Anthony Lee
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Introduction to Japanese Chess

OK, time for another thread explaining the rules of a variant form of chess. This time, I shall talk about Japanese chess, also known as shogi. I've already discussed Chinese and Korean chess, but brace yourself. Japanese chess is quite unique.

Read on to see why...
09:23 PM - Feb 08, 2024
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Anthony Lee
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Shogi is played on a 9x9 board of 81 squares. Each player has pieces on their nearest three rows.

The objective is similar to other forms of chess: move your pieces in a way that trap the opponent's king so that no possible move saves that king from capture. In other words, checkmate.
09:23 PM - Feb 08, 2024
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Anthony Lee
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The nine pieces in the front row are pawns. They move one square forward and that's it.

The two pieces in the second row are the bishop moving any distance diagonally and the rook moving any distance parallel to an edge of the board. So they are exactly like the bishop and rook in Western chess.
09:23 PM - Feb 08, 2024
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Anthony Lee
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The two pieces in the corner are lances. They move forward for any unobstructed distance.

Next to the lances are the knights. They move two squares forward followed by one square to the left or right. Like the knight in Western chess, the knight in shogi can jump over pieces.
09:23 PM - Feb 08, 2024
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Anthony Lee
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Next to the knights are the silver generals. They can move one square forward, one square diagonally forward left, or one square diagonally forward right, as well as one square diagonally back left or one square diagonally back right. Basically, five possible one-square movements.
09:23 PM - Feb 08, 2024
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Anthony Lee
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Next to the silver generals are the gold generals. They can move one square forward, one square diagonally forward left, or one square diagonally forward right, as well as one square left, one square right, or one square back. Basically, six possible one-square movements.
09:23 PM - Feb 08, 2024
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Anthony Lee
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Notice the similarities and differences between the silver and gold generals.

Both have the same three forward-advancing movements.

They differ in the remaining movements. The silver generals have the remaining diagonal movements and the gold generals have the remaining nondiagonal movements.
09:23 PM - Feb 08, 2024
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Anthony Lee
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thread 8/15
Finally, the king in the center of the backmost row is exactly like the king in Western chess. It moves one square in any direction. Like I said, your objective is to checkmate the opponent's king. Do whatever you can to threaten a capture to check him, and keep going until you have him checkmated.
09:23 PM - Feb 08, 2024
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Anthony Lee
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thread 9/15
Like Western chess but unlike Chinese and Korean chess, Japanese chess does allow promotion of pieces to higher ranking ones after reaching the other side of the board. However, in shogi, pawns are not the only pieces that can get promoted, and promotion can occur as early as the third-to-last row.
09:23 PM - Feb 08, 2024
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Anthony Lee
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thread 10/15
When a pawn, lance, knight, or silver general reaches any of the last three rows on the other side, the player can elect to promote it to a gold general. If it is impossible for the unpromoted piece to move further on subsequent turns, like when a pawn reaches the last row, the promotion must occur.
09:23 PM - Feb 08, 2024
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Anthony Lee
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A bishop and rook can also be promoted if they reach the opponent's own three rows. Promoted bishops and rooks add the ability to move one square in non-normal directions. Another way to look at it: they move one square in any direction, plus any extra unblocked squares in their normal directions.
09:24 PM - Feb 08, 2024
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Anthony Lee
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thread 12/15
Now we get to the really unique feature of shogi: using opponent's pieces that you capture as your own pieces.

Instead of moving one of your own pieces, you can use a turn to drop any of your captured opponent's pieces on the board to use as your own piece, as long as you follow a few rules.
09:24 PM - Feb 08, 2024
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Anthony Lee
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When dropping an opponent piece to use as your own:
- It can only be placed in an empty square.
- It cannot be put in a square where no legal moves are possible.
- If it is dropped into one of the opponent's three rows, promotion does not occur, but promotion can occur on a subsequent move.
09:25 PM - Feb 08, 2024
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Anthony Lee
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thread 14/15
When dropping a captured opponent pawn to use as your own:
- It can only be placed in a square where you have no other pawns in the same column. Only one pawn is allowed per column.
- It cannot be placed and immediately result in checkmate, although you can drop other pieces for immediate checkmate.
09:25 PM - Feb 08, 2024
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Anthony Lee
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thread 15/15
That should cover it. I hope this gets you interested in the game of shogi. As with Chinese and Korean chess, I will try to win a game of Japanese chess against an app's computer opponent on the hardest difficulty level. Once I do, I will share the screenshot of the board with my winning move. 🙂
09:26 PM - Feb 08, 2024
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