From: karttu@mits.mdata.fi (Antti Karttunen)
Newsgroups: rec.games.chess
Subject: Re: Shogi "Japanese Chess."
Keywords: Chess Shogi
Date: 4 Sep 92 21:17:50 GMT
Organization: MITS, Helsinki, Finland

In article <Bu0Joo.EKs@casper.cs.uct.ac.za> mpinnock@casper.cs.uct.ac.za (M B Pinnock) writes:
>
>I recently discovered an apparently ancient Japanese board game
>called Shogi (I think). I know very little about it except that it bears
>some resemblance to chess. It is apparently still very popular in Japan.

Well, I don't know whether it's any more ancient than the Western Chess.
But there have been all kind of ancient versions of Shogi (Little Shogi,
Middle Shogi, Great Shogi, Great-Great Shogi, Maka-Great-Great Shogi
(19 squares each way and 192 pieces. 'Maka' is the Japanese rendering
of Sanskrit 'Maha', meaning great, so the game is called Great^3 Shogi),
and finally Tai-Shogi). This last one being supreme chess-to-end-all-chess,
invented by some recreational megalomaniac with a board 25 squares each way
and a total of 354 pieces.
From "Shogi, Japan's Game of Strategy":
  The opening set-up of a game of Maka-Great-Great Shogi is like a
menagerie. The first rank is presumably human, with its Gold, Silver,
Copper, Iron, Stone, and Clay generals, but the next four ranks are a
jungle of Furious Dragons, Raging Tigers, Blind Boars, Soaring Phoenixes,
Hard-Biting Wolves, Thrashing Serpents, and even the odd Cat and Old Rat.
In front of this horde is a single line of 19 stolid Pawns. In the rear
is the Commander who might well say like the Duke of Wellington at a
march-past, "I don't know what effect they'll have on the enemy, but by
Heaven they frighten me!"
  One would think that the play must have been hopelessly confused;
however, we know that this mastodon of a game was actually played.
On September 12, 1142 a minister at court recorded in his diary that he
played Maka-Great-Great-Shogi in the Imperial presence, adding the
pathetic note, "I lost."
  Towards the end of the sixteenth century a great purge was made,
and the game was standardized to a board 9 squares each way and a
total of 40 pieces. The reform is traditionally attributed to the
Emperor Go-Nara who based it on Little Shogi minus the Elephants
and Leopards.

>
>If anyone knows the rules and a little about the game, I would
>greatly appreciate the info.
>
>You can mail to me directly at the address given below (if you like).
>
>Brian Pinnock

>mpinnock@casper.cs.uct.ac.za | 

Well, our mailer responded that "unknown toplevel domain", so I must
post this instead.

Okay, here's the part of the help file for the Shoogi Server software
I have written for our local BBS, allowing the users to play Shogi
against each other. Maybe I will post the sources one day, when it's
ready... (And this help file is still just the draft, so there might be
some errors and typos.)


--    SHOGI

      Note: Most of this information is shamelessly copied from
      John Fairbairn's book "SHOGI FOR BEGINNERS" published by
      The Shogi Association, Ltd. P.O. Box 77, Bromley, Kent,
      United Kingdom, First published in Japan by The Ishi Press,
      Inc., 1984. Third printing September 1987.
      Some information is also from "SHOGI, JAPAN'S GAME OF STRATEGY",
      by Trevor Leggett, published by the Charles E. Tuttle Company,
      Inc. First edition 1966, Seventh printing 1980.
      (ISBN 0-8048-0526-1.)
      And there is also some ravings of my own between...

      Shogi is the Japanese representative of the family of
      chess games - together with the "Western" and the Chinese
      chess - all of which are offshoots of the Indian chaturanga.
      The object of the game is the same as in western chess (which
      from here on is referred simply as "chess"), to mate the
      opponent's king.

      The most important differences from the chess are:

    1. The captured pieces are not removed from a game completely,
       but instead become the property of the capturing side
       and can be later dropped on the board, now playing for
       capturer's side. For this reason all the pieces are of the
       same color, and only the direction they are pointing to
       tells which player they are fighting for. (In Shoogi Server
       uppercase letters are for the Black, and lowercase letters
       for the White.)

    2. There are some "new" pieces not encountered in chess,
       although there are also pieces similar to those in chess.

    3. The most pieces can be promoted when they reach the
       "enemy camp", i.e. the last three ranks of board as seen
       from a player's viewpoint. In the promotion, the pieces
       get some extra powers.

    4. The board is larger, 81 squares compared to 64 squares
       of the chess board.

    Although all the pieces are of the same color in real world
    (usually white or natural wood), the players and their pieces
    are still referred as Black and White. Black side plays at
    "i-rank side" of the board, and White at "a-rank" side. Black
    moves always first.
      On his turn a player can either:

       - move one of his pieces on the board, according to its
         power of move, to a vacant square or to a square occupied
	 by an enemy piece (in the latter case he captures and
	 takes the enemy piece to himself); or
       - "drop" (re-enter) a piece on almost any vacant square.

    However, it's not possible to pass (as in Go), so player must
    always do something.

      Each player has initially a king, two gold generals, two
    silver generals, two knights, two lances, a rook, a bishop and
    nine pawns. These all have different powers of move.

      Player familiar with chess may first think that he hasn't
    got enough material, as there are only one rook and bishop for
    each player, no queen, and the remaining pieces are quite
    restricted in their moves. However, he will soon discover
    the real potential of those apparently feeble and restricted
    pieces after some of them have changed owner, and are used as
    "paratroops", i.e. dropped to play against their former master,
    often behind the enemy lines.
      So watch out those pieces in your opponent's hand, as they
    are the most mobile of the pieces, and can be dropped practically
    almost anywhere! Especially watch for the situations where your
    opponent could fork two or more of your pieces by dropping a
    piece somewhere on the board. (Bishop, knight and silver are
    the ones most often used for this).


---   PIECES
    
      There are eight kind of pieces in shogi. Three of them
    move just like corresponding pieces in chess, two of them
    move almost like similar pieces in chess, and three are
    indigenous to shogi.
     In the move diagrams below "o" indicates where the piece
    is originally, "|" indicates possible vertical direction,
    "-" horizontal, and "\" and "/" are for diagonal directions.
    If there is one of those characters, then it means that
    the piece can move only one square to the corresponding
    direction. If there is three characters, then it means that
    piece can move _any_ number of squares to that direction,
    as long as it encounters edge of the board or a piece from
    its own side. (If there is an enemy piece, it can be captured
    of course, as in chess).

      The pieces are:

----  K, THE KING, OOSHOO, OO, GYOKUSHOO, GYOKU

        \|/
        -o-
        /|\

        The king is just like chess king, capable of moving just
      one step to any direction where there is a vacant square,
      or one occupied by an enemy piece. So there is max. eight
      squares where he can move.
        The king cannot promote.

----  G, THE GOLD GENERAL, KINSHOO, KIN

        \|/
        -o-
         |

        The gold general (usually just called gold) can move one
      square forward in any direction, or one square to the side,
      or one square straight back. However, it can't move diagonally
      back.
        The gold cannot promote; he stays himself wherever he is.

----  S, THE SILVER GENERAL, GINSHOO, GIN
      
        \|/
         o 
        / \

        The silver general (usually just called silver) can move one
      square forward in any direction, or one square diagonally back.
      However, it cannot move to the side, nor straight back.
      
----- +S, THE PROMOTED SILVER, NARIGIN

        The promoted silver general moves just like a gold.

----  N, THE KNIGHT, KEIMA, KEI

        \ /
	 |
         o

        The knight can move only one of the two squares reached by
      by going one square straight ahead then one square diagonally
      forward. So he is almost like chess knight, except that he
      has only two possible moves, compared to max. eight moves of
      the chess knight.
        As in chess, he can jump, so it doesn't matter if there is
      own or enemy piece between.

----- +N, THE PROMOTED KNIGHT, NARIKEI

        The promoted knight moves just like a gold.

----  L, THE LANCE, KYOOSHA, KYOO

       |
       |
       |
       o

        The lance can move only straight forward but it can move
      as far as it likes so long as its path is unobstructed; it
      cannot jump over any friendly or enemy piece.
      So he is a kind of 'crippled rook', except that he cannot
      retreat, nor can he move sideways (horizontally).
      
----- +L, THE PROMOTED LANCE, NARIKYOO

        The promoted lance moves just like a gold.

----  P, THE PAWN, FUHYOO, FU

       |
       o

        The pawn can move only one square straight forward, and
      he also captures in the same way, _not_ diagonally as in chess.
      (Remember this!) Therefore the pawn cannot be blockaded by
      an enemy piece - he just takes it.
        Pawns start out in line on the third rank, and there is
      no possibility to move two steps initially (as in chess),
      nor there is anything like en passant.

----- +P, T, THE PROMOTED PAWN, TOKIN

        The promoted pawn moves just like a gold. Many players
      like to use the Japanese name for the promoted pawn: tokin.

----  R, THE ROOK, HISHA

          |       The rook moves just like its counterpart in western
          |     chess, i.e. any number of squares along a rank or
          |     file, horizontally or vertically. Of course he cannot
       ---o---  jump over any piece, whether friendly or enemy.
          |
	  |
	  |

----- +R, D, THE PROMOTED ROOK, DRAGON, RYUUOO, RYUU

          |       The promoted rook moves like an ordinary, unpromoted
          |     rook, but can also move one square in any diagonal
         \|/    direction. (However, only one square, so he is not
       ---o---  queen). Promoted rook is sometimes called dragon.
         /|\
	  |
	  |

----  B, THE BISHOP, KAKUGYOO, KAKU

       \     /    The bishop moves just like its counterpart in
        \   /   western chess, i.e. any number of squares diagonally
         \ /    in one straight line (without jumping).
          o
         / \
	/   \
       /     \

----- +B, H, THE PROMOTED BISHOP, HORSE, RYUUMA, UMA

       \     /    The promoted bishop moves like an ordinary,
        \   /    unpromoted bishop, but can also move one square
         \|/     in the other four directions (vertically or
         -o-     horizontally).
         /|\
	/   \
       /     \

---   THE BOARD

        The board's size is 9x9 squares, giving 81 squares in all.
      (So it's about a quarter bigger than chess board with 64
      squares).
        The squares in traditional shogi boards are all of the same
      colour, not alternatively black and white, as in chess. Of
      course you can use black and white board yourself, to see
      the diagonal lines of bishop more clearly.
        A row of squares horizontally across the board is called a
      rank; a vertical column of squares is a file. So that the
      games can be recorded by means of a shorthand notation the
      files are assumed to be numbered 1 to 9, starting at right,
      and the ranks are ascribed the letter  a to i  from top to
      bottom, as in the diagram below.
        Each square can then be distinguished by a cross-reference
      of the file then rank, as for instance, 3c, 5e or 8h.
        The reason for beginning the numbering and lettering in
      the top right-hand corner rather than in the lower left,
      and using letters for ranks and digits for files, rather
      than vice-versa (as in the western chess), is to match the
      Japanese system of notation, which is otherwise similar
      to this, except that Japanese (kanji) numbers from 1 to 9
      are used instead of letters a-i to mark the rank.

        The board is considered to be divided into three equal
      parts as shown below. Black's pieces are all initially on
      three ranks at his side of board, called "Black's camp",
      which is also promotion zone for the White (ranks g-i),
      and similarly, ranks a-c are "White's camp", i.e. promotion
      zone for black.

        9  8  7  6  5  4  3  2  1
      +--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
      :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  : a
      +--+--+-White's camp-+--+--+
      :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  : b
      +-(Black's promotion zone)-+
      :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  : c
      +==========================+
      :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  : d
      +--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
      :  :  :  : centre :  :  :  : e
      +--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
      :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  : f
      +==========================+
      :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  : g
      +--+--+-Black's camp-+--+--+
      :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  : h
      +-(White's promotion zone)-+
      :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  : i
      +--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+


----  INITIAL SET-UP

        Games between players of disparate strength are generally
      played with the stronger player removing certain of his
      pieces (see HELP HANDICAPS), but an even game - a game
      between players of roughly equal strength - starts with the
      pieces set up as shown in below. (Blacks pieces are shown
      in UPPERCASE, White's pieces in lowercase.)

        9  8  7  6  5  4  3  2  1
      +--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
      : l: n: s: g: k: g: s: n: l: a
      +--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
      :  : r:  :  :  :  :  : b:  : b
      +--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
      : p: p: p: p: p: p: p: p: p: c
      +--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
      :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  : d
      +--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
      :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  : e
      +--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
      :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  : f
      +--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
      : P: P: P: P: P: P: P: P: P: g
      +--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
      :  : B:  :  :  :  :  : R:  : h
      +--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
      : L: N: S: G: K: G: S: N: L: i
      +--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+


---   CAPTURES

      No piece can move to a square already occupied by a piece of
    the same side, but any piece _on the board_ may move in
    accordance with its power of move to a square occupied by an
    enemy piece.
      In doing so it captures the enemy piece, which is at once
    removed from the board and placed, off the board, to the
    reserves of the capturing player.
      Captured pieces (called "pieces in hand") can be re-used
    on later turns by the person capturing, having changed their
    color in process, of course.


---   PROMOTION

      By making a move wholly or partly within the opponent's
    camp (that is, your promotion zone, i.e. three last ranks
    as seen from a viewpoint of player: ranks a-c for the black,
    and ranks g-i for the white), those pieces on the board
    that can be promoted (all others except the gold & the king)
    have the possibility of promoting immediately upon completion
    of that move. "Wholly or partly within the promotion zone"
    means that piece
    a) moves _into_ the promotion zone. (Only the destination
    square is in the zone.)
    b) moves _within_ the promotion zone. (Both the source square
    and the destination square are in the zone.)
    c) moves _out of_ the promotion zone. (Only the source square
    in in the zone.)
      Except in one commonsense case promotion is optional, but
    if rejected the right of a piece to promote can be earned
    again on any subsequent move by that piece wholly or partly
    within the promotion zone.
      At all times the right to promotion lasts only for that
    move and every time it is rejected it must be re-earned.
    It makes no difference whether the move is to a vacant square
    or is a capture.
      On the board promotion is shown by turning the piece over
    as soon as it has earned and accepted the right to promote.
    (Shoogi Server shows promoted pieces with a "+" in the front
    of the corresponding letter.) Its new powers of move then apply
    for all subsequent moves made by that piece in its promoted
    state.
      Once a piece is promoted it remains so until it is captured,
    even if it moves out of the promotion zone. As soon as a piece
    is captured, however and becomes a piece in hand, it reverts
    to its unpromoted state. (So it's never possible to drop a
    already promoted piece!)
      The king and gold may move freely into or out of the promotion
    zone but their moves are in no way altered.

      Compulsory promotion
      
      If a pawn or lance reaches the end rank in the promotion zone,
    or if a knight reaches either of the last two ranks there, they
    must promote at once, otherwise they would have no further legal
    moves. But if the inability of a piece to move is only temporary
    it is not obliged to promote.
      Except in the case mentioned above, the promotion is at all
    times optional.
      However, with rook, bishop and pawn, it's nonsensical not to
    promote them, since they keep all of their original moves, and
    get a few more. With silver, knight & lance, their original
    moves might be better in some situations. In mating sequences
    it often makes a crucial difference whether those three pieces
    mentioned are promoted or not, so think it twice before you
    decide it.

---   DROPS
    
      A player can re-enter (drop) any of his pieces in hand
    on almost any vacant square instead of making a move with the
    pieces on the board.
      A piece can be dropped only in its unpromoted state, even
    if it was already promoted when captured. Once on the board,
    however, it becomes like any other piece there and can earn
    the right to promotion in the normal way.
 
----  PROHIBITED DROPS
    
    The restrictions on drops are as follows:
      
    1. A play cannot drop a pawn or lance or knight in a
    position from which it would _never_ be able to move.
    The pawns or lances, cannot, therefore, be dropped on
    the end rank in the promotion zone, nor can knight be
    dropped on either of the last two ranks there.
    (But it doesn't matter if dropped piece is temporarily
    blocked, so for example, you are allowed to drop a lance
    or pawn behind your own piece.)

    2. A player cannot have two or more _unpromoted_ pawns
    of his own on the same file at the same time. So you
    cannot drop pawn onto those files where is already your
    own, unpromoted pawn. However, if you have _promoted_
    pawn on that file, then it doesn't matter.

    3. A player may not drop a pawn to give checkmate on that
    move. I.e. if the opponent's king would be mated by that
    drop, then the drop is prohibited, and cannot be done.
      But a pawn drop that merely gives check from which the
    king can escape, however temporarily, is legal.
      It is also permissible to mate with a pawn _on the board_,
    i.e. with an ordinary pawn move.


---   THE END OF THE GAME, CHECK, MATE

      The object of the game is to be the first to mate the
    opponent's king.
      The king is said to be "in check" when threatened with
    capture and the check must be countered at once, otherwise
    the king will be captured next move and that will be the
    end of the game.

    There is three ways to get out of check:

    1. King can escape to some neighbouring square, possibly eating
       the enemy square being there. Of course it's not good to
       move to a square where king would be in check from the same or
       another enemy piece.

    2. King can capture the checking piece. If it is adjacent to king,
       then this is same as the case 1.

    3. He can interpose a piece:
       (a) by moving a piece on the board, or
       (b) by dropping a piece in hand.

    If the checking piece is adjacent to king, or it is the knight,
    then the case 3 is not possible, of course.

    If it is doublecheck (i.e. king is threatened by two pieces at
    the same time), then only the case 1 is possible, unless the
    other piece is adjacent. If so, then also the case 2 is possible.

    Case 3 is possible only when the offender is lance, rook or
    bishop, which is not adjacent.

      If, however the king is in check and unable to escape by any
    of the means above it is said to be checkmated (or mated). No
    matter what the player does, the king would be captured next
    move so that checkmate effectively signals the end of the game.

      Checkmate is the sole object of the game. Capturing pieces
    is not the object, but is only one means to that end. It is
    not even a specially important means to that end and in this
    shogi differs markedly from chess.

      A game can end in two ways apart from checkmate:
      1. One player, seeing that checkmate of his king is
         inevitable, can resign - that is, concede the game to
	 his opponent. (See HELP RESIGN).
      2. By a draw. But draws in shogi are rare. They occur about
         once in every 100 games. They are dealt with separately
	 later. (See HELP DRAW).
      3. By capture of the king. Unlike in chess, playing your own
         king into check or leaving it in check is not illegal in
	 shogi, but it may then be captured by the opponent, with
         the consequent loss of the game by the player whose king
	 is taken. As this equals suicide it is rarely encountered
	 in real games.

      Chess players should note that there is no stalemate rule
    in shogi. There is no need for one.


---   DRAWS
    
----  REPETITION

      It is possible to have a situation in which the same position
    occur repeatedly because both players insist on playing the
    same sequences of moves. If the same position occurs four times
    in a game, the game is declared no-contest, but continuous
    checks by one side are not allowed. Indetity of the position
    refers to a position in which the positions of the pieces on
    the board, the pieces in hand and the turn to play are all the
    same.
      In professional play, when a game is declared no-contest it
    is usually replayed with colours reversed, but in amateur
    tournaments it is commonly treated as a draw.
      If the repetitions occur as a result of repetitive checks
    (so that one player is forced entirely against his will
    to repeat moves), the checking player must not create a fourth
    repetition of position, otherwise he forfeits the game.
      The Japanese term for repetition of moves, sennichite, is
    sometime used.

----  IMPASSE

      This refers to a case when both players have advanced
    their kings into the enemy camp (called entering kings) or
    are in a position to ensure being able to do so, and mate of
    either king has become impossible. As soon as both players
    agree, the game ceases and the value of the pieces currently
    possessed by each player both on the board and in the hand
    is totalled on the basis that rooks and bishops count 5 points
    each and all other pieces (except kings, which are ignored)
    count 1 point. Promotions are disregarded. If a player has
    total of at least 24 points he cannot lose. If both
    players have at least 24 points the game is no contest (to
    be replayed or counted as a draw). If one player has less
    than 24 points he loses.
      So long as a king can be mated or pieces can still be
    captured to the extent of affecting each player's total
    point score, a player can validly refuse to stop and count
    up.
      But there is no rule about what to do if a player refuses
    to count up simply because he would expect to lose or
    because he is deluding himself that he can either
    mate the opposing king or capture more pieces. Even
    professional players do not always agree first time on when
    to stop a game in such a case.
      The guidance given for amateur players (and accepted as a
    rule by the Shogi Association for the West) is that in such
    cases of dispute it is sufficient for one player to move all
    his pieces into the enemy camp so that they are all
    protected. The game then ends and is counted up.
      This is very messy rule (and it gets even messier in
    handicap play) with only one good feature: it has to be
    applied only very rarely.
      The Japanese term for impasse, jishogi, is in common use
    among western players.

---   HANDICAPS

      When two players of disparate strength meet it is usual
    for the stronger to give his opponent a start by removing
    some of his own pieces - the handicap. Handicap games are
    highly satisfactory in shogi and have their own extensive
    corpus of opening theory. Until the last war even top
    professionals used handicap against each other and the
    apprentice professionals still use them. Most games between
    amateurs are with handicaps except in tournaments.
      There are several slightly different handicapping systems.
    The one recommended by the Japanese Shogi Federation is as
    follows:

    - Where the players have the same grade an even game (no
      handicaps) is played, first move being decided by some
      random means. (I.e. who plays black, and who plays white.)
    - Where there is one grade difference the stronger player
      takes White and removes his left lance (the lance on 1a).
    - Where there are two grades difference the stronger player
      takes White in both games of a two-game match and in the
      first game removes his left lance only; in the second
      game he removes his bishop only.
    - With three grades difference the stronger player takes
      White and removes his bishop.
    - With four grades difference the stronger player takes
      White and removes his rook.
    - With five grades difference the stronger player takes
      White and removes his rook and left lance.
    - With six grades difference the stronger player takes White
      in both games of a two-game match and in the first game
      removes his rook and left lance only; in the second
      games he removes his rook and bishop only.
    - With seven grades difference the stronger player takes
      White and removes his rook and bishop. This handicap
      is usually called two pieces.

      Many clubs prefer to use their own systems but variations
    exist only in the grade differences used to determine which
    handicap is to be adopted or in whether the handicaps
    involving two-game matches are used. Up to two pieces there
    are now no other handicaps, although until the modern era
    there was also a right-lance handicap (the lance on 9a was
    removed and this ranked between an even game and left-lance).
      Above two pieces there are unofficial, but widely used,
    handicaps of four pieces (rook, bishop and both lances)
    and six pieces (rook, bishop, both lances and both knights).
      Rarely used are handicaps of three pieces (rook, bishop
    and, usually, right lance), five pieces (rook, bishop, both
    lances and choice of either right or left knight) and eight
    pieces (rook, bishop, both lances, both knights and both
    silvers).
      It is always White's pieces that are removed by way of
    handicap and they are taken out of the game completely.
    They are not held in hand. Removal of the pieces counts as
    Black's first move, so that in handicap games the first real
    move on the board is always made by White.


---   OPENINGS

      I will not explain here all the finesses of the openings,
    but give just few general remarks, and couple of helpful
    hints.

----  CASTLES

      A king left on its original square (called a sitting king)
    is a sitting duck. It is far better to move the king to one
    side - always the furthest from its own rook - and surround
    it with up to three generals (usually one silver and two golds).
    Doing that constitutes castling.
      There are many castles (about 40 have names) but the choice
    is subject largely to the opening adopted. With the openings
    currently in vogue we see most commonly the castles knows as
    the Fortress, the Mino, the Boat, the Crab and the
    Bear-in-the-Hole. Most of these have several variants.


----- MINO

        Diagram of the Complete Mino is shown below. Only pieces
      significant to castle are shown.

        9  8  7  6  5  4  3  2  1

      :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  : e
      +--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
      :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  : P: f
      +--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
      :  :  :  :  : P: P: P: P:  : g
      +--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
      :  :  :  :  : G:  : S: K:  : h
      +--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
      :  :  :  :  :  : G:  : N: L: i
      +--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+

        The knight and lance are rarely in any other position but
      the pawn on 1f, say, could well be at 1g and the pawns on
      files 3 and 4 could be pushed forward.
        The Complete Mino is very strong at the side and that is
      why it is chosen by the Ranging Rook side against a Static
      Rook. The rooks are the most powerful pieces and fighting
      tends to centre around or in front of them.


----- THE BOAT CASTLE

        Diagram of below shows the Boat castle, the boat being
      formed by the bishop (an optional piece), the silver on 7i
      and the golds. The king is in the stern. This castle is
      adopted by Static Rook against Ranging Rook, the attack coming
      eventually from the side as in the diagram.

        9  8  7  6  5  4  3  2  1

      :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  : e
      +--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
      : P:  : P:  : P:  :  :  :  : f
      +--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
      :  : P:  : P:  :  :  :  :  : g
      +--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
      :  : B: K:  : G:  :  :  :  : h
      +--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
      : L: N: S: G:  :  :  :  :  : i
      +--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+

        The Boat castle, like the Mino, is strong at the side.
      The Mino is not used because the bishop is present on this
      side.

      (I copy more castle formations from Fairbairn's book when
      I have time...)

----- PIECE NAMES

    English             Japanese long         Japanese abbreviation
                        (romaji)              (romaji)
                                              (literal meaning in English
                                               is given in parentheses)

    Bishop              Kakugyoo              Kaku
    Rook                Hisha                 Hisha  ("flying chariot")
    Pawn                Fuhyoo                Fu 
    Lance               Kyoosha               Kyoo   ("fragrant chariot")
    Knight              Keima                 Kei
    Silver (general)    Ginshoo               Gin
    Gold (general)      Kinshoo               Kin
    King                Ooshoo                Oo     ("king" for white's king)
    King                Gyokushoo             Gyoku  ("jewel" for black's king)
    Promoted bishop     Ryuuma (Dragon horse) Uma    ("Horse")
    Promoted rook       Ryuuoo (Dragon king)  Ryuu   ("Dragon")
    Promoted pawn       Tokin                 Tokin
    Promoted lance      Narikyoo              Narikyoo ("nari" = "promote(d)")
    Promoted knight     Narikei               Narikei
    Promoted silver     Narigin               Narigin

    The "Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan" tells:
    "Making one king a 'jewel' (by adding one stroke to the kanji
    character for 'king') avoided having two kings on the same
    board, a custom that supposedly originated on the request of
    an emperor in ancient times. The better player has the king
    and the other player has the jewel."
    (Maybe the real reason is that kanji for 'king' is symmetrical
    by its both axes, so there would be no way to tell which king is
    which in the game notations where other player's pieces are
    shown by upside-down kanji-characters???)
    However, in Shoogi Server black has always the 'gyoku' and
    white has the 'oo'. Of course you don't need to be concerned
    with this if you use just the default english/ascii modes for
    SET BSTYLE and PSTYLE.

    Note: The letter 'y' in romanized Japanese is pronounced like
    a letter 'j' in Finnish (or as in English word 'young').

-- 
Antti Karttunen       --  $B%"%s%C%F%#!!%+%k%C%H%%%M%s(J  (et{ty|t|n)
karttu@mits.mdata.fi  --  Apatheist, although not particularly proud of it.
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