Shogi is a Japanese form of chess played by two people on a board with 81 squares. The game's objective is to checkmate the opposing king. Each player starts with 20 pieces of varying powers, including pawns, a rook, a bishop, lances, knights, silver generals, gold generals, and a king. Shogi is unique because captured pieces can be replayed as part of the captor’s forces. Pieces are promoted upon entering, moving within, or leaving the enemy territory, enhancing their capabilities. Repetition of moves is not allowed, and the game almost never ends in a draw because pieces are recycled.

How is shogi similar to chess?

Shogi, or Japanese chess, shares similarities with Western chess. Both are played by two players on a board with pieces of varying powers, and the objective is to checkmate the opposing king. The knight in shogi can jump over pieces, just like the knight in Western chess. However, shogi has unique features. The shogi chessboard has 81 squares (9 by 9), whereas the Western chessboard has 64 squares (8 by 8). Shogi pieces are not differentiated by color to indicate the side. A key difference is that captured pieces in shogi can be replayed as part of the captor’s forces, unlike in Western chess where they are removed from play.

How many pieces does each player have in shogi?

In shogi, each player starts with 20 pieces:

What are the basic moves of shogi pieces?

In shogi, each piece has a unique movement. Kings move one square in any direction, while gold generals move one square in all directions except diagonally backward. Silver generals move one square in all directions except backward and horizontally, and pawns move one square forward. Lances move any number of empty squares forward, and knights jump forward two rows and one square to either side. Bishops move any number of unobstructed squares diagonally, and rooks move any number of unobstructed squares horizontally or vertically. Pieces, excluding kings and golds, can be promoted upon entering, moving within, or leaving enemy territory, gaining new abilities.

What makes shogi unique, such as the rule of dropping captured pieces?

Shogi, or Japanese chess, shares origins with chess variants from India, China, and Korea. Played on a 9x9 board, each player starts with 20 pieces, including pawns, rooks, bishops, lances, knights, silver generals, gold generals, and a king. Shogi's most distinctive feature is the rule of "dropping" captured pieces. Unlike other chess games, captured pieces aren't removed from the game. Instead, a player can reintroduce them to the board as part of their own forces. This adds a layer of strategic depth, as players must consider not only their own pieces but also the potential of their opponent's captured pieces. Certain restrictions apply to dropping, such as preventing pawns from being dropped on the same column where one already exists, or to deliver checkmate.

How do you win a game of shogi?

To win a game of shogi , you must checkmate the opposing king, which means trapping it so that it has no escape. Shogi is unique because captured pieces can be replayed as part of your forces, adding a strategic element not found in other chess variants. Pieces, with the exception of kings and golds, can be promoted when entering, moving within, or leaving enemy territory to increase their powers. Shogi rarely ends in a draw because pieces are recycled, ensuring enough pieces are available to reach a checkmate. A player repeating moves must stop the repetition or forfeit the game.

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shogi

game

Also known as: Japanese chess, shōgi

Written by

William L. Hosch

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Top Questions

What is shogi?
Shogi is a Japanese form of chess played by two people on a board with 81 squares. The game's objective is to checkmate the opposing king. Each player starts with 20 pieces of varying powers, including pawns, a rook, a bishop, lances, knights, silver generals, gold generals, and a king.

Shogi is unique because captured pieces can be replayed as part of the captor’s forces. Pieces are promoted upon entering, moving within, or leaving the enemy territory, enhancing their capabilities. Repetition of moves is not allowed, and the game almost never ends in a draw because pieces are recycled.
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1. Definition of shogi
2. shogi
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How is shogi similar to chess?
Shogi, or Japanese chess, shares similarities with Western chess. Both are played by two players on a board with pieces of varying powers, and the objective is to checkmate the opposing king. The knight in shogi can jump over pieces, just like the knight in Western chess.

However, shogi has unique features. The shogi chessboard has 81 squares (9 by 9), whereas the Western chessboard has 64 squares (8 by 8). Shogi pieces are not differentiated by color to indicate the side. A key difference is that captured pieces in shogi can be replayed as part of the captor’s forces, unlike in Western chess where they are removed from play.
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2. shogi
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How many pieces does each player have in shogi?
In shogi, each player starts with 20 pieces:
- Nine pawns
- One rook
- One bishop
- Two lances
- Two knights
- Two silver generals
- Two gold generals
- One king
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1. shogi
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What are the basic moves of shogi pieces?
In shogi, each piece has a unique movement. Kings move one square in any direction, while gold generals move one square in all directions except diagonally backward. Silver generals move one square in all directions except backward and horizontally, and pawns move one square forward. Lances move any number of empty squares forward, and knights jump forward two rows and one square to either side.

Bishops move any number of unobstructed squares diagonally, and rooks move any number of unobstructed squares horizontally or vertically. Pieces, excluding kings and golds, can be promoted upon entering, moving within, or leaving enemy territory, gaining new abilities.
1 Britannica Source
1. shogi
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What makes shogi unique, such as the rule of dropping captured pieces?
Shogi, or Japanese chess, shares origins with chess variants from India, China, and Korea. Played on a 9x9 board, each player starts with 20 pieces, including pawns, rooks, bishops, lances, knights, silver generals, gold generals, and a king.

Shogi's most distinctive feature is the rule of "dropping" captured pieces. Unlike other chess games, captured pieces aren't removed from the game. Instead, a player can reintroduce them to the board as part of their own forces. This adds a layer of strategic depth, as players must consider not only their own pieces but also the potential of their opponent's captured pieces. Certain restrictions apply to dropping, such as preventing pawns from being dropped on the same column where one already exists, or to deliver checkmate.
1 Britannica Source
1. shogi
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
How do you win a game of shogi?
To win a game of shogi, you must checkmate the opposing king, which means trapping it so that it has no escape. Shogi is unique because captured pieces can be replayed as part of your forces, adding a strategic element not found in other chess variants. Pieces, with the exception of kings and golds, can be promoted when entering, moving within, or leaving enemy territory to increase their powers.

Shogi rarely ends in a draw because pieces are recycled, ensuring enough pieces are available to reach a checkmate. A player repeating moves must stop the repetition or forfeit the game.
1 Britannica Source
1. shogi
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

shogi, Japanese form of chess, the history of which is obscure. Traditionally it is thought to have originated in India and to have been transmitted to Japan via China and Korea.

Shogi, like Western chess and Chinese chess, is played by two persons on a board with pieces of varying powers, and the object of the game is to checkmate (“trap”) the opposing king. The shogi chessboard has 81 squares (9 by 9), compared with the 64 squares (8 by 8) of the Western chessboard and the 90 points (intersection of 9 by 10 lines) of the Chinese chessboard. Unlike other chess variants, shogi pieces are not differentiated by colour to indicate side, though opposing players are known as white and black, with black moving first. The pieces are flat and printed with Japanese characters that indicate rank and are pointed at one end, with the pointed ends oriented toward the opponent. Shogi is unique among chess variants in that captured pieces are not dead but may be pointed in the opposite direction and replayed (“dropped”) as part of the captor’s forces in place of making a move with other pieces already on the chessboard. Certain restrictions apply to dropping. In particular, pieces cannot be dropped such that they have no future moves (at or near the opposite edge), pawns cannot be dropped on the same column in which a player already has a pawn, and pawns cannot be dropped to deliver checkmate.

At the start of the game, each player has 20 pieces: nine pawns (fu) are arranged along each player’s third row, a rook (hisha) is placed diagonally one square from each player’s right-hand corner, a bishop (kaku) is placed diagonally one square from each player’s left-hand corner, and the remaining pieces are symmetrically located along each player’s first row in the order lance (kyōsha), knight (keima), silver general (ginshō), gold general (kinshō), king (ōshō), gold general, silver general, knight, and lance.

All pieces capture in the same way that they move (unlike the pawn capture in Western chess), and only the knight can jump over pieces (like the knight in Western chess). Most pieces have only short-distance moves, so games typically develop more slowly than in other chess variants. The kings move one square in any direction (eight possible moves); gold generals, or golds, move one square in any direction except diagonally backward (six possible moves); silver generals, or silvers, move one square in any direction except backward and horizontally (five possible moves); and pawns move one square forward. Lances move only forward any number of empty squares. Knights jump forward two rows and one square to either side; compared with the Western knight, which can make as many as eight moves, the Japanese knight is very weak. Bishops, which move any number of unobstructed squares diagonally, are the second most powerful starting pieces. Rooks, which move any number of unobstructed squares horizontally or vertically, are far and away the most powerful pieces, especially when they have invaded enemy territory (players’ first three rows are known as their territory).

All pieces except the kings and golds may be promoted on entering (except by dropping), moving within, or leaving the enemy territory. If a piece has no more moves available to it—a pawn, lance, or knight that has reached the last row or a knight that has reached the next to last row—it must promote. The promoted rank of each piece is marked on its reverse side, which is turned upward on promotion. Pawns, knights, lances, and silvers promote to golds. Promoted bishops, known as dragon horses or horses (ryuma), add the ability to move one square in any vertical or horizontal direction. Promoted rooks, known as dragon kings or dragons (ryu), add the ability to move one square in any diagonal direction. Pieces dropped in enemy territory may promote the next time that they are moved.

Because pieces are recycled, shogi almost never ends in a draw, as there will always be a sufficient number of pieces to reach a checkmate. In addition, repetition of moves, such as the perpetual check seen in Western chess, is not allowed. A player who initiates a sequence of repetitions must desist or will forfeit the game.

William L. Hosch

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