Shogi (or Japanese Chess) is one of the world's best strategy games.
The modern game of Shogi dates from the sixteenth century, and is based on
a far more ancient game (Little Shogi) which was similar in most respects
but which was played without the capacity to re-enter (drop) captured
pieces back into play.
The ability to return captured pieces to the board adds greatly to the
appeal, scope and depth of the game. Shogi is more complex than Western
Chess and has deeper strategy.
While the options in the Western game are reduced by the time the end game
is reached, in Shogi the number of possible lines of play is increased
which makes for a very challenging and exciting game.
Shogi has a large following in Japan, where it is played by over 10 million
people, and supports a number of profession players. The popularity of the
game is steadily increasing in the West.
THE GAME
=========
Shogi is played on a board of 9 x 9 squares and each player has 20 pieces
(including 9 pawns).
The pieces are flat and wedge-shaped and are not distinguished by colour.
Although the pieces are of uniform colour the first player is still
conventionally referred to as 'Black' and the second player as 'White'.
Ownership of the pieces is indicated by the direction in which they face,
with a player's pieces always pointing towards the opponent.
The players make alternate moves, with the object being to capture the
opposing 'King'.
As in Western Chess, when a 'King' is about to be captured next move and
no legal move can be made to prevent the capture, the piece is said to be
'Checkmated'.
On each turn a player can either:
a) move one piece according to its power of movement to a vacant square
on the board, or to a square occupied by an enemy piece (in which
case the enemy piece is captured and removed);
or,
b) 'Drop' (re-enter) a previously captured piece on almost any vacant
square.
THE PIECES
===========
The Piece Help screen provides the names, notation symbols, promotion
details, and powers of movement for all of the pieces in the game.
[The Piece Help screen can be reached by clicking on the 'Pieces' button]
JUMPING PIECES
===============
The 'Knight' is the only piece in Shogi that has the power to jump over
occupied squares. The Shogi 'Knight' has the same move as the equivalent
piece in the Western game (ie: it may move one square orthogonally then
one square diagonally), except that its move is limited to the forward
direction only.
PROMOTION
==========
Each player has a Promotion Zone consisting of the three ranks (rows of
squares) furthest away from him. All pieces except the 'King' and 'Gold'
have a promoted rank and can promote on entering, moving within, or leaving
the Promotion Zone.
On promotion:
- The 'Rook' gains the power to move 1 square in any diagonal direction.
The 'Promoted Rook' is sometimes known as the 'Dragon'.
- The 'Bishop' gains the power to move 1 square in any orthogonal direction
and its promoted form is often referred to as the 'Horse'.
- All other pieces move as a 'Gold' on promotion.
Promotion is not compulsory unless the piece would be unable to make a
further legal move in its unpromoted state. The 'Pawn' and 'Lance' must
therefore promote on reaching the last rank (that furthest from the player)
and the 'Knight' must promote if it reaches either of the last two ranks.
There can be advantages, particularly with the 'Silver', but also with the
'Knight' and 'Lance' of not promoting immediately on entering the Promotion
Zone.
As in all the games in the Shogi family, in Shogi sets the promoted rank is
shown on the reverse side of the piece, and the piece is turned over on
promotion to reveal the new rank. The promoted 'Silver','Lance','Knight'
and 'Pawn' all use slightly different cursive forms of the Japanese
character for 'Gold', so that they can be distinguished from each other.
CAPTURES
=========
A captured piece is removed from the board and is held by the capturing
player. The held piece (which is said to be 'in hand') may subsequently be
'dropped' back into play on the side of the player who made the capture.
All promoted pieces revert to their unpromoted ranks when captured.
DROPS
======
In place of a move a player may elect to 'drop' a piece held in hand back
into play. In general, a piece held in hand may be re-entered on any vacant
square, subject to the following restrictions:
a) A piece may not be dropped on a square from which it has no further
legal move. (ie: a Pawn or Lance can not be dropped on the last rank,
and a Knight can not be dropped on either of the last two ranks).
b) A Pawn can not be dropped in any file (column of squares) already
containing an unpromoted Pawn of the same side.
c) A Pawn can not be re-entered directly in front of the opposing 'King'
so as to give instant 'Checkmate'.
A piece dropped inside the player's Promotion Zone is not promoted until
after it has made a further move on the board.
DRAWN GAMES
=============
Drawn games are very rare in Shogi, but they can occur either through
repetition of moves, or by impasse.
A game is declared no-contest if the same position occurs four times during
the game. The positions of the pieces on the board, the pieces in hand and
the turn to play must all be the same for a position to be considered to
have been repeated. A player is not permitted to cause repetition of moves
by continuously 'Checking' (threatening to capture) the opposing King.
An impasse may be reached (and no-contest declared) if both players have
advanced their Kings into the enemy camp and neither player has sufficient
pieces on the board or in hand to force 'Checkmate'. This situation can
arise as many of the pieces in Shogi are restricted in backwards movement
and can not be used to full advantage against an opposing King that has
advanced into the player's own camp.
HANDICAP PLAY
===============
Handicaps are often given when players of unequal strength play Shogi in
Japan. The reason that handicap play is common is that the handicap system
in Shogi works far better than that used in Western Chess.
In a handicap game a player offers a handicap of one or more pieces to an
opponent of less strength. In Japan, there is a comprehensive system of
determining the appropriate handicap according to the respective rankings
of the players.
The player offering the handicap plays 'White'and his opponent (as 'Black')
removes the handicap pieces as the first move of the game. In handicap play
'White' therefore makes the first move on the board.
Pieces removed as a handicap are totally removed from play and are not
held in-hand by 'Black'.
NOTATION
==========
The following notation system is used for recording Shogi games in this
program.
The files are designated by numbers (1 to 9), and the ranks by letters
(a to i). The files are numbered from right to left (in the Japanese
fashion), and the ranks from top to bottom (from Black's point of view).
The top right square is therefore 1a.
A move is described by giving:
a) the designation of the piece (eg: L for Lance); this designation is
preceded by a '+' if it is at its promoted rank,
b) followed by the method of moving;
'-' for a simple move on the board,
'x' for a capture,
'*' for a drop,
c) then the destination square is recorded,
d) finally if the piece promoted on that turn, this is recorded by
adding '+' after the move, or if promotion was possible but was
refused, the symbol '=' is added.
If more than one piece of the same type can reach the destination square
then the starting square is also given after the piece designation to
avoid confusion.
A 'Lance' moving from 5d to 5c (which was occupied by an enemy piece) and
promoting is therefore recorded as Lx5c+.
NOTE: This system is the official notation system of 'The Shogi
Association'.
DISPLAYING LEGAL MOVES
=========================
If the 'Show Move' option is selected from the Moves Menu, clicking the left
mouse button on a piece on the board or 'in hand' during play will show all
the legal moves of that piece:
- All legal moves (including 'drops') to vacant squares are represented
as White Circles,
- Legal captures are shown as Red Circles.
