Shogi or Japanese chess is a large original chess variant created in Japan. It was the first chess variant to introduce the "reduction" rule, implemented in Swedish chess as well - captured pieces could be returned to the board.

Start position and goal of the game

Shogi is played on a 9x9 board. Each player starts the game with the following pieces: 1 king, 1 rook, 1 bishop, 2 gold generals, 2 silver generals, 2 knights, 2 lancers and 9 pawns. The starting position is shown in the following picture:

Unlike Western chess, all pieces are the same color and have the same five-sided shape. Player affiliations are identified by headings on the figures.
The object of the game is to checkmate the opponent's king, just like in standard chess.

Movement of figures

All pieces in Shogi use the same rules for both moving and knocking down enemy pieces. The last three rows from each player are called advanced zones and when any piece (except kings and golden generals) reaches them, they can be advanced piece with other modes of transportation.

King

The king moves one square vertically, horizontally or diagonally. As in standard Chess, the king is not allowed to move to check. If the king is attacked (under check), the corresponding player must get rid of the check immediately. If this is not possible, the player loses the game.

Golden General

The golden general moves one space vertically, horizontally or diagonally only forward.

Silver General

The Silver General moves one space diagonally or straight ahead. An advanced silver general moves like a gold general.

Horse

The knight moves one square forward and immediately one square forward diagonally, jumping over the occupied squares. The advanced knight moves like a golden general.

Lancer

A lancer can move any number of squares forward vertically. An advanced lancer walks like a golden general.

Elephant

The elephant moves diagonally to any number of squares. An advanced bishop can still move like a king.

Rook

The rook moves vertically and horizontally to any number of squares. The advanced rook can still move like a king.

Pawn

The pawn only moves forward. The advanced pawn moves like a golden general.

How to make a figure advanced

• When the figures reach advanced zone, the player has the option to advance it. If so, the advanced piece is shown above the game board and if the player wants to make a promotion, click on the suggested piece and press the confirm move button.
• When a piece moves to a row where it cannot continue moving (the last row for pawns, lancers and knights, or the penultimate row for knights), it is promoted automatically .
• If the advanced piece is captured, then it returns to it initial version. A piece that is placed in an advanced zone cannot be promoted immediately, it must make at least one move.

How to drop parts

• Instead of making a move, the player can choose one of the captured pieces (on his side) and place it on an empty square of the board as his own piece (similar to Swedish chess).
• A pawn cannot be placed in a column that already contains another unpromoted pawn of the same player.
• a piece cannot be placed in a square from which it cannot move (pawns, lancers and knights on the last row, or horse meat on the penultimate row).
• You can't checkmate by pushing a pawn.

Other important rules

• The game is won by checkmating the opponent's king. Due to the staking rule, there is very little chance of a stalemate (which would mean a draw).
• Endless check is prohibited. The player who causes such a situation is obliged to stop it.

Play this game

See also:

What do you know about the game Shogi (将棋) - a Japanese board game related to chess.

Shogi can be translated as "game of generals". Ka and chess are played by two players, black and white (sente 先手 and gote 後手). The board is also divided into rectangular cells or fields. The size of the board is 9×9 cells. Cells are not marked in any way and have no color.

The total number of participating figures is forty; 20 figures for each participant.
The figure is a flat block of wood in the form of an obelisk (an elongated pentagon), on both surfaces of which the name of the main and transformed figure is written in hieroglyphs. All the pieces are of the same color, and differ only in their orientation on the board: the piece is always placed with its sharp side towards the opponent. The figures vary slightly in size: the more important the figure, the larger it is.
As in chess, the main pieces are the king (王将), rook (飛車), bishop (角行), golden general (金将), silver general (銀将), knight (桂馬), spear (香車), and pawns. (歩兵) moving according to the rank rules.

Moves are made in turn, the first move is made by black. On each move, a player can move one of his pieces in accordance with the rules of its move. When moving to a field occupied by an opponent's piece, this piece is taken - removed from the board and goes into the reserve for the player who took it. A reserve piece can only be placed on the field in an unpromoted state. The player who made the illegal move immediately loses.
As in chess, the game ends when one of the sides checkmates the opponent's king, that is, it creates a position where the opponent's king is in check, and the opponent cannot eliminate this check with any move. The checkmate wins. Unlike chess, the king is not in check. If the player whose king was under attack did not notice this and did not defend his king, the opponent has the right to take the king on the next move, which also brings a win.

The last three horizontals of the board (relative to each of the players) are the so-called "transformation zone". A piece that moves into or out of the promotion zone can be promoted. The transformation is not a separate move, it occurs on the same move as the movement of the piece. Unlike chess, the transformation of pieces is not carried out at the choice of the player, but according to certain rules - during the transformation, the piece simply turns over to the other side, where the sign of the turned piece is depicted.
Transformation is one-time - once a figure has been transformed, it can no longer be transformed.
The most important difference between shogi and chess is that there is no pronounced endgame, since the pieces never leave the game. Theoretically, the party can last indefinitely. Shogi theory recommends special formations ("fortresses"), when the king is surrounded by a large number of pieces, and the assault on such a fortress is extremely difficult.

Today, the game is widespread in Japan (according to some estimates, there are at least 20 million people playing it), ahead of all others in popularity. board games, including Go and Renju.

The organization of sports shogi is very close to the organization of go - in the same way there is a professional shogi league that holds professional tournaments and assigns ranks to players, there is also a system of ranks "kyu-dan", indicating the strength of the player, and in two versions - amateur and professional. The lowest rank is 15 kyu, with an increase in the level, the kyu rank decreases. After 1st kyu, 1st dan follows, with further growth, the rank of dan increases. The traditional limit for amateur ranks is 7 dan.

The professional shogi league selects players according to very strict criteria: only a player no older than 20 years old who has already reached the level of 5 amateur dan can enter it. Thus, only those who have shown outstanding abilities and a penchant for the game from childhood get into the professionals. Upon admission to the league, the player is assigned 5 professional kyu. With a successful game, a professional reaches 1 kyu, then receives 1 professional dan. The maximum rank for a professional is 9 dan.

Every year 7 professional shogi titles are played in Japan: Ryuo, Meijin, Kisei, Oi, Oza, Kio, Osyo. The incomes of professionals are quite high - the best Japanese player earns about $1 million a year, the players of the top ten - about 250-300 thousand, ordinary professionals - about 100 thousand dollars.
If you have a talent for Shogo, then aim for fifth dan by making history as the first professional foreigner to play Shogo. So far, no foreigner has been able to become a Japanese shogi professional. So keep it up!

If you are in Tokyo and you are interested in the Shogo game, then visit the Headquarters of the Japan Shogi Association (Shogi Kaikan) in the Sendagai area, where you can learn everything about this game.

Sometimes it is called Japanese chess. I will not argue that these games have something in common, but shogi is much more difficult. I first learned about this game from a comment on Habré, where it was claimed that this is one of the most difficult games, and the best computer programs still can't beat the strongest human players. Of course, I got interested and started playing. During the year I achieved some success and even took second place among the beginners in the official tournament. Given my love of programming, the next step was obvious - write your own AI. This will be discussed below.
I did not dare to write AI for real shogi on the 9 by 9 field right away and decided to start with a simplified version of the game on the 5 by 5 field (this field is often used by beginners). If you read the full rules of the game on Wikipedia, then the following section will be much easier for you to understand.

Rules of the game

Let's agree that from now on, I will write "shogi", but mean a simplified version of the game on the field 5 on 5.

figures

The first thing to understand when studying new game are the moves. There are 10 different figures in shogi. The designations of the pieces, their names and possible moves are presented in the table below:

Coups

Surely you have noticed that among the figures there are “inverted doubles”, which are most often stronger than the original. The principle of amplification in shogi is similar to chess, but if in chess, only a pawn is promoted, and it is transformed into an arbitrary piece, then all the pieces are turned into shogi, except for gold and the king. To achieve a coup, it is necessary to start or end the move on the opponent's last rank. In general, the flip is arbitrary: i.e. you can reach the last rank with your rook, but not flip it, and on the next move return to your camp with a flip (because you started your move on the last diagonal). Naturally, a pawn must flip if it reaches the flip zone.

Resets

If you have read up to this point, you may think that shogi is some kind of chess or checkers, but I assure you it is not. There is one nuance in shogi that immediately makes this game several orders of magnitude more difficult.

You can put any figure eaten from the enemy on any free field as your own. Such an action is called a reset (although I personally prefer the word "space marines", which was first used in this context by Andrei Vasnetsov).

True, there are several restrictions when resetting, but they are quite simple:

• All pieces are discarded not reversed;
• If you drop a piece into the flip zone, then it can turn over only after it makes a move;
• You cannot drop a pawn on a vertical where your pawn already exists (the tokin is not considered a pawn in this case);
• You cannot drop a pawn to the last rank;
• You can't drop a checkmate pawn.

The discard rule may seem insignificant to you, but it fundamentally changes the entire strategy of the game. If in chess or checkers it is enough to get a small material advantage, and then constantly go for exchanges and win in the endgame, then in shogi, exchanges lead to a more tense position and complicate the miscalculation.

Order of moves and initial arrangement

The game is on square box with a side of 5 cells. At the beginning of the game, the field looks like this:

For reasons unknown to me, in shogi black starts first and white defends. In order not to get confused with the terms, let's agree that the side that starts the game is called sente, and the defending side is called gote.

Before proceeding to the actual programming, it is necessary to note one more important thing. There is no concept of check in shogi, i.e. your king is threatened, you don't have to defend yourself or run away. You may well launch your attack. True, the next move will most likely eat your king, and the game will end.

Game programming

The introduction turned out to be quite long, but believe me, it was impossible to do without it. Once upon a time, I already wrote a post on Habré about game trees. The main advantage of game trees is that they can be applied to any game: tic-tac-toe, checkers, chess, and even shogi. Let's try to remember the main ideas.

Enumerating game trees

Full enumeration of game trees

Suppose we are playing shogi and at some point an interesting position has appeared on the board in which we need to find the best move for sente. Because the computer is essentially a stupid performer, we can order it to go through all the possible moves and evaluate them. Then the best move is the move with the highest score. But we still don't know how to evaluate moves.

Here you can make a small digression and notice that if in some position the sente has an advantage in conventional units, then the gote in the same position lose conventional units. It turns out that the position estimation function both from the sente side and from the gote side will give the same result in modulus, and the difference will be only in the sign.

Then the score for each move for sente can be obtained by inverting the score for the best counter move for gote. And the estimate of the best move for the gote is obtained by estimating the best return move for the sente, and so on. Those. it turns out that the move evaluation function is inherently recursive. These recursive position evaluations should ideally continue until each branch of the tree has a checkmate. The figure below shows a small part of the game tree that occurs when playing shogi:

Iterating over game trees with limited recursion depth

Obviously, this tree grows extremely fast. Even for tic-tac-toe, a complete tree would contain over a quarter of a million nodes, not to mention chess and shogi. In real algorithms, the recursion depth is artificially limited, and if the maximum recursion depth is reached, then the static position evaluation function is called, which, for example, simply calculates the material advantage. Thus, the search function for the best move can be written as follows:

function SearchBestMove(Depth: byte ; color: TColor) : real ;
var
r, tmpr: real
i, N: word;
Moves: TAMoves;
begin
if Depth= ​​0 then
r:=EstimatePos
else
begin
real :=- 100000 ;
N: = GenerateAllMoves(Moves) ;
for i: = 1 to N do
begin
Making a move Moves[ i] ;
tmpr: =- SearchBestMove(Depth- 1 , opcolor(color) ) ;
Cancel move Moves[ i] ;
if tmpr>r then
r:=tmpr;
end ;
end ;
SearchBestMove:=r;
end ;

It is clear that this algorithm does not give a complete estimate of the position, but only an estimate of the position that will arise after the Depth of moves. Therefore, if it is necessary to strengthen the game of the program, first of all it is necessary to increase the recursion depth, and this, in turn, leads to an increase in the tree, and hence an increase in the computation time.

alpha beta clipping

In fact, there is an algorithm that allows you to sort through not the entire tree, but only a small part of it, and at the same time give estimates of the same accuracy as with a full enumeration. This algorithm is called alpha-beta pruning.

The algorithm is based on the idea that some branches of the tree can be considered inefficient even before they are fully considered. For example, if the evaluation function in some node is guaranteed to be worse than in the previously considered branches, then the consideration of this node can be terminated ahead of schedule.

Such a situation arises in the following cases: let us consider a position for a sente, and having considered some branch, we have received an estimate of the position. Then, deep in the tree, when considering another possible move, we noticed that the score for White became greater than or equal to the previously obtained maximum. Obviously, there is no point in considering this node further, and all branches coming out of it will not bring any improvement in the position.

You may have already noticed that this algorithm only allows you to prune branches if a better move was considered earlier. If we assume that during the review all moves were checked in sequence from worst to best, then the alpha-beta algorithm will not give any gain compared to exhaustive search. If the best moves were considered at the beginning, then the alpha-beta algorithm, instead of a complete tree of N nodes, will consider only the root of N nodes, with the same estimation accuracy.

Move sorting

The main problem is that it is impossible to determine in advance which moves are actually good and which will turn out to be bad. In this case, you have to resort to heuristics. If, when evaluating a position, only material advantage is taken into account, then it makes sense to consider the capture moves first. Moreover, it makes sense, first of all, to consider those moves where a heavy piece is taken with a light piece. In addition, inverted pieces play a huge role in shogi, so for reversal moves, you can also increase the preliminary heuristic estimate.

By the way, about revolutions. It is important to understand that if a coup is possible, it does not always have to be done. For example, at the end of the game, silver, which can retreat sideways, is sometimes more effective than gold, which is much less maneuverable when retreating. But for pawns, rooks and bishops, the coup is always performed, because the flip leaves all the original moves and adds new ones.

As a result, after all the moves have been generated and their heuristic evaluation has been carried out, it is necessary to sort them according to this evaluation, and feed the alpha-beta algorithm as input, which looks something like this:

function AB(POS : TRPosition; color: TColor; Depth: byte ; A, B: real ) : real ;
var
Moves: TAMoves;
i, MovesCount: byte ;
OLDPos: TRPosition;
begin
MovesCount:=0
if (Depth= ​​0 ) or Mate(POS . HandSente , POS . HandGote , color) then
A:=EstimatePos
else
begin
if color= sente then
MovesCount: = GenerateMoves(POS . Board , color, POS . HandSente , Moves)
else
MovesCount: = GenerateMoves(POS . Board , color, POS . HandGote , Moves) ;

for i := 1 to MovesCount do
begin
if A>= B then
break;
OLDPOS:=POS ;
MakeMove(POS , Color, Moves[ i] ) ;
Moves[ i] . r : =- AB(POS , opcolor(color) , Depth- 1 , - B, - A) ;
POS :=OLDPos;
if Moves[ i] . r>Athen
A: = Moves[ i] . r;
end ;
end ;
AB:=A;
end ;

Shogi is a chess-type logic board game from Japan.

Shogi Rules

A board measuring 9 by 9 cells is used. Cells are numbered from right to left, as well as from top to bottom. Each cell is rectangular in shape, not marked in any way, the cells are not divided into colors. In the "upper" cells before the game, figures are placed in 3 rows white color, and in the "lower" rows - black figures in the same order. The figures look like 5-angled tablets with hieroglyphs. “Black” and “white” are only verbal designations of the playing sides, the pieces themselves have the same color and their belonging is determined by the direction of the acute angle of the piece. Each figure is set with a sharp side to the opponent. Each of the players has at their disposal 20 pieces belonging to 8 types, which differ in value, strength and moves.

The player has the following set of pieces: 1 king, 1 rook, 1 bishop, 2 gold generals and 2 silver generals, 2 knights, 2 spears, 9 pawns. In the last row near the spears are horses, near the horses are silver generals, and next to them are golden generals. In the central cell between the golden generals is the king. There are only 2 figures in the 2nd row. An elephant stands in front of the horse on the left. Right in front of the knight is a rook. 3rd row is completely occupied by 9 pawns.

General order

Players take turns making one move. The first move is made by the player playing the black pieces. A move is the movement by a player of one of his pieces from among those currently on the game board to an allowed field in accordance with the rules for moving pieces, or the placement (discarding) of a piece available in the reserve. "In reserve" (or also - "in hand") are the pieces that were taken (knocked down) from the opponent.

When a piece reaches a special zone (opponent's camp), it can be strengthened (transformed), then the piece is turned over. You can strengthen any figure in this way, with the exception of the golden generals and the king.

The object of the game of shogi is to checkmate the opponent's king. A checkmate is made when the king is hit by an opponent's piece while in a square that an enemy piece can move into without being able to defend or leave.

How the pieces move

Each figure has hieroglyphs on both sides, only the king and golden generals are marked with hieroglyphs on one side.

King (in Japanese - Osho or Gyoku) - moves to 1 field in any of the directions, except for the field under the opponent's check, similar to a chess king. Shah - a position in which the king is under attack by an opponent's piece - in a field into which the opponent's piece can make a move.

Golden General (Kin) - moves 1 field vertically or horizontally to either side and diagonally forward.

Silver General (Gin) - moves 1 space diagonally in all directions or 1 space forward vertically. After reaching the enemy camp, he can become a gold general.

Horse (Key) - walks with the letter G, like a chess horse, however, unlike the latter - only forward, cannot retreat. The knight's move, therefore, is 1 field forward vertically, then 1 field to the right or left diagonally. The knight is the only piece in shogi that can jump over other pieces that stand in its way. Upon reaching the enemy camp, he can become a golden general.

Spear (Kyo) - moves exclusively vertically forward to any number of squares that are not occupied by other pieces, and does not move back. Upon reaching the enemy camp, he can become a golden general.

Pawn (Fu) - moves vertically 1 space forward. Beats the opponent's pieces not obliquely, unlike chess, but in front of him. Upon reaching the enemy camp, he can become a golden general.

Rook (Hisya) - moves to any number of squares that are not occupied by other pieces, both vertically and horizontally (just like a chess rook). Upon reaching the enemy camp, it can become a dragon king - a piece that retains the capabilities of a rook and, at the same time, is able to additionally move 1 square diagonally in all directions.

Elephant (Kaku) - moves to any number of fields that are not occupied by other pieces, diagonally (just like a chess bishop). Upon reaching the enemy camp, it can become a horse-dragon - this is a figure that retains the capabilities of an elephant and is additionally capable of making a move 1 field horizontally or vertically in all directions.

The value of the pieces

Regular chess players use the well-known formula for the value of chess pieces. The unit of measurement is the pawn. Bishop and knight are valued at 3 pawns, rook - at 5, queen - at 9 pawns. Although material advantage is an important strategic goal in chess, this component is not so important in shogi.

When exchanging, you should always take into account the current situation in the game. The strength of the pieces largely depends on the protection of the king, tactical possibilities, and the strategic pattern of the game. The ambiguous value of pieces in shogi is expressed by some proverbs about this game: "1 pawn is more valuable than 1000 golden generals" and "speed at the end of the game is more important than material".

But still, the material ratio is also important criterion position evaluation.

Capturing a piece

"Capture" is a piece's move to the field, which is occupied by the opponent's piece. In this case, the latter is removed from the board, stacking near it. While in regular chess captured pieces are always removed from the board before the end of the game, in shogi such pieces can later be used by the capturing player as his own. They are in reserve. At any time, such a figure can be placed (discarded) on any unoccupied field.

Shape transformation

After a piece reaches the opponent's camp (transformation zone), it can become transformed (with the exception of the king and the golden general). However, transformation is not an obligatory process, it can be carried out at the moment of any next move (first movement, then transformation) and only on condition that this piece is still in the enemy camp. The transformation of a figure can also occur outside the transformation zone, but only at the moment it leaves this zone. At the moment of transformation, the figure is turned over after the move, receiving from that moment all the properties of the transformed figure. In the case of most pieces, these properties include the abilities of the golden general, and the bishop and rook become the knight-dragon and king-dragon, respectively. There is no reverse transformation in the game.

Promotion is mandatory only for pieces that are unable to continue participating in the game, having the properties of unpromoted pieces, these are the pawn, knight and spear.

If the opponent captures the transformed piece, it loses its abilities and returns to its original properties.

exhibiting

The piece that is “in hand” can be put (discarded) on any of the free fields of the board, this is a variant of the next move. A piece can only be discarded if it is not promoted (this rule applies even if the piece was promoted before being captured). It is not allowed to place on a field that was occupied by an enemy piece. After placing a piece, it receives the same rights as the pieces located on the board. In the case of dropping it into the enemy camp, the transformation of this piece is possible only after the execution of the next move, even if it was performed on the playing field outside the transformation zone.

Forbidden moves

The following moves are illegal in shogi:

1. Doubling pawns (denoted by the term “nifu”). If there is an unpromoted pawn on one file, it is forbidden to place another pawn on this file.
2. Placing a checkmate pawn. It is forbidden to checkmate the enemy king. But you can declare a checkmate on the next move of a pawn that is on the board.
3. Wrong moves.
   1. Locking the exposed figure. It is impossible to discard pieces so that they would not be able to make a move in the future. This situation occurs when a pawn, knight or spear is placed on the last rank or when the knight is dropped to the penultimate rank.
   2. Flipping the exposed figure.

Draw

In most cases, the game ends with the victory of one of the players (due to a checkmate or the other player admitting his defeat), but a draw can also occur in the following cases:

1. Repetition. In an attempt to avoid losing or worsening their position, players can consciously repeat their moves. A draw is declared in the event of a 4-fold repetition of 3 of the following conditions at the same time:
   • position on the game board;
   • figures "in stock";
   • sequence of moves.

   In tournaments, such games are replayed.

2. A hopeless situation. This situation rarely appears, namely, if both kings have entered the enemy camps and there is no possibility of checkmate. In this case, figures are counted. Bishop and rook each have 5 points of value, and the rest - 1 each. In the case when the sum of the value of all the pieces that both players have exceeds 24 points, a draw is awarded. If one player has less than 24 points, his defeat is counted.

Unlike conventional chess, in shogi a draw cannot occur due to perpetual check. In the case of a 3-fold repetition of the position on the board as a result of a series of checks placed by one player, this player must change his move, otherwise he is considered defeated.

Story

The moment of the emergence of the game of shogi and its original version are not exactly known, however, apparently, in the 2nd half of the 1st millennium AD. e. Shatranj, a game popular at that time in the Arab world, came to the countries of Southeast Asia, where local board games arose on its basis, including xiangqi (China), changi (Korea), makruk (Thailand), and the latter game resembles shatranj and modern chess to a much greater extent than the first two. It is likely that shogi originated from these games.

The earliest archaeological finds of shogi pieces date back to the 11th century. They have modern look- These are 5-coal chips of a flat shape with hieroglyphs. The game of shogi is described in some detail in the written sources of the Heian era. At that time, shogi were divided into "small" and "large". The first ones were played on 9 by 9 boards, and the "large" ones were played on 13 by 13 boards. The moves and pieces in the game did not differ from modern ones, but there was no such difference between today's shogi and chess as the ability to re-introduce captured on to his side of the board the opponent's pieces.

In the 1st century, Emperor Go-Nara formed modern rules shogi. He left only “small shogi”, a 9 by 9 board, reducing the number of pieces to 40 from 42 (cancelling the drunken bishop), and also introducing a new rule - the pieces of one player captured by another player were transferred to the player who captured them , and he had the right at any time, as his next move, to put on the board any of these pieces, making them his own. This innovation radically changed the strategy and tactics of the game. From him, in fact, the history of modern shogi should be counted.

In the 17th century, shogi gained a privileged status due to the fact that they were loved by the rulers of Japan at that time - Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Tokugawa Ieyasu and Oda Tobunaga. The position of shogidokoro was even created, to which the strongest shogi player was appointed. Shogikodoro organized the games at the court of the ruler and the distribution of the ranks of the players.

At leisure in the Land of the Rising Sun, they play Japanese chess - an analogue of European chess, but with certain differences. Amateurs and professionals will easily master the new technique, as there is nothing complicated in it. The main thing to remember is that shogi - logic game and the rest will come with practice.

Historical overview

The prototype on the basis of which our chess and Japanese shogi were born was popular in ancient india. On the initial stage The formation was a checkered board, on which identical figures were moved in one order or another.

Over the centuries, it migrated first to the West, and later to China, from where it reached Japan. In all parts of the world, this logic game, oddly enough, had similar rules. The fundamental differences, it would seem, lie in the figures themselves, because we use chiseled, like silhouettes, and in the east they use plates with hieroglyphs. But even here there are similarities, because these same hieroglyphs in translation mean almost the same names as ours: King, Horse, Rook, pawn, etc.

playing field

Let's start the description of the Japanese version of chess directly from the basics, that is, from the battlefield. The shogi board consists of 81 cells, that is, 9x9, and they are not marked in any way, neither by letters nor by numbers. There are no color differences on it, each cell is no different from all the others.

It is important to know that the shogiban is not a folding board, but a table with legs, on the surface of which the playing field itself is carved. By right side each player has a komadai. It's another one small table, on which captured pieces are placed.

In their own country, Japanese chess is a sacred game, it can even be of a ritual nature. Therefore, high-quality and rare shogibans are often the most worthy decoration of houses. Naturally, such "tables" sometimes cost a fortune.

Names and features of figures

The game of Japanese chess is complicated not only by the lack of numbering on the field, but also by the complete identity of the pieces. All of them are equally sharpened under the pentahedron and differ from each other only in the hieroglyphs that are depicted on them.

You are even more surprised when you discover that black and white is an ephemeral concept. The belonging of this or that figure is determined by the direction of its pointed edge - it always looks at the enemy.

The pawns themselves have exactly the same color. The game involves 20 pieces for each player, including 8 items. They are distinguished by the patterns of moves, value and strength. Below is an illustration that translates the meaning of each character found in the shogi game.

In the very middle of the field, a Transformation Zone was held. By moving your piece into enemy territory, you increase its value. How exactly, we will tell later.

We arrange the figures and walk

In principle, it is not so difficult to remember all Japanese chess. How to play them, by what rules to move? This is the next question to consider. So:

1. The King's move is similar to his move in classical chess.
2. The golden general exactly repeats the pattern of the king's move, but he cannot move backward diagonally.
3. The silver general can move forward one square, and diagonally in any direction, but again one square.
4. The horse moves, like ours, along the letter "G", but only in a straight line.
5. The spear moves vertically only forward and to any number of fields.
6. Pawns in all versions of the game move identically. Only if you play Japanese chess, you will have to hit not obliquely, but directly.
7. The rook in Japan is moved, as in ours, vertically and horizontally by any number of cells. It is noteworthy that when crossing the Transformation Zone, he becomes the Dragon King and can also move one space diagonally in any direction.
8. The bishop, as in chess, can walk diagonally for any distance, unless its path is blocked by other pieces. On enemy territory, it becomes a Dragon Horse and moves not only as before, but also directly one cell in any direction.

How does the transformation take place

You probably noticed in the above description that some pieces, reaching the opponent's house, change their properties - these were the Rook and the Bishop. But it is important to add that metamorphoses occur with all participants of the shogiban, with the exception of the King and the Golden General. It turns out that the Silver General, Knight, Spear and pawns also acquire new properties by moving through the central line, and to be more precise, they become Golden Generals. To do this, simply turn the corresponding five-sided plate over. Of course, they also acquire new properties of the move, inherent in a more valuable piece.

Let's start playing Japanese chess

The rules of the game practically duplicate those familiar to us in chess. Each participant in turn makes his move to one of the figures, taking into account the rules of its movement. Both opponents are striving for the same goal - to checkmate the enemy King.

Checkmate in chess is the position of the King under the blow of an opponent's piece. There is either a direct battle, or he does not have the opportunity to escape from the blow.

"Capture" of pieces

But, as we have already said, “broken” pawns are placed on a special small table, which, oddly enough, can also be used. Having defeated one of the opponent's pieces, you can put it on the field, and it will be yours. Using the taken figure, it is worth remembering simple rules:

• A pawn must not appear on the same file on which another unpromoted pawn stands.
• You cannot place a piece in such a way that it cannot make a single move.
• It is forbidden to checkmate with the pawn you are setting up. Look at her at least once.

Evaluation of the significance of figures

Chess players around the world do not count by the number of pieces they have, but by their importance. The unit of measurement is the pawn, that is, its value is 1. Bishop and Knight are equal to 3, the value of the Rook is 5, and the Queen gets as much as 9. Japanese chess is calculated by a completely different method.

Shogi is a game in which one should take into account the specific position of a piece on the board, and only on the basis of this, determine its value. This is due to the transformations we talked about earlier. Let's find out what is the assessment of the main characters in this game:

• A pawn is equal to 1 point.
• Spear - valued at 5.
• We equate the horse to 6.
• Our Silver General was awarded 8.
• Golden general - 9.
• The converted Silver General is a Gold General, therefore it is equal to 9.
• The transformed spear is counted as 10.
• The converted horse is also 10.
• A promoted pawn is worth 12 points.
• We give the elephant a score of 13.
• Rook - 15 points.
• The transformed elephant is 15.
• Transformed Rook - 17, the most valuable character.

End of the game

Like any other board games, Japanese chess ends either in the victory of one of the participants or in a draw. You can end the game in the following circumstances:

1. More than four repetitions of the move. In order to avoid losing, players can deliberately repeat the same moves. If this phenomenon is duplicated 4 times, the game ends in a draw.
2. In the case when each of the Kings is in the opponent's camp, it is impossible to checkmate. Figures are counted according to their value. If the number of points for each participant is higher than 24, a draw is declared. Whoever has less than this number is the loser.
3. is prohibited in shogi, you cannot force a draw with it. By repeating the same position three times, the player is obliged to change tactics, or he is obliged to declare himself a loser.
4. The last option for ending the game is, of course, checkmate.

Tactical features of the game

Having mastered a little basic rules, we will try to reveal some secrets of shogi, which allow us to take a broader look at the essence of what is happening. Firstly, Japanese chess is a very tense action, in which the situation escalates literally with every move. The reason for this is the “captured” pieces, which the opponent can put on the field as his own.

In theory, such a game can last indefinitely, because there is no place for a standard chess endgame in it. But, as practice shows, 60 to 180 moves are usually enough for opponents (if compared with the terminology of our chess, then half-moves, because in segs one whole move is considered a half-move).

Thanks to this range of actions, you, as a player, can use a little secret that will allow you to gain an advantage over your opponent. Try to "kill" the maximum number of enemy figures, because later they will become transformed, therefore, more valuable directly to you. For such an advantage, you will have to sacrifice your camp, so do it wisely. Do not substitute pawns for battle (after all, their value in the hands of the enemy will increase significantly).

The second trick is to protect the king. The piece is priceless, because it should be surrounded as much as possible in order to block all the moves of the opponent around it. This technique is called the construction of a fortress and sometimes requires a premature exchange of pieces, in particular - elephants.

The third secret is old and simple. It doesn't matter if you play European chess, Japanese chess, or even just checkers or backgammon - you should carefully calculate your opponent's moves. Keep a record of exactly which of your pieces he has and what value they will gain when they appear again on the battlefield. After all, now their forces will be directed against you.