+++ /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: About shogi</TITLE>
-
-<META NAME="description" CONTENT="GNU Shogi manual: About shogi">
-<META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="GNU Shogi manual: About shogi">
-<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="SEC5"></A>
-<TABLE CELLPADDING=1 CELLSPACING=1 BORDER=0>
-<TR><TD VALIGN="MIDDLE" ALIGN="LEFT">[<A HREF="gnushogi_4.html#SEC4"> < </A>]</TD>
-<TD VALIGN="MIDDLE" ALIGN="LEFT">[<A HREF="gnushogi_6.html#SEC6"> > </A>]</TD>
-<TD VALIGN="MIDDLE" ALIGN="LEFT"> <TD VALIGN="MIDDLE" ALIGN="LEFT">[<A HREF="gnushogi_2.html#SEC2"> << </A>]</TD>
-<TD VALIGN="MIDDLE" ALIGN="LEFT">[<A HREF="gnushogi.html#SEC_Top"> 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>
-<H1> 2. About the game of shogi </H1>
-<!--docid::SEC5::-->
-
-<P>
-
-<BLOCKQUOTE>
-"Japanese chess cedes nothing in depth or beauty to the European
-game... it is at least as interesting."
-<P>
-
---- Alexander Alekhine <BR>
-(quoted in David Pritchard, <CITE>The Encyclopedia of Chess Variants</CITE>)
-</P><P>
-
-"... shogi [is] by far the most complex form of chess that has ever
-achieved widespread popularity."
-</P><P>
-
---- R. Wayne Schmittberger, <CITE>New Rules for Classic Games</CITE>
-</BLOCKQUOTE>
-<P>
-
-Shogi is the version of chess played in Japan. It is strikingly
-different from standard chess (which I shall refer to henceforth as
-"international chess") and also to all other regional variants,
-because captured pieces can re-enter play on the side of the capturer.
-This has several interesting effects on the play of the game:
-</P><P>
-
-<OL>
-<LI>
-Shogi is much more complex than international chess, at least in
-terms of the average number of possible moves per turn (estimated at
-about 35 for chess and at about 80 for shogi).
-<P>
-
-<LI>
-There are almost no draws (about 1-2% of all games in professional play).
-<P>
-
-<LI>
-Exchanges complicate the play rather than simplifying it.
-<P>
-
-<LI>
-There are no "endgames" in the standard chess sense; all pieces remain
-in play throughout the game. Games typically end in a race to
-checkmate the other player before being checkmated oneself.
-<P>
-
-<LI>
-Ownership of a piece is not indicated by the color of the piece;
-instead, pieces are wedge-shaped and point towards the opponent. The
-name of the piece is inscribed in Kanji characters on the front of the
-piece.
-<P>
-
-<LI>
-Most importantly: it's more fun than other forms of chess :-)
-<P>
-
-</OL>
-<P>
-
-Shogi is extremely popular in Japan; it has been estimated that 20
-million Japanese can play shogi, of which perhaps 1 million are active
-players. It is even more popular there than the game of go, Japan's
-other favorite board game. There are a number of professional players
-who make a considerable amount of money playing in shogi tournaments,
-and the game receives extensive newpaper and television coverage.
-Despite this, the game has yet to become popular outside of Japan. Part
-of this is because the Kanji characters on the pieces scare away some
-people, but mostly it's due, I think, to lack of exposure to the game
-and to the difficulty of finding opponents. I hope that GNU shogi will
-help introduce shogi to a wider audience.
-</P><P>
-
-<BLOCKQUOTE><TABLE BORDER=0 CELLSPACING=0>
-<TR><TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="TOP"><A HREF="gnushogi_6.html#SEC6">2.1 The rules of shogi</A></TD><TD> </TD><TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="TOP"></TD></TR>
-<TR><TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="TOP"><A HREF="gnushogi_15.html#SEC15">2.2 Sample game</A></TD><TD> </TD><TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="TOP"></TD></TR>
-<TR><TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="TOP"><A HREF="gnushogi_16.html#SEC16">2.3 Mating problems</A></TD><TD> </TD><TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="TOP"></TD></TR>
-<TR><TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="TOP"><A HREF="gnushogi_17.html#SEC17">2.4 Shogi variants</A></TD><TD> </TD><TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="TOP"></TD></TR>
-<TR><TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="TOP"><A HREF="gnushogi_18.html#SEC18">2.5 Differences between shogi and chess</A></TD><TD> </TD><TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="TOP"></TD></TR>
-</TABLE></BLOCKQUOTE>
-<P>
-
-<A NAME="The rules of shogi"></A>
-<HR SIZE=1>
-<TABLE CELLPADDING=1 CELLSPACING=1 BORDER=0>
-<TR><TD VALIGN="MIDDLE" ALIGN="LEFT">[<A HREF="gnushogi_4.html#SEC4"> < </A>]</TD>
-<TD VALIGN="MIDDLE" ALIGN="LEFT">[<A HREF="gnushogi_6.html#SEC6"> > </A>]</TD>
-<TD VALIGN="MIDDLE" ALIGN="LEFT"> <TD VALIGN="MIDDLE" ALIGN="LEFT">[<A HREF="gnushogi_2.html#SEC2"> << </A>]</TD>
-<TD VALIGN="MIDDLE" ALIGN="LEFT">[<A HREF="gnushogi.html#SEC_Top"> 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