Shogi: Samurai Chess

Shogi: Samurai Chess

Shogi is a version of Chess, or Chess is a version of Shogi. They both come from the same game invented many centuries ago. Shogi is different from Chess in several ways, but the biggest is that pieces that are captured are used by the player who captured them. So “end game” is very different from Chess. Shogi also has a 9 x 9 playing board instead of an 8 x 8 board like Chess. The pieces in Shogi are King, Knight, Pawn, Bishop, Rook, Gold General, Silver General, and Lance. One challenge for new players of Shogi, is that traditionally the pieces have Kanji on them. This software uses either kanji OR pictures which make more sense to English speakers. I have also made some levels of the game play easier for players, so that even young children can find a level they can win against. Shogi: Samurai Chess works well as a tutorial for new players of Shogi.

Shogi is a version of Chess, or Chess is a version of Shogi. They both come from the same game invented many centuries ago. Shogi is different from Chess in several ways, but the biggest is that pieces that are captured are used by the player who captured them. So “end game” is very different from Chess. Shogi also has a 9 x 9 playing board instead of an 8 x 8 board like Chess. The pieces in Shogi are King, Knight, Pawn, Bishop, Rook, Gold General, Silver General, and Lance. One challenge for new players of Shogi, is that traditionally the pieces have Kanji on them. This software uses either kanji OR pictures which make more sense to English speakers. I have also made some levels of the game play easier for players, so that even young children can find a level they can win against. Shogi: Samurai Chess works well as a tutorial for new players of Shogi.

The license of this software is Free Trial Software, the price is $19.95, you can free download and get a free trial.

Shogi is a variation on chess, but more challenging. The name derives from the word “Shogun,” so roughly it’s the “Game of Shoguns.”

The rules and strategy provide plenty of scope for tension and drama. Perhaps because it is not easy to be skilled at shogi that people hesitate to claim competence.

Modern shogi has been played in Japan since the 16th century. It’s an offshoot of chess games that originated in India and migrated to Japan via China and Korea. The earliest evidence of a prior form of the game are 16 shogi pieces unearthed from the Kofukuji Temple grounds in Nara that date from 1058. A piece called the “drunken elephant” has sadly now been left out. The English names used for the pieces are usually those familiar from International Chess.

During the Edo period, the Tokugawa shogunate promoted shogi officially and paid top players. Annual tournaments were held on the 17th day of Kannazuki (10th month of the lunar calendar in use until 1873) and November 17th is still Shogi Day. The Japan Shogi Association regulates professional play and oversees the seven championship titles contested each year.

Shogi Online International Play

Online play has made it possible for people in other countries to raise their skills and in 2010 a 14-year old Shanghai boy, Zhang Xin, qualified to train as a professional. There are women professional players and women’s league tournaments, but somehow no woman has yet managed to become a JSA certified professional kishi (shogi player). The requirement is the professional 4-Dan and those players are salaried by the Japan Shogi Association.

However, one person whose progress is being closely followed is Karolina Styczynska (2014 World Open and European Shogi champion), a young Polish player of 24, who at 3-kyu is actually the first foreigner ever to reach one rank below professional status. Within the brutally strict rules of shogi, she must achieve professional level by age 26. Her interest in shogi was inspired by the character of Shikamaru in the anime series “Naruto”. Apart from the challenges of the game, Styczynska has had to get used to sitting in seiza position (the formal sitting posture) on a zabuton cushion for the hours it may take to play a match. She says that having her legs feel uncomfortable is tough on her concentration.

Shogi is played on a 9 row x 9 file rectangular board. Two players each have twenty starting pieces (koma). These are flat, wedge-shaped wooden markers of slightly different sizes pointed towards the opponent. They are all the same color so the only way to distinguish sides is by their orientation. Koma captured from an opponent can be used as your own.