Heian dai shogi ( 'Heian (Era) large chess') is an early large board variant of shogi (Japanese chess) as it was played in the Heian period. The same 12th century document which describes the Heian form of shogi also describes this variant, where it is simply known as . This 13 × 13 variant is retrospectively named Heian dai shogi to distinguish it from the later dai shogi played on a 15 × 15 board.
History The , an encyclopedia dating to the Kamakura era, gives the following description in the section titled , following a description of Heian shogi:
Also, dai (large) shogi has thirteen squares on each side. The king sits in the center of each side. The gold generals are on the sides (of the king). The silver generals are next to the gold generals. Following are the silver generals; Following are the copper generals; Following are the iron generals; Following are the lances. The copper general does not move to the four corners. The iron general does not move to the three rear directions. There is also the side mover on top of the king; It moves one step forward, and unlimitedly left or right. There are also fierce tigers on top of the silver generals; It moves one square diagonally. The flying dragons are above the knights; It moves on the four diagonals unlimitedly. The free chariots are on top of the lances; It moves forward and backwards unlimitedly. The go-between is in the center, above the pawn; It moves forward and backwards. One should follow these moves. In the section describing the initial setup, the silver general is mentioned twice, while the knight is not mentioned.
This description first mentions the king as and states that it sits in the center of each side , implying that, unlike modern shogi, both kings were undifferentiated at the time. However, later it refers to the king as , which also suggests that there had already been a distinction between and as in modern shogi.
Rules of the game
Objective
The objective of the game is to capture your opponent's king or to capture all the other pieces, leaving a bare king. Unlike standard shogi, pieces may not be dropped back into play after capture.
Game equipment
Two players, Black and White (or 先手 sente and 後手 gote), play on a board ruled into a grid of 13 ranks (rows) by 13 files (columns) for a total of 169 squares. The squares are undifferentiated by marking or color.
Each player has a set of 34 wedge-shaped pieces of 13 different types. In all, the players must remember 13 different moves. The pieces are of slightly different sizes. From largest to smallest (most to least powerful) they are:
1 king 2 flying dragons 2 gold generals 2 silver generals 1 side mover 2 copper generals 2 iron generals 2 fierce tigers 2 free chariots 1 go between 2 knights 2 lances 13 pawns
The name of the king, knight and pawn were chosen to correspond to pieces with similar move sets in western chess, rather than using a literal translation of the Japanese names.
Each piece has its name in the form of two kanji written on its face. On the reverse side of each piece (other than kings and gold generals) are one or two other characters, often in a different color (e.g., red instead of black); this reverse side is turned up to indicate that the piece has been promoted during play. The pieces of the two sides do not differ in color, but instead each piece is shaped like a wedge, and faces forward, toward the opposing side. This shows who controls the piece during play.
Setup
13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 香車 桂馬 鉄将 銅将 銀将 金将 玉将 金将 銀将 銅将 鉄将 桂馬 香車 一 奔車 飛龍 猛虎 横行 猛虎 飛龍 奔車 二 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 三 注人 四 五 六 七 八 九 注人 十 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 十一 奔車 飛龍 猛虎 横行 猛虎 飛龍 奔車 十二 香車 桂馬 鉄将 銅将 銀将 金将 玉将 金将 銀将 銅将 鉄将 桂馬 香車 十三 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 L N I C S G K G S C I N L a FC FD FT SM FT FD FC b P P P P P P P P P P P P P c GB d e f g h i GB j P P P P P P P P P P P P P k FC FD FT SM FT FD FC l L N I C S G K G S C I N L m
Each side places his pieces in the positions shown below, pointing toward the opponent.
In the rank nearest the player: The king is placed in the center file. The two gold generals are placed in the adjacent files to the king. The two silver generals are placed adjacent to each gold general. The two copper generals are placed adjacent to each silver general. The two iron generals are placed adjacent to each copper general. The two knights are placed adjacent to each iron general. The two lances are placed in the corners, adjacent to each knight.
That is, the first rank is LNICSGKGSCINL or 香桂鉄銅銀金玉金銀銅鉄桂香
In the second rank, each player places: The side mover in the same file as the king. The fierce tigers in the same files as the silver generals. The flying dragons in the same files as the knights The free chariots in the same files as the lances. In the third rank, the thirteen pawns are placed one in each file. In the fourth rank, the go between is placed in the same file as the side mover.
Game play
Two players alternate in making a move, with Black moving first. (The pieces are not differentiated by color; the traditional chess terms "Black" and "White" are only used to indicate who plays first, and to differentiate the sides during discussions of the game.) A move consists of moving a piece either to an empty square on the board or to a square occupied by an opposing piece, thus displacing (capturing) that piece; and optionally of promoting the moving piece, if its move enters the promotion zone.
Movement and capture
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, that is, by another piece controlled by the moving player.
Each piece on 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 piece that cannot retreat or move aside advances across the board until it can no longer move, it must promote. This applies to the pawn, lance and knight upon reaching the furthest rank.
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, generals, fierce tiger, go between and the 13 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 pieces
Many pieces can move any number of empty squares along a straight orthogonal or diagonal 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.
The ranging pieces are the flying dragon, side mover, free chariot and lance.
Promotion
The promotion zone is the 'enemy camp', the farthest three ranks of the board, which are mostly occupied by the opposing player's pieces when the board is first set up. When a promotable piece enters the promotion zone, it has the option of "promoting" to a more powerful rank. Promotion is effected by turning the piece over after it moves, revealing the name of its promoted rank. The characters inscribed on the backs of the pieces to indicate promoted rank may be in red ink. Promotion is not mandatory if the unpromoted piece could move further on a later turn, and in some cases it may be beneficial to leave the piece unpromoted; however, there may be restrictions on whether the piece can promote again later. (The rule in the later chu shogi would always allow promotion on captures that touch the promotion zone, but would only allow promotion on a non-capture if the piece exited the promotion zone and then reentered.) Promotion is permanent and promoted pieces may not revert to their original rank. All pieces in Heian dai shogi promote to a gold general.
If a pawn, knight or lance reaches the furthest rank without promoting, it can no longer promote and has no legal move on subsequent turns.
Individual pieces
Following are diagrams that indicate the movement of each piece. Pieces are listed roughly in order, from nearest to furthest rows. Betza's funny notation has been included in brackets for easier reference.
It should be noted to players of chu shogi and dai shogi that the copper general and iron general move differently in this game from how they move in the other two games. Here they have the move of the angry boar (wazir) and evil wolf respectively. The side mover and flying dragon are also different (the latter has the move of the bishop, and its promoted version has the move of the dragon horse).
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 ─ ╲ ╱
Piece Kanji Rōmaji King 玉将 gyokushō Text description of piece movement. Image description of piece movement. Step: The king can step one square in any direction, orthogonal or diagonal. (K) ○ ○ ○ ○ 玉 ○ ○ ○ ○ Gold General 金将 kinshō Silver General 銀将 ginshō 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 ○ ○ Step: The silver general can take one step diagonally, or else directly forward, giving it five possibilities. (FfW) ○ ○ ○ 銀 ○ ○ Copper General 銅将 dōshō Iron General 鉄将 tesshō Step: The copper general can take one step in any of the four orthogonal directions. (W) ○ ○ 銅 ○ ○ Step: The iron general can step one square in one of the three forward directions; or, one square sideways, giving it five possibilities. (frlK) ○ ○ ○ ○ 鉄 ○ Knight 桂馬 keima Lance 香車 kyōsha Jump: The knight jumps at an angle intermediate between orthogonal and diagonal, amounting to one square forward plus one square diagonally forward, in a single motion, ignoring any intervening piece. That is, it has a choice of two forward destinations. (ffN) If an unpromoted knight reaches the farthest rank without capturing a piece, it can no longer promote. ☆ ☆ 桂 Range: The lance can move any number of free squares directly forward. (fR) If an unpromoted lance reaches the farthest rank without capturing a piece, it can no longer promote. │ │ 香 Side Mover 横行 ōgyō Fierce Tiger 猛虎 mōko Range: The side mover can move any number of free squares orthogonally sideways.