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+"Japanese chess cedes nothing in depth or beauty to the European +game... it is at least as interesting."+-Each player at the beginning of a shogi game has a total of 20 pieces of -eight different types. The moves of the shogi pieces can be divided -into three classes: "stepping" pieces, that only move one square at a -time; "ranging" pieces that move any number of unobstructed squares in -a line, and "jumping" pieces that can jump over obstructing pieces to -reach their destination squares. Most pieces can also promote to -different (usually stronger) pieces under certain circumstances (see the -next section). All pieces capture the same way that they move (even -pawns). The piece moves and promotions are as follows; each piece name -is followed by the standard piece abbreviation: - +--- Alexander Alekhine
+(quoted in David Pritchard, The Encyclopedia of Chess Variants) +-
- -
- +"... shogi [is] by far the most complex form of chess that has ever +achieved widespread popularity." +
-The king (K). The king can move one square in any horizontal, vertical, -or diagonal direction, just like the king in international chess. The -king does not promote. - -
- +--- R. Wayne Schmittberger, New Rules for Classic Games +
-The rook (R). The rook can move any number of squares in a horizontal -or vertical direction. The rook is the same as the rook in -international chess (except that it can promote). A rook promotes to a -"dragon king" or "dragon" for short (often just referred to as a -"promoted rook"), which can move as a rook or can move one square in -any diagonal direction. +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: +
+
+ +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. +
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+ 2.1 The rules of shogi + 2.2 Sample game + 2.3 Mating problems + 2.4 Shogi variants + 2.5 Differences between shogi and chess
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