page_title: Shogi
section_title: Drops
hierarchical_section_title: Shogi / Rules / Drops
caption_attribution_description: 日本語: 将棋の用具の一つ。駒台。
context_page_description: Shogi, also known as Japanese chess or the Game of Generals, is a two-player strategy board game that is the Japanese variant of chess. It is the most popular chess variant in Japan. Shōgi means general's board game.
  Shogi was the earliest chess variant to allow captured pieces to be returned to the board by the capturing player. This drop rule is speculated to have been invented in the 15th century and possibly connected to the practice of 15th century mercenaries switching loyalties when captured instead of being killed.
  The earliest predecessor of the game, chaturanga, originated in India in the 6th century, and the game was likely transmitted to Japan via China or Korea sometime after the Nara period. Shogi in its present form was played as early as the 16th century, while a direct ancestor without the drop rule was recorded from 1210 in a historical document Nichūreki, which is an edited copy of Shōchūreki and Kaichūreki from the late Heian period.
context_section_description: Captured pieces are retained in hand and can be brought back into play under the capturing player's control. The Japanese term for piece(s) in hand is either 持ち駒 mochigoma or 手駒 tegoma. On any turn, instead of moving a piece on the board, a player may select a piece in hand and place it – unpromoted side up and facing the opposing side – on any empty square. The piece is then one of that player's active pieces on the board and can be moved accordingly. This is called dropping the piece, or simply, a drop. A drop counts as a complete move.
  A drop cannot capture a piece, nor does dropping within the promotion zone result in immediate promotion. Capture and/or promotion may occur normally, however, on subsequent moves of the piece.
  Restrictions. There are three restrictions on dropping pieces. The last two restrictions apply only to pawns.
  Pieces may not be dropped on ranks where their potential legal movement is prevented (行き所のない駒). Thus, a pawn, knight, or lance may not be dropped on the furthest rank, since those pieces would have no legal moves on subsequent turns. For the same reason, a knight may not be dropped on the penultimate (player's 8th) rank.
  Two Pawns (Japanese: 二歩 nifu): A pawn cannot be dropped onto a file (column) containing another unpromoted pawn of the same player (promoted pawns do not count). A player with an unpromoted pawn on every file is therefore unable to drop a pawn anywhere. For this reason it is common to sacrifice a pawn in order to gain flexibility for drops.
  Drop Pawn Mate (Japanese: 打ち歩詰め uchifudzume): A pawn cannot be dropped to give an immediate checkmate. (Although other pieces may be dropped to give immediate checkmate.) A pawn may, however, be dropped to give immediate check as long as it is not also mate. It is also permissible to mate a king with a pawn that is already on the board.
  It is common to keep captured pieces on a wooden stand (駒台 komadai) which is traditionally placed so that its bottom left corner aligns with the bottom right corner of the board from the perspective of each player. It is not permissible to hide pieces from full view.
  It is common for players to swap bishops, which oppose each other across the board, early in the game. This leaves each player with a bishop in hand to be dropped later. The ability for drops in shogi give the game tactical richness and complexity. The fact that no piece ever goes entirely out of play accounts for the rarity of draws.
caption: Traditional piece stands for pieces in hand
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