New URL: http://www.iki.fi/~kartturi/shogi/shoogi.htm
- ALL
This file as well as Shoogi Server itself was typed
by Antti Karttunen, (e-mail: firstname.surname@iki.fi)
who will gladly receive any comments.
-- SHOGI RULES
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.)
These are both good books, and I advise you to buy them.
--- HISTORY OF SHOGI
(This is introduction from "Shogi, Japan's Game of Strategy".
I also added Japanese names for the variants from the Kodansha
Encyclopedia of Japan. Macron over the vowel indicates that
it's pronounced long. E.g. letter _
O is pronounced somewhat
like 'oo' in the English word 'door'.)
_
SHOGI is the Japanese representative of the family of chess
games, offshoots of the Indian chatur-anga which was
traditionally invented by the legendary Emperor Ravana to
excercise his generals in strategy and tactics. Chatur-anga
literally means four limbs, and some authorities believe it
referred to the four "arms" of the military India: elephants,
chariots (or boats), horses, and foot.
The name became corrupted to shatranj when it spread
westward to Persia, which introduced it to Europe. The chess
words "check" and "mate" are from the Persian shah (king)
and mat (dead). The traditional elephant remains symbolized
by castle, or Rook, because originally the archers shot from
a howdah on the back of the elephant. The horse has become
a Knight, with the same peculiar move in the Far West and
Far East. The foot soldiers are Pawns the world over, usually
with the right to advance only in single steps. Their power
to capture, however, varies in the different forms of chess.
The object of the game is everywhere the same - to capture
the leader of the opposing forces, generally by depriving
him of most of his men first. In the West this leader is the
King, but to the Chinese a second Emperor on a level with
the first was inconceivable, and the Chinese game is fought
out between two "commanders-in-chief".
In the course of time the Chinese made considerable
alterations. Instead of the castling maneuver, the commander
is provided with a special enclosure which he cannot leave;
he has a special bodyguard of two retainers who remain in
it with him. An early allusion to the game is supposed to
date from about 570 A.D. The Chinese later incorporated an
entirely new piece which is like a Rook except that it must
jump over another piece and can then capture anything on the
line beyond. This piece is called a Cannon, and a
twelfth-century text mentions a mock war game in which each
side has sixteen men: two Cannons, two Elephants, two Horses,
two Chariots, two Knights, one Commander, and five Foot.
The game went to Korea and is believed to have entered
Japan in different forms about the eighth century. However
there is considerable confusion and few reliable records.
When it first came to Japan the board was probably already
nine squares each way, the pieces totaling 36. The elephants
had become Gold and Silver generals.
It is thought that Shogi had already divided into two or
even more forms by the time it reached Japan. The simplest
was begun with the pieces on the back rank, or horizontal
row of squares, with the Pawns on the second rank - rather
like the Western chess opening position. The game must have
been extremely tame because most of the pieces could only
move one square at a time. The Japanese courtiers soon
livened up the play by introducing (or rather re-introducing)
the Rook, the Bishop, and some fresh pieces. At one time no
less than six Japanese forms of the game were current:
_ _
Little Shogi <shoshogi>, in which one Elephant was restored,
and two Leopards, a Flying Chariot (Rook), and a Diagonal
Runner (Bishop) were added, making 46 pieces in all;
_ _
Middle Shogi <chushogi>, with a board of 12 squares each way
and 92 pieces; _
Great Shogi <daishogi>, with a board of 15 squares each way and
130 pieces; _
Great-Great Shogi <daidai shogi>, 17 squares each way and 192
pieces; _
Maka-Great-Great Shogi <makadaidai 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);
Tai-Shogi, a final supreme chess-to-end-all-chess, invented
by some recreational megalomaniac with a board 25 squares
each way and a total of 354 pieces.
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. This talented Emperor is
also supposed to have introduced the revolutionary rule by
which a captured piece becomes the property of the capturing
side and can be dropped on the board. The rule is the special
characteristic of Japanese chess, found in no other game of
the family. It gives Shogi a peculiar excitement, which was
doubtless necessary to replace the lost thrills of lions and
tigers.
Shogi was taken up by three great generals of sixteenth-
seventeenth-century Japan: Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, and Ieyasu.
They esteemed it for its original purpose, namely as an
excercise in military strategy and tactics. Ieyasu became
sole ruler of Japan, and under his patronage the game was
popular with high and low.
In the seventeenth century the first championships were
held. The second champion, Ohashi, established the rules,
including a new rule against the repetition of moves. The
championship descended, in the Japanese fashion, in the
Ohashi and Ito families. (This does not work out so badly
as might be expected because of the Japanese custom of
adopting into the family the favorite pupil, to whom
certain trade secrets are then imparted.) Early in the
twentieth century the granting of the title was formally
surrendered to the All-Japan Shogi Association, to be
competed for regularly.
At present Shogi players are organized in two classes,
professionals and amateurs. There is a ranking system under
which a beginner enters in the 15th kyu class and works his
was down until he becomes 1st kyu. This is a reasonable
amateur level. The next step is to 1st dan grade, and then
he goes up through the dans. In the 8th dan there are
generally some 30-40 masters, with probably fewer in the
7th and 6th dan ranks below. Three living masters have
attained 9th dan rank (which is fought out among the 8th
dans), and they are all also championship holders.
Amateurs do well if they get a 1st dan grade certificate
from the All-Japan Shogi Association; the top rank ever held
by an amateur is 5th dan.
Shogi is extremely popular among all classes. There is
almost no magazine without a column on it, and the evening
editions of the big daily papers feature some current
tournament game, giving a few moves and a long commentary.
A top Shogi master thus can make a reasonably good living
by writing articles and books for the very wide Shogi public
and by giving lessons. Some of the masters are striking
personalities in their own right and well-known figures on
the Japanese scene. For instance former champion Yoshio
Kimura, when he retired from tournament play, overnight
became a television star noted for his sharp wit.
--- INTRODUCTION
The most important differences from the (western) 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.
Note: when you check the opponent's king, or if your own king is
checked Shoogi Server will say something like:
White's king is checked by 3c.
White's king could escape to the square 1c.
and will also put these messages to the movelog.
However, the escape-square given is not necessarily the only one,
or even GOOD one, it is just the first safe square which the
algorithm found. So there could be other possibilities, maybe much
better, so look for those by yourself!
That message is merely for debugging, so that I can see whether
the mate-detection procedure works. If you see any inconsistencies
in this, please inform me. (Like that Shoogi Server claimed
that some square is safe although it's not, or vice versa.)
--- DRAWS
Note for beginners: Draws are so rare in Shogi that you can
safely skip these sections...
---- 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.
There is still no any repetition checking implemented in
Shoogi Server, sorry. (So you must see it yourselves, or consult
me if that kind of situation occurs.)
---- 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...)
- COMMANDS, COMMAND-LIST
B, BOARD or REFRESH Load the game and show the board.
G or GAMES List active games.
?, H or HELP Show help about specified topic.
HANDICAP Remove handicap pieces.
M or MOVES List the moves of game.
N or NEW List new games needing a player, or start/select one.
PLAY Play your move in current game.
REMOVE Remove a game from a new games list.
RESIGN Resign current game.
SAY Send a message to your opponent in current game.
SET Set various settings.
!, SHELL or PUSH Run shell command or escape to shell.
SHOUT Send a message to all players currently online.
S or STAT List games in which you are involved.
STATS or USER Show information about player.
TELL Send a message to the specified player.
U or UNDO Undo your move in current game.
W or WHO Show players currently online.
For more information about a command, type "help <command>".
- ALL COMMANDS
-- LOADING COMMANDS
There's two commands in this group: BOARD and MOVES.
Both can be used to load particular game in.
--- BOARD, REFRESH
Usage: BOARD [-o] [<gid>]
(or B for short).
Prints board of the game <gid> or of the current game, if
<gid> is not specified. The game is loaded in, if it wasn't
current game.
If -o option is used, then the board is shown from Other
player's (or Opponent's) viewpoint.
--- MOVES
Usage: MOVES [-n] [<gid>]
(or M for short).
List the moves of the game <gid> or of the current game,
if <gid> is not specified.
If -n option is specified, then moves are printed nonstop,
without prompt for more.
To more prompt you can answer with
p - show board from the view of player who is next
to move.
o - show board other way.
y or <space> - print next screenful of lines from movelog.
<enter> - print single line more from movelog.
q or n - quit from loop.
Note that you must load the whole game in
(with M -N for instance) if you want to use
playing commands - like play or undo - after
quitting in the middle of movelog.
Enter HELP NOTATION to see the format of notation.
-- COMMANDS FOR LISTING GAMES
--- GAMES
Usage: GAMES, or G for short.
List active games.
--- STAT
Usage: STAT, or S for short.
List games in which you are involved.
--- NEW
(Or N for short).
Usage: NEW
List new game challenges needing a player.
Usage: NEW <num>
Select a challenge number <num> for the playing from the
list shown with NEW without arguments.
Usage: NEW <pattern> <move-notation> [comment text]
Add a new challenge, so that you are black, and your
first move is <move-notation>. Rest of arguments, which are
optional, are added as a comment to challenge list.
Only players whose name match to pattern are allowed
to answer the challenge.
Usage: NEW W[move-notation] [comment text]
Like a previous, but you are playing White, and are Waiting
for Black to make the first move.
However, if there is optional move-notation after W (no
spaces between!), then the person who answers this challenge
is forced to do that move as his/her first move.
Enter HELP NOTATION to see the format of the <move-notation>.
Enter HELP PATTERNS to see the format of the <pattern>.
Examples:
NEW * p-7f
This opens a line for bishop. Because * matches to
everything, all players are allowed to answer.
NEW ERKKI.EXPERT HANDICAP:L@1a,R@8b
Only ERKKI.EXPERT can answer this, and will play white,
with his rook and left lance removed.
(Use something like this if you feel feeble and want
that more experienced players give you handicap.)
NEW !NILKKI.NUISANCE r-3h Not for the jerks!
Everybody else _except_ NILKKI.NUISANCE are allowed to
answer.
NEW BART.BEGINNER WHANDICAP:L@1a
Only BART.BEGINNER can answer this. He will play black
and his first move is forced to be HANDICAP:L@1a, so that
white's (= yours) left lance is removed.
(Use something like this when you want to play white and
want to give some handicap to your opponent.)
--- REMOVE
Usage: REMOVE <challenge number>
Remove a challenge from a list of new games. (Shown by NEW).
It must be left by you, of course.
-- PLAYING COMMANDS
There's four commands in this group: PLAY, HANDICAP, RESIGN and UNDO.
When using these commands, the current game has to be one in
which you are involved, and all the moves must be loaded in.
You can load the game in with BOARD or MOVES command.
--- PLAY
Usage: PLAY <move-notation>
Play your move in the current game. Game has to be your game,
and all the moves must be loaded in.
The validity of the move is checked, and then you are
asked confirmation for the move with the <p,o,n,y> prompt.
To that prompt you can answer with
p - show the board from your view. (As that move had been already made)
o - show the board from your opponent's view.
n - No, don't make that move.
y - Yes, do it.
---- NOTATION
Notation is adopted from John Fairbairn's book
"SHOGI FOR BEGINNERS", and is of the form:
<[+ if promoted piece] pieceletter> [source coordinates]
<movetype> <destination coordinates> [promotion type]
Where elements shown in brackets [] are optional, and
elements shown in angle brackets <> are mandatory.
Letters for the pieces are:
K for the King.
G for the Gold general.
S for the Silver general. +S for the promoted silver.
N for the Knight. +N for the promoted knight.
L for the Lance. +L for the promoted lance.
P for the Pawn. +P for the promoted pawn.
B for the Bishop. +B or H for the promoted bishop. (H as Horse)
R for the Rook. +R or D for the promoted rook. (D as Dragon)
Coordinates are of the form <digit><letter> where digit
indicates file from 1 to 9, and letter indicates rank
from a to i.
Movetype is - for the ordinary, non-capturing moves,
x for the captures, * for the drops, and @ for the
handicap removals.
Promotion type is a = for non-promotion, and + for the
promotion. If it's possible to promote a piece, but
promotion type is not specified, then it is asked from
player, and = or + is concatenated to the end of move
notation, depending from answer.
If movetype is * or @ then it's not possible to specify
source coordinates, nor promotion type in the notation.
Examples:
P-7f Pawn is moved to 7f from 7g if it's black, and
from 7e if it's white.
G4a-5b White's gold is moved from 4a to 5b. Source
coordinates have to be specified if there's another
gold in 6a.
Bx2b+ Piece in 2b is captured by black's bishop, and
bishop is promoted on the same move.
N-3g= White's knight is moved to 3g, but it's not promoted
yet.
R*1d Rook is dropped to 1d.
+S5bx4a Black's promoted silver captures a white's piece in
4a. It's source location was 5b.
L@1a Lance is removed from 1a. Note that this form
should be used only when removing handicap stones.
(See HELP HANDICAP)
Note: when you do your move, you must do it with PLAY command,
e.g. type PLAY p-3f instead of just p-3f !!!
--- HANDICAP
Usage: HANDICAP piece1[,piece2,...,piecen]
Remove the handicap pieces.
For example, HANDICAP L@1a,R@8b removes white's left lance and
rook. There should be no blanks between the coordinates, only
commas. The above is just a shorthand for PLAY HANDICAP:L@1a,R@8b
so it's actually just a special kind of move, which is only
allowed as the first move of the game (made by black). Then
the first 'real' move is made by white.
--- RESIGN
Usage: RESIGN
Resign current game, which must be yours, of course.
You are asked to confirm this, and if enter anything
else than "yes", the resignation is not made.
Actually, resignation is just the special type of move,
so it's possible to undo it as long as the opponent hasn't
seen it.
--- UNDO
Usage: UNDO [-o] (or U for short).
Undo your or your opponent's last move in the current game.
Move can also be a handicap move or resignation.
It's possible to undo your own move (UNDO without -o option)
only when
a) You have played the latest move. (i.e. it's your opponent's
turn) and
b) Your opponent has not seen it yet.
However, if your opponent has already seen your move, but
hasn't yet made his own, then it's possible for him to undo
your move with -o option. (Of course it's upto him whether
he has any mercy...) And of course you can also undo your
opponent's moves if you think he could have done better.
However, if you think that you still want to do that move,
although your opponent undid it, then just play the same
move again, and then it can't be undone by either one anymore.
Also the first move forced with NEW command can't be undone.
-- MESSAGE COMMANDS
--- SAY
Usage: SAY message text.
Send a message to your opponent in current game (which must
be yours).
For example, the command:
SAY You will be mated in 5 moves!
will send the message "You will be mated in 5 moves!" to your
opponent.
--- SHOUT
Usage: SHOUT message text.
Send a message to all players currently online
(i.e. those who are using Shogi Server).
For example:
SHOUT Good evening!
--- TELL
Usage: TELL <player.name> message text.
Send the message to the specified player.
or TELL . message txt.
Send the message to the last player you sent a message to.
For example:
TELL ANTTI.KARTTUNEN There's a bug in the command xxx.
if you want to tell me about some bug.
Both SAY and TELL check whether recipient is online, and
if that is not case, then it's asked from player whether
he wants to leave a message anyway, and if answer is
yes, then the message is left to the recipients message
file, and he will see it next time he logs into
Shogi Server.
If you want to send a multiple lines, then you can use
SAY or TELL command repeatedly. However, it's better to
send longer messages with mail, as it's not possible to
correct any errors made with these commands, and as all
the messages are deleted immediately after the recipient
has seen them first time.
--- .
Usage:
. message text
(or even .message text, no blank needed after a period.)
This is just a shorthand for TELL . message text
-- USER INFORMATION COMMANDS
--- USER, STATS
Usage: USER [pattern]
Show information about those players whose names match to
the pattern given. If no pattern is given, then information
about the user himself is shown.
Note: STATS is for compatibility with Internet Chess Server,
don't mix it with STAT which is different command.
E.g:
USER
Show information about yourself.
USER *
Show information about all users.
USER *NEN
Show information about those users whose surnames end with
the letters 'NEN'.
USER FOO.BAR
Show information about a player called FOO.BAR
--- WHO
Usage: WHO [pattern] (or W for short).
Show all players currently online, and the time they were logged
in. If pattern is given, then show only those players who are
online and whose names match to that pattern.
-- SET COMMANDS
--- SET BLACK
Usage: SET BLACK <attribute-name>
Set what video attribute is used with black's pieces when
the board is output with the BOARD command. Default is NONE.
Use SET BLACK ? to see what attributes and colors are available.
--- SET WHITE
Usage: SET WHITE <attribute-name>
Set what video attribute is used with white's pieces when
the board is output with the BOARD command. Default is NONE.
Use SET WHITE ? to see what attributes and colors are available.
For example, after the command SET WHITE REV the white's pieces
are shown with reverse video.
--- SET THREATENED
Usage: SET THREATENED <attribute-name>
Set what video attribute is used with threatened pieces when
the board is output with the BOARD command. Default is NONE.
I.e. after SET THREATENED U all the pieces (of both sides)
which are under the threat by some opponent's piece are
shown as underlined. Note that currently this feature doesn't
care about checks nor pinnings.
Use SET THREATENED ? to see what attributes and colors are
available.
Of course you shouldn't set the same or conflicting attributes
for the black's, white's & threatened pieces. I.e., if black's
or white's pieces are shown with some color, then don't use
color attribute for the threatened pieces, but instead
something like underline or reverse, which can be shown
together with colors. Or if you don't have colors, then choose
none for black, reverse or bold for white and underline for the
threatened pieces. Note that not all terminals/computers can
show all modes, blink for instance.
Note2: COLOURS DON'T WORK WITH THE CURRENT UNIX VERSION!
(Curse the curses!)
--- SET DRAGON
Usage: SET DRAGON [OLD | NEW]
Set how kanji for a 'dragon' (promoted rook) is output.
When OLD is specified, then the older form of 'dragon' (ryuu)
kanji is used. Default is newer, simplified version of
'dragon' kanji, used in Japan.
Of course you don't need to care about this command if you
are not using a kanji terminal.
(Well, this must be the most important command of them all...)
--- SET KANJI
Usage: SET KANJI [1,2,3]
Set kanji code to be used. 1 is JIS, 2 is EUC (= DEC-Kanji)
and 3 is Shift-JIS.
If you use 1 your terminal type in Unix must be set to
vt102-jis !!!
--- SET PSTYLE
Usage: SET PSTYLE [0,1,2,3,4]
Set what language is to be used when Shoogi Server refers to
pieces by their names.
0 = English (default)
1 = Romaji long (in ascii)
2 = Romaji short (in ascii)
3 = Kanji long
4 = Kanji short
----- PIECE NAMES
The following table gives English & Japanese names for the
pieces. (Beginners: you don't need to care about this, unless
you want to use Japanese 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."
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').
--- SET BSTYLE, STYLE
Usage: SET BSTYLE [0,1,2]
Set how the board is output.
0 = Ascii (default). Black's pieces are shown in uppercase and
white's pieces in lowercase. Promoted pieces are shown by
prefixing them with a plus sign (+).
1 = Mixed romaji & kanji, black's pieces are shown with kanji,
while white's pieces are printed with romaji. (= latin
letters in big JIS font.)
White's promoted pieces are shown by making them uppercase,
except the promoted rook and bishop, which are shown as D
(as Dragon) and H (as Horse). King is always shown as
uppercase K.
2 = Kanji, black's pieces are shown with kanji, and so are also
white's pieces. So to see which ones are white's and
which ones black's pieces, you should also set some
video attributes for the other or both of them. Use
SET BLACK or SET WHITE commands for that.
In this mode, as well with black's pieces in mode 1, the
promoted silver, knight and lance are shown simply as a
gold general (kin).
STYLE is synonym for compatibility with the ICS.
(Internet Chess Server)
Note that the flags which these SET commands affect are
automatically saved to player file when you log out, and
will be used next time you log in.
-- MISCELLANEOUS COMMANDS
--- HELP
Usage: HELP [-n] <topic>
(H or ? for short).
Lists information about specified topic.
HELP [-n] * lists all topics.
If -n option is specified, then help is printed nonstop,
without prompt for more.
It's enough that topic matches part of the topic specified
in help file. E.g. HELP GENERAL matches both to GOLD GENERAL
and SILVER GENERAL.
Examples:
HELP SHOGI lists general information about shogi and its rules.
HELP <piece> lists how piece moves. You can use the full piece name
or abbreviation. For example: HELP gold or HELP +B
HELP COMMAND-LIST gives the brief list of available commands.
HELP PROHIBITED lists information about the prohibited drops.
HELP ALL lists this whole file. (If you have unix account
you can download this directly from the file
/usr/games/lib/shoogi/shoogi.hlp)
--- SHELL, PUSH, !
Usage: SHELL [command]
Runs a given command in shell, and then returns to Shoogi Server.
If no command is given then the default shell is started.
(specified in the environment variable SHELL) Use command exit
to return to Shoogi Server.
This command can be used only when Shoogi Server is started
from Unix, but not from the game door!
Note: There seems to be some bug which sets terminal settings
to some messy state when this command is used second time from
Shoogi Server (at least stty onlcr is no longer on, so cr's
are missing from the end of lines. Curses sucks, IMHO.)
Examples:
!
Escape to shell.
!ls -la
Check the contents of the local directory.
-- PATTERNS, PATTERN
Many commands in Shoogi Server use so called 'patterns',
usually for referring to user names. Patterns used in
Shoogi Server are somewhat like patterns used with 'DIR'
or 'ls' commands in the various operating systems.
The following characters have special meaning in the patterns:
! (When first character). Matches only if the pattern
following it didn't matched, or vice versa. (= NOT)
? Matches one character which can be anything.
* Matches zero or more of any characters.
< Start of the "group-expression" which contains some
characters and must end in >
If first char after < is ^ then its semantics are negated.
If first char after < or ^ is > then it's not understood
yet as the end delimiter.
Examples:
<ABC> Matches any of the letters 'A', 'B' or 'C'.
<0123456789> Matches only to digits.
<^0123456789> Matches any character _except_ digits.
<>> Matches >
<^>> Matches anything except >
@ Matches character last matched to ? or group-expression.
For example ?*@ matches to all strings which begin with
the same character as they end.
Any other characters match just to themselves.
Note that unix-like [0-9] (corresponding to <0123456789>) is
not implemented yet.
If pattern doesn't contain any of the above characters
(!, *, ?, <, and @), then it matches only to exactly equal
strings. (E.g. FOO.BAR matches only to FOO.BAR, but *.BAR
matches both to FOO.BAR and FU.BAR)
Note that * matches everything. (Use it as synonym for 'ALL').
!FOO.BAR matches anything else except FOO.BAR
--