LEFT"> <TD VALIGN="MIDDLE" ALIGN="LEFT"> <TD VALIGN="MIDDLE" ALIGN="LEFT"> <TD VALIGN="MIDDLE" ALIGN="LEFT">[<A HREF="gnushogi.html#SEC_Top">Top</A>]</TD>
-<TD VALIGN="MIDDLE" ALIGN="LEFT">[<A HREF="gnushogi_toc.html#SEC_Contents">Contents</A>]</TD>
-<TD VALIGN="MIDDLE" ALIGN="LEFT">[<A HREF="gnushogi_24.html#SEC24">Index</A>]</TD>
-<TD VALIGN="MIDDLE" ALIGN="LEFT">[<A HREF="gnushogi_abt.html#SEC_About"> ? </A>]</TD>
-</TR></TABLE>
-<HR SIZE=1>
-<H2> 2.4 Shogi variants </H2>
-<!--docid::SEC17::-->
-<P>
-
-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 <A HREF="gnushogi_21.html#SEC21">5. References and links</A>). 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 <A HREF="gnushogi_21.html#SEC21">5. References and links</A>).
-</P><P>
-
-The historical variants include:
-</P><P>
-
-<OL>
-
-<LI>
-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.
-<P>
-
-<LI>
-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.
-<P>
-
-<LI>
-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.
-<P>
-
-<LI>
-Dai (great) shogi, played on a 15x15 board with 130 pieces. Other than
-the larger board, this game is very similar to Chu shogi.
-<P>
-
-<LI>
-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
-<A HREF="http://www.colina.demon.co.uk/tenjiku.html">http://www.colina.demon.co.uk/tenjiku.html</A>.
-<P>
-
-<LI>
-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.
-<P>
-
-<LI>
-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 :-)
-<P>
-
-<LI>
-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...
-<P>
-
-<LI>
-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 :-)
-<P>
-
-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.
-</P><P>
-
-</OL>
-<P>
-
-<A NAME="Differences between shogi and chess"></A>
-<HR SIZE=1>
-<TABLE CELLPADDING=1 CELLSPACING=1 BORDER=0>
-<TR><TD VALIGN="MIDDLE" ALIGN="LEFT">[<A HREF="gnushogi_16.html#SEC16"> < </A>]</TD>
-<TD VALIGN="MIDDLE" ALIGN="LEFT">[<A HREF="gnushogi_18.html#SEC18"> > </A>]</TD>
-<TD VALIGN="MIDDLE" ALIGN="LEFT"> <TD VALIGN="MIDDLE" ALIGN="LEFT">[<A HREF="gnushogi_5.html#SEC5"> << </A>]</TD>
-<TD VALIGN="MIDDLE" ALIGN="LEFT">[<A HREF="gnushogi_5.html#SEC5"> Up </A>]</TD>
-<TD VALIGN="MIDDLE" ALIGN="LEFT">[<A HREF="gnushogi_19.html#SEC19"> >> </A>]</TD>
-<TD VALIGN="MIDDLE" ALIGN="LEFT"> <TD VALIGN="MIDDLE" ALIGN="LEFT"> <TD VALIGN="MIDDLE" ALIGN="LEFT"> <TD VALIGN="MIDDLE" ALIGN="LEFT"> <TD VALIGN="MIDDLE" ALIGN="LEFT">[<A HREF="gnushogi.html#SEC_Top">Top</A>]</TD>
-<TD VALIGN="MIDDLE" ALIGN="LEFT">[<A HREF="gnushogi_toc.html#SEC_Contents">Contents</A>]</TD>
-<TD VALIGN="MIDDLE" ALIGN="LEFT">[<A HREF="gnushogi_24.html#SEC24">Index</A>]</TD>
-<TD VALIGN="MIDDLE" ALIGN="LEFT">[<A HREF="gnushogi_abt.html#SEC_About"> ? </A>]</TD>
-</TR></TABLE>
-<BR>
-<FONT SIZE="-1">
-This document was generated
-by <I>Michael C. Vanier</I> on <I>July, 7 2004</I>
-using <A HREF="http://www.mathematik.uni-kl.de/~obachman/Texi2html
-"><I>texi2html</I></A>
-
-</BODY>
-</HTML>
projects / gnushogi.git / blobdiff