Shogi

About this board game

Shogi is a two-player strategy game played on a 9×9 board, with an approximate play time of 60 minutes. The objective is to capture the opponent’s king, but its distinctive rules create a very different experience from Western chess.

Most pieces can promote when they reach the opponent’s three last rows, not just the pawns. Promotion adds an important positional goal as players maneuver pieces toward the far side of the board.

Its most distinctive feature is the drop rule. A captured piece becomes the property of the player who captured it, and on a later turn that player may parachute or drop it back onto the board instead of making a normal move. This keeps the board generally crowded and prevents the usual simplification into an endgame.

• 9×9 board
• Two players
• Promotion for almost every piece
• Captured pieces can be dropped back into play
• Approximate play time: 60 minutes

Because captured pieces can return to play, a game may last longer than a chess game. The endgame is typically more rapid, with many attacking possibilities and numerous ways to achieve checkmate, making draws or ties very rare.

Of Japanese origin, Shogi has a long recorded history. According to A World of Chess, Bishop, Rook, and Drunk Elephant were introduced to the 9×9 board in the middle of the 15th century, creating Sho Shogi. Modern Shogi developed between 1567 and 1587 through the introduction of the drop rule and removal of the Drunk Elephant; a 1587 diary image is described as showing the game in its modern form. BoardGameGeek lists 1587 as the release year for Shogi.