Shogi

{ s h ōgē } nou n
Sh og i i s a Ja pa n e se s trate gy gam e w i th th e sam e li n eage as c hess,
or igi nat i ng w ith th e a n c ie n t I ndi an gam e of “Ch at u ran ga”. T h e o bject
of the g am e is to s trate g ica l l y capt u re th e oppon en t’s ki n g by putt ing
the m i n chec k mate . Sh o g i is com parable to c h ess i n i t s t u r n - based ,
p iece- capt ur i n g g a me pl ay , w i th di f feren t u n i t s h avi n g di f feren t
m ovem ent ca pa bi l it ie s . Howe ver, both th e board an d th e m ovement
r u le s are ex pa n d e d compa re d to c h ess, an d sh ogi con tai n s addit io na l
dy na m i cs that come in to pl ay later i n th e gam e.

B elow a re so m e of t h e m a in ways in which shog i r ul e s d iffe r from

those o f c he s s :

• T h e s h o g i b oa rd is 9x9, a s op p o sed to ch ess’s 8 x8 . Wh ereas chess is set u p

u s i n g t h e t wo e nd row s of e a ch side, sh o gi u ses t h ree o n each side, lea v i n g
on l y t h re e row s of uncla ime d space in t h e middle.

• Ru l e s a b ou t p romotion a nd d roppin g ( Will be explain ed in det ail later)

• In c h e s s e a c h p laye r ha s 1 6 uni t s o f 6 differen t t ypes, each wit h dist in c t

m ove m e n t r u le s, but in shogi e ach player st ar t s wit h 2 0 unit s o f 8
d i ffe re n t l y move a b le t yp e s. We say “ st ar t s wit h” because t h roughou t t h e ga me,
b ot h t h e nu m b e r a nd t yp e s of unit s will ch an ge.

* *lances, k night s, and silver generals are all promoted

Th e Ty pes of Shogi Pieces to go ld generals and will therefo re have the same move
set as a go ld general.

歩 Pawn
金 Gold General
と Promoted Pawn aka Tokin Gold cannot be promoted

香 Lance
角 Bishop
杏 or 仝 Promoted Lance aka Gold 馬 Promoted Bishop aka Horse
桂 Knight
飛 Rook
圭 or 今 Promoted Knight aka Gold 龍 or 竜 Promoted Rook aka Dragon

銀 Silver General 玉 King

(全) Promoted Silver aka Gold King cannot be promoted

Pro motio n
Promot i o n i s a r ule in che ss a nd sh o gi
th at a l l ow s fo r a p ie ce to b e e le vated
to a h i g h e r a n d of te n m ore p owe r ful
u n i t. I n c h e s s , for insta nce , if a p awn
reac h e s t h e 8 th ra nk or e nd row o f t h e
opp o n e n t ’s te rritor y, the n it may be
p rom ote d to a b ishop , k night, roo k,
or que e n .
Sh og i a l so u t i liz e s this r ule but has
a much m o re i ntrica te p romotion
sys te m . I n s h ogi, a unit tha t re a ches
e n e m y te r r i to r y — ie the thre e rows
at the o p p o s i te e nd m a rke d by d ot s
i n th e m i d d l e of the b oa rd — ca n
b e co m e t h e p romote d form of tha t
u n i t, e x p a n d i ng it s m ove m e nt
cap a b i l i t i e s . The se e xp a nd e d
m ove m e n t se t s d iffe r d e p e nd ing on
th e t yp e o f u nit b e ing p romote d .
The u n it ’s owner cho o ses wheth er o r
n ot to pro mote t h e unit (unles s th e
u n it has n o available moves wi th ou t
pro mot io n). Fur t her, a pro moted u n i t
t hat is at t acked by an en emy u n i t i s
o n ly demoted, rat her t han captu red.
Dro ppin g
Alt h ough bot h chess an d sho g i
pro gress t hrough t h e capt ure a n d
at trit io n o f an o ppo n ent ’s u n i t s , s h o g i
allows capt u red unit s to be depl oyed,
o r “ dro pped, ” against t h eir fo r mer
own er. S o instead o f movin g a pi ece,
a player may “ dro p” o n e o f t hei r
o ppo n ent ’s fo rmer pieces o n th e
bo ard to be used against t h em .

Understan ding the B oard : Th e Ba sic s

G ote ( W h i te ) • Standard shogi board is 9x9

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 • Like chess, shogi is played bet ween
香 桂 銀 金 玉 金 銀 桂 香 t wo players, black (sente) vs white
一 (gote). S ente plays “up” the board
while Gote plays “down” the board.
飛 角
二
• The numbers on top of the board
歩 歩 歩 歩 歩 歩 歩 歩 歩 denote file and the kanji on the
三 right side denote rank. B oth file
and rank are impor tant in recording
四 shogi notation during a game.

• The four dot s in the middle of the

五
board indicate a player’s territor y
and promotion zones i.e. ranks
六 一 to 三 is sente’s promotion zone
and 七 to 九 is gote’s promotion
歩 歩 歩 歩 歩 歩 歩 歩 七 zone respectively.
歩
• Shogi pieces are as follows: king,
角 飛 八 rook, bishop, gold general, silver
general, knight, lance, pawns.
香 桂 銀 金 玉 金 銀 桂 香 九 Additonally when cer tain pieces
are promoted, they can be called
tokin, horse, and dragon.
S e n te ( Bla ck)
 Moveset s of each P ie ce Type : Ch e ss v s Sh o gi
**Sha de d squa re s s h ows wh ere a p i ece ca n move, and an arrow m eans it can m ove as m any squares in that
d ire cti o n a s t h e player wa n t s . Pro m oted for ms are highlighted red and the lance, go ld, and silver general s
ha ve n o cou nte r pa r t i n c h es s .

Pawn Lance

Chess
* * Da r k gre y

Chess
i n d i ca te s how the
c h e s s pa w n w ill
m ove and the light
g re y s how s how the
p a w n atta ck s
d i a go n a lly for wa rd .
P
P

と 杏
Shogi

Shogi
歩 香

A ches s pawn attacks diffe re n t l y t h a n h ow it m oves . T he s hog i la nce ca n m ove a ny num b e r of sq ua re s

Th e p awn may move t wo squ a re s fo r wa rd if it h a s for wa rd , a nd w hen p rom oted , i t a ct s t he sa me a s
n ot yet b een move d, ot h e r wise it m ay o n l y m ove one a gold ge ner a l.
squ are for ward. A c h e ss pa wn a t t a c ks dia go n a l ly
for ward , unlike s ho gi pa wn s t h a t a t t a c k a n d m ove
for ward by one sq u a re . A pro m ote d pa wn in sh og i
becomes a gold ge n e ra l a n d wil l a do pt t h e sa m e m ove
set as a gold p iece .

* * Sh a de d p a r t s Knight Silver General

s h ow h ow the
kn i g h t (N)
Chess

Chess
m ove s i n a n “L ”
s h a p e . The light
g re y squa re s
s p e c i f i a lly
i n d i ca te w he re
N
t h e kn i g ht
l a n d s w he n it
co m p l ete s it s
“L” shaped
m ove se t.

圭 (全)
Shogi

Shogi

桂 銀

A ches s knight can go t wo squ a re s fo r wa rd o r
bac kward followed by o n e squ a re righ t o r l e f t in one
sin gular move makin g a n “ L ” sh a pe . Ch e ss kn igh t s
can also “hop ” or “ j u m p” ove r pie ce s a n d is t h e only
piece i n ches s that ca n do so . A sh o gi kn igh t h a s t he
same move set but ca n n ot m ove ba c kwa rds l ike t he
ch es s knight. A p rom ote d kn igh t wil l h a ve t h e sa m e
move set as a gold ge n e ra l pie ce .
T he s i lve r gene r a l (or j us t s i lve r ) ca n m ove one
sq ua re for wa rd , one sq ua re d i a gona lly for wa rd a nd
one sq ua re d i a gona lly b a ck . W he n a s i lve r ge ne ra l is
p rom ote d , i t i s p rom oted to a gold gene r a l a nd
t herefore t he p rom oted s i lver w i ll ha ve t he sa me
m ove se t a s a gold gene r a l p i ece.
 Moveset s of each P ie ce Type : Ch e ss v s Sh o gi
**Sha de d squa re s s h ows wh ere a p i ece ca n move, and an arrow m eans it can m ove as m any squares in that
d ire cti o n a s t h e player wa n t s . Pro m oted for ms are highlighted red and the lance, go ld, and silver general s
ha ve n o cou nte r pa r t i n c h es s .

Gold General Bishop

Chess

Chess
B

馬
角
Shogi

Shogi
金

Th e gold gener al (so m e t im e s j u st ca l l e d go l d) m ay A ches s b i s hop a nd s hog i b i s hop ha ve t he sa me

move and attack on e squ a re fo r wa rd, o n e squ a re
diagonally for ward , o n e squ a re l e f t , o n e righ t , o r
on e backwards .
e x a ct m ove se t a nd ca n m ove a ny num b er of
sq ua re s for wa rd or b a ck wa rd d i a gona lly . H owe ve r,
a p rom ote d b i s hop a ka horse i n s hog i ret ains it s
p revi ous m ove set a nd a d d i t i ona lly i s a b le to move
one sq ua re le f t , r i g ht , for wa rd s , or b a ck wa rd s .

Rook King
Chess

Chess
B K

龍
Shogi

Shogi

飛 玉

A rook i n ches s ha s t h e sa m e m ove se t a s a ro o k i n A ches s k i ng a nd s hoj i k i ng ha ve t he sa m e e xa c t

sh o gi. T hey are ab l e to m ove a n y nu m be r o f squa re s m ove se t a nd ca n a t t a ck one sq ua re i n a ny d ire c t ion
left or r ight, for wa rds o r ba c kwa rds. An d l ike t he i nclud i ng d i a gona ls .
promoted b is hop , a pro m ote d ro o k a ka dra go n re t a i ns
th e move set as a ro o k a n d m ay a ddit io n a l l y m ove
diagonally one sq u a re in a n y dire c t io n .