Okisaki shogi (御妃将棋 okisaki shōgi "Queen shogi") is a modern variant of shogi (Japanese chess). It was developed by Masayuki Nakayachi c. 1996 from suggestions by German chess player Ralph Blockhaus.
Okisaki shogi is similar to standard shogi, but is played on a 10×10 board. There are ten pawns and a queen, which moves like a queen in Western chess. The knights also move as in Western chess.
Rules of the game
Game equipment
Two players, Black and White (or 先手 sente and 後手 gote), play on a board ruled into a grid of 10 ranks (rows) by 10 files (columns). The squares are undifferentiated by marking or color.
Each player has a set of 22 wedge-shaped pieces, of slightly different sizes. From largest to smallest (most to least powerful) they are:
1 king 1 queen 1 rook 1 bishop 2 gold generals 2 silver generals 2 knights 2 lances 10 pawns
Table of pieces Listed here are the pieces of the game with their Japanese representation:
Piece Kanji Rōmaji Abr. Meaning King (reigning) 王将 ōshō 王 royal general King (challenging) 玉将 gyokushō 玉 jade general Queen 妃将 hishō or okisaki 妃 princess Rook 飛車 hisha 飛 flying chariot Promoted rook 竜王 ryūō 竜 dragon king Bishop 角行 kakugyō 角 angle mover Promoted bishop 竜馬 ryūma 馬 dragon horse Gold general 金将 kinshō 金 gold general Silver general 銀将 ginshō 銀 silver general Promoted silver 成銀 narigin 全 promoted silver Knight 跳馬 chōma 跳 jumping horse Promoted knight 成跳 narichō 今 promoted jumper Lance 香車 kyōsha 香 incense chariot Promoted lance 成香 narikyō 仝 promoted incense Pawn 歩兵 fuhyō 歩 foot soldier Promoted pawn と金 tokin 个 reaches gold
English speakers sometimes refer to promoted bishops as horses and promoted rooks as dragons, after their Japanese names, and generally use the Japanese name tokin for promoted pawns. Silver generals and gold generals are commonly referred to simply as silvers and golds.
The characters inscribed on the backs of the pieces to indicate promoted rank may be in red ink, and are usually cursive. The characters on the backs of the pieces that promote to gold generals are cursive versions of 金 'gold', becoming more cursive (more abbreviated) as the value of the original piece decreases. Another convention has abbreviated versions of the original characters, with a reduced number of strokes. The first version has been adopted for this article, as the abbreviated version of 跳 is not known (this piece not appearing in standard shogi).
Setup
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 香車 跳馬 銀将 金将 王将 妃将 金将 銀将 跳馬 香車 一 飛車 角行 二 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 三 四 五 六 七 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 八 角行 飛車 九 香車 跳馬 銀将 金将 妃将 玉将 金将 銀将 跳馬 香車 十 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 L N S G K Q G S N L a R B b P P P P P P P P P P c d e f g P P P P P P P P P P h B R i L N S G Q K G S N L j
Movement and capture
Piece moves are as in standard shogi, apart from the queen (妃将 or 妃 hishō or okisaki "princess") and the knights (跳馬 or 跳 chōma), which move as in Western chess, and the lance, which can move directly forward or backwards (standard shogi knights and lances can only move forward.) An opposing piece is captured by displacement: That is, if a piece moves to a square occupied by an opposing piece, the opposing piece is displaced and removed from the board. A piece cannot move to a square occupied by a friendly piece (meaning another piece controlled by the moving player).
Each piece in the game moves in a characteristic pattern. Pieces move either orthogonally (that is, forward, backward, left, or right, in the direction of one of the arms of a plus sign, +), or diagonally (in the direction of one of the arms of a multiplication sign, ×). The knight is an exception in that it does not move in a straight line.
If a pawn, which cannot retreat or move aside, advances across the board until it can no longer move, it must promote.
Some pieces are capable of several kinds of movement, with the type of movement most often depending on the direction in which they move. The movement categories are:
Step movers
Some pieces move only one square at a time. (If a friendly piece occupies an adjacent square, the moving piece may not move in that direction; if an opposing piece is there, it may be displaced and captured.)
The step movers are the king, gold general, silver general and the ten pawns on each side.
Jumping piece
The knight can jump, that is, it can pass over any intervening piece, whether friend or foe, with no effect on either.
Ranging piece
The bishop, rook, and queen can move any number of empty squares along a straight line, limited only by the edge of the board. If an opposing piece intervenes, it may be captured by moving to that square and removing it from the board. A ranging piece must stop where it captures, and cannot bypass a piece that is in its way. If a friendly piece intervenes, the moving piece is limited to a distance that stops short of the intervening piece; if the friendly piece is adjacent, it cannot move in that direction at all.
Promotion
A player's promotion zone consists of the three farthest ranks, at the original line of the opponent's pawns and beyond (that is, the opponent's territory at setup). If a piece crosses the board within the promotion zone, including moves into, out of, or wholly within the zone, then that player may choose to promote the piece at the end of the turn. Promotion is effected by turning the piece over after it moves, revealing the name of its promoted rank.
Promoting a piece has the effect of changing how that piece moves until it is removed from the board. Each piece promotes as follows:
A king, a queen, or a gold general cannot promote, nor can pieces which are already promoted. A silver general, knight, lance or pawn, when promoted, loses its normal movement and gains the movement of a gold general. A bishop or rook, when promoted, keeps its normal movement and gains the ability to move one square in any direction (like a king). This means the bishop is now able to reach any square on the board, given enough moves.
If a pawn reaches the farthest rank, it must be promoted, since it would otherwise have no legal move on subsequent turns. Because they can back out, the rules in standard shogi making it mandatory to promote knights and lances in the final ranks do not apply to okisaki shogi.
Drops
Captured pieces are retained in hand, and can be brought back into play under the capturing player's control. On any turn, instead of moving a piece on the board, a player may select a piece in hand and place it—unpromoted side up and facing the opposing side—on any empty square. The piece is then one of that player's active pieces on the board and can be moved accordingly. This is called dropping the piece, or simply, a drop. A drop counts as a complete move.
A drop cannot capture a piece, nor does dropping within the promotion zone result in immediate promotion. Capture and/or promotion may occur normally, however, on subsequent moves of the piece.
A pawn may not be dropped on the furthest rank, since it would have no legal moves on subsequent turns. Because they can back out, the restrictions in standard shogi on dropping knights on the last two ranks and lances on the final rank do not apply to okisaki shogi.
There are two additional restrictions when dropping pawns, as in standard shogi:
Nifu (): A pawn cannot be dropped onto a file (column) containing another unpromoted pawn of the same player (promoted pawns do not count). A player with an unpromoted pawn on every file is therefore unable to drop a pawn anywhere. For this reason it is common to sacrifice a pawn in order to gain flexibility for drops. Uchifuzume (): A pawn cannot be dropped to give an immediate checkmate. (Although other pieces may be dropped to give immediate checkmate.) A pawn may, however, be dropped to give immediate check.
The ability for drops in okisaki shogi give the game tactical richness and complexity, as no piece ever goes entirely out of play.
Individual pieces
Below are diagrams indicating each piece's movement. Pieces are paired with their promotion. Pieces with a grey heading start out in the game; those with a blue heading only appear on the board after promotion. Betza's funny notation has been included in brackets for easier reference.
Notation ○ Steps to an adjacent square ☆ Jumps to a non-adjacent square, bypassing any intervening piece │ Ranges along a straight line, crossing any number of empty squares ─ ╲ ╱
King Step: The king can step one square in any direction, orthogonal or diagonal. The challenger moves first. (K) ○ ○ ○ ○ 王 ○ ○ ○ ○ The king does not promote. Queen Range: The queen can move any number of free squares along any one of the eight orthogonal or diagonal directions. (Q) ╲ │ ╱ ╲ │ ╱ ─ ─ 妃 ─ ─ ╱ │ ╲ ╱ │ ╲ The queen does not promote. Rook Dragon King Range: The rook can move any number of free squares along any of the four orthogonal directions. (R) │ │ ─ ─ 飛 ─ ─ │ │ Range: The dragon king can move any number of free squares along any of the four orthogonal directions. Step: It can move one square in any diagonal direction. (FR) │ ○ │ ○ ─ ─ 龍 ─ ─ ○ │ ○ │ Bishop Dragon Horse Range: The bishop can move any number of free squares along any of the four diagonal directions. (B)
Because it cannot move orthogonally, an unpromoted bishop can only reach half the squares on the board. ╲ ╱ ╲ ╱ 角 ╱ ╲ ╱ ╲ Range: The dragon horse can move any number of free squares along any of the four diagonal directions. Step: It can move one square in any orthogonal direction. (WB) ╲ ╱ ╲ ○ ╱ ○ 馬 ○ ╱ ○ ╲ ╱ ╲ Gold General Step: The gold general can step one square in one of the four orthogonal directions; or, one square diagonally forward, giving it six possibilities. (WfF) ○ ○ ○ ○ 金 ○ ○ The gold general does not promote. Silver General Promoted Silver General Step: The silver general can step one square in one of the four diagonal directions; or, one square straight forward, giving it five possibilities. (FfW) ○ ○ ○ 銀 ○ ○ Step: The promoted silver general can step one square in one of the four orthogonal directions; or, one square diagonally forward, giving it six possibilities. (WfF) ○ ○ ○ ○ 全 ○ ○ Knight Promoted Knight Jump: The knight jumps at an angle intermediate between orthogonal and diagonal, amounting to one intersection orthogonally plus one intersection diagonally, in a single motion, ignoring any intervening piece. That is, it has a choice of eight destinations. (N) ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ 跳 ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ Step: The promoted knight can step one square in one of the four orthogonal directions; or, one square diagonally forward, giving it six possibilities. (WfF) ○ ○ ○ ○ 今 ○ ○ Lance Promoted Lance Range: The lance can move any number of free squares straight forward or backward. (fbR) This is the move of the reverse chariot in chu shogi. │ │ 香 │ │ Step: The promoted lance can step one square in one of the four orthogonal directions; or, one square diagonally forward, giving it six possibilities. (WfF) ○ ○ ○ ○ 仝 ○ ○ Pawn Tokin Step: The pawn can step one square forward. (fW) A pawn that reaches the farthest rank must promote. ○ 歩 Step: The tokin can step one square in one of the four orthogonal directions; or, one square diagonally forward, giving it six possibilities. (WfF) ○ ○ ○ ○ 个 ○ ○