SHOGI (JAPANESE CHESS)

OBJECTIVE OF SHOGI: To capture the opponent’s king

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 2 Players

MATERIALS: A Japanese chessboard, 40 shogi pieces

TYPE OF GAME: Strategy Board Game

AUDIENCE: All Ages

INTRODUCTION TO SHOGI

Shogi is believed to derive from the ancient Indian game “Chaturanga” as similar to Chess. It is unknown how Shogi was introduced to Japan, but it has been around from the Heian period (794 to 1185).  keonhacai

CONTENTS

The game consists of a board with 81 squares. Each player has 20 pieces including 9 pawns (歩), 2 lances (香車), 2 knights (桂馬), 2 silver generals (銀), 2 gold generals (金), 1 bishop (角), 1 rook (飛車), 1 king (王).

SETUP

The setup is illustrated in the picture below. Just like Chess, the pawn acts as the first line of defense and the row behind is set up as follows: The rook (right) and the bishop (left) occupy one space in from the edge on the second row. The rest of the pieces are set up on the row nearest to the player: The lances occupy the corners, the knights are placed next to them, followed by the silver generals. The gold generals are placed next to the silver generals and the king is then placed on the remaining open square. 

HOW TO START

Each player takes 5 pawns and tosses them on the board like dice. Count the number of promoted pawns facing up, which determines who opens the game. The player with the higher number of promoted pawns facing up goes first. 

Moving your pieces:

There are a total of 8 types of pieces and the movement is different depending on the type of pieces. Only the knights (horses) can jump over a piece that stands in its way. 

King (王)

The king can move one square in all directions. If you capture this piece, you win the game.

Gold general (金)

The gold general can move one square to any direction other than diagonally backward.

Silver general (銀)

The silver general can move one square diagonally or one square directly forward. But it cannot move sideways. 

Bishop (角)

The bishop can move any number of free squares on the diagonal.

Rook (飛車)

The rook can move any number of free squares in the four orthogonal directions.

Lance (香車)

The lance can move any number of free squares directly forward. But it cannot move backward or sideways.

Knight (桂馬)