2 | Every captured piece change color and can be dropped back later.
3 | Most pieces can promote on the three last ranks.
6 | The following description is often borrowed from the
7 a(href="https://www.pychess.org/variant/shogi") Shogi guide
8 | on pychess-variants, where I found the pieces images.
9 | Shogi is played on a 9 x 9 board.
10 | The side with a black king starts the game.
13 Captures are achieved by replacement on the destination square.
14 Any captured unit is added to a reserve of "pocket" pieces.
15 At each turn you can drop one of these pieces instead of moving one.
16 A dropped piece must be able to move, theoretically, considering only its
17 position on the board.
18 Pawns cannot be dropped on a file already containing a pawn of the same
19 color. They also can't be dropped to give checkmate.
25 figure.showPieces.text-center
26 img(src="/images/pieces/Shogi/wk.svg")
27 img(src="/images/pieces/Shogi/bk.svg")
28 img(src="/images/pieces/Shogi/wr.svg")
29 img(src="/images/pieces/Shogi/wb.svg")
30 figcaption From left to right: black & white kings, rook, bishop.
32 p These pieces look different but move exactly as in orthodox chess.
36 img(src="/images/pieces/Shogi/wg.svg")
39 The gold general moves by one square only, either like a rook or diagonally
42 figure.diagram-container
44 | fen:9/9/9/3b5/4Gp3/9/9/9/9 d6,e6,f6,d5,f5,e4:
45 figcaption Gold general movements.
49 img(src="/images/pieces/Shogi/ws.svg")
52 The silver general moves by one square only, either like a bishop or
55 figure.diagram-container
57 | fen:9/9/9/3b5/4S4/5p3/9/9/9 d6,e6,f6,d4,f4:
58 figcaption Silver general movements.
62 img(src="/images/pieces/Shogi/wn.svg")
65 The knight moves like a restricted orthodox knight: two squares forward,
66 and one to the side as the diagram illustrates.
68 figure.diagram-container
70 | fen:9/9/5p3/9/4N4/9/9/9/9 d7,f7:
71 figcaption Knight movements.
75 img(src="/images/pieces/Shogi/wl.svg")
77 p The lance moves like a rook but only in one direction: forward.
79 figure.diagram-container
81 | fen:9/4p4/9/9/9/4L4/9/9/9 e5,e6,e7,e8:
82 figcaption Lance movements.
86 img(src="/images/pieces/Shogi/wl.svg")
89 The pawn moves like in orthodox chess (without two squares initial move),
90 and he also captures in this way.
95 All pieces except the gold general and the king can be promoted,
96 by playing a move arriving on one of the three last ranks.
97 Promotion is optional unless a normal move would result in a blocked piece.
98 Capturing a promoted piece put the non-promoted form in the reserve.
100 figure.showPieces.text-center
101 img(src="/images/pieces/Shogi/wq.svg")
102 img(src="/images/pieces/Shogi/wo.svg")
103 img(src="/images/pieces/Shogi/wm.svg")
104 img(src="/images/pieces/Shogi/wt.svg")
106 Promotions from left to right: pawn ('Q'), knight ('O'),
107 lance ('M'), and silver general ('T').
110 Minor pieces in this game are the pawn, knight, lance and silver general.
111 They all promote to a gold general: only their appearance differ.
112 The rook and the bishop promote respectively into a Dragon King and a
113 Dragon Horse, which allow them to move like a king in addition to their
116 figure.diagram-container
118 | fen:9/9/9/9/4D4/9/9/9/9 a5,b5,c5,d5,f5,g5,h5,i5,e1,e2,e3,e4,e6,e7,e8,e9,d4,d6,f6,f4:
120 | fen:9/9/9/9/4H4/9/9/9/9 a9,b8,c7,d6,f4,g3,h2,i1,a1,b2,c3,d4,f6,g7,h8,i9,d5,e6,f5,e4:
121 figcaption Left: promoted rook. Right: promoted bishop.
126 | This game is very popular, so a lot of resources can be found online.
127 | You should probably start from
128 a(href="https://lishogi.org/") lishogi.org