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Rules Simplified for Easy Understanding
by Brian Leist "Gosh"
edited by Arlin Anderson "aea"
Objective:
The objective of shogi is to capture (or checkmate) the King of
the opposing army. The only other way to win is for your opponent to
resign.
Board and Pieces:
The board is 9x9 numbered 9 to 1 from left to right and either
with letters a through i (on IGS) or with roman numerals i to ix
(standard numbering) from top to bottom. Each side starts in the three
rows nearest it's side of the board. These last three rows also make up
the promotion area for the opposition (discussed later). Each side has
twenty pieces: 1 King, 2 Golds, 2 Silver, 2 Knights, 2 Lances, 9 Pawns,
1 Rook and 1 Bishop. The pieces are set up with the pawns across the
3rd row. The bishop one in from the left on the second row and the
rook one space in from the right on the second rank. The 1st row has
the king in the middle, flanked by the Golds then the silvers, the
knights and finally the lances. (Diagram below). The pieces have no
color (useful in the drop move explained later) and each side's pieces
are identified by the way they face or by a = or # on IGS.
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
a | =l | =n | =s | =G | =K | =G | =s | =n | =l | i
+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
b | | =r | | | | | | =b | | ii
+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
c | =p | =p | =p | =p | =p | =p | =p | =p | =p | iii
+----+----+----*----+----+----*----+----+----+
d | | | | | | | | | | iv
+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
e | | | | | | | | | | v
+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
f | | | | | | | | | | vi
+----+----+----*----+----+----*----+----+----+
g | #p | #p | #p | #p | #p | #p | #p | #p | #p | vii
+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
h | | #b | | | | | | #r | | viii
+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
i | #l | #n | #s | #G | #K | #G | #s | #n | #l | ix
+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pieces Movement:
The King can move only one space in any direction.
The Golds can move only one space as well in any non diagonal and
one space in the forward diagonals.
The Silvers can move only one space in any diagonal and one
space straight forward.
The Knights move forward one and then one to either forward
diagonal. These knights cannot go backwards or sideways, only forward.
Knights can jump other pieces (only pieces in game allowed to jump).
The Lances can move any number of spaces but only straight
forward.
The Pawns can move only one space and only straight ahead.
The Bishop can move any number of spaces on any diagonal.
The Rook can move any number of spaces sideways forward of
backwards.
Promotion:
If any piece other than the King and the Golds finish a move
into the last three rows on the other side of the board, the piece may
be promoted. The promotion alters the movement of the piece. Silvers,
Knights, Lances and Pawns are promoted to Golds with the same movement
as a Gold. The rook when promoted gains one space of movement on the
diagonals and the bishop when promoted gains one space of movement in
the non diagonals. The promotion is not required, but is permanent.
Sometimes it may be useful to keep the movement of the piece (usually
only Silvers are not promoted). Promoted pieces are designated by a
circle around the symbol (on underside of pieces so flip them over to
promote) or by capital letters instead of lower case (on IGS).
Capturing Pieces:
Whenever the movement of a piece causes it to finish on the same
space as an opponent's piece, that opponent's piece is captured and is
removed from the board. It is kept in reserve by the capturer to be
used later in the game by the Drop rule (see below).
Drops:
This is the move that makes Shogi different from all other games
in its class. Any piece captured from the opponent can be used by
placing it on any space on the board not occupied by another piece
(yours or opposition's). The only restrictions on dropping pieces
involve the pawn. Rule 1. No two non promoted pawns on the same side can
be in the same column. Rule 2. A pawn cannot be dropped to cause mate.
The only other restriction is no piece can be dropped so that it doesn't
have a move. This means no pawn or lance can be dropped on the last
row or no knight can be dropped on the last two rows. All dropped pieces
are unpromoted.
These are all the basic rules. "help shogi" on IGS will show you how to
type the moves in.
For an illustrated version, see: help shogirules1
See also: choice CC go shogi shogirules1 stats
If this message is too long for your terminal, use: mail me shogirules
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