Dai dai shōgi (大大将棋 'huge chess') is a large board variant of shogi (Japanese chess). The game dates back to the 15th century and is based on the earlier dai shogi. Apart from its size, the major difference is in the range of the pieces and the "promotion by capture" rule. It is the smallest board variant to use this rule.
Because of the terse and often incomplete wording of the historical sources for the large shogi variants, except for chu shogi and to a lesser extent dai shogi (which were at some points of time the most prestigious forms of shogi being played), the historical rules of dai dai shogi are not clear. Different sources often differ significantly in the moves attributed to the pieces, and the degree of contradiction (summarised below with the listing of most known alternative moves) is such that it is likely impossible to reconstruct the "true historical rules" with any degree of certainty, if there ever was such a thing. It is not clear if the game was ever played much historically, as the few sets that were made seem to have been intended only for display.
Rules of the game
Objective
The objective is to capture the opponent's king. Unlike standard shogi, pieces may not be dropped back into play after being captured.
Game equipment
Two players, Black and White (or sente and gote), play on a board composed of squares in a grid of 17 ranks (rows) by 17 files (columns) with a total of 289 squares. The squares are undifferentiated by marking or color.
Each player has a set of 96 wedge-shaped pieces of 64 different types. In all, the players must remember 68 different moves. The pieces are of slightly different sizes, from largest to smallest (or roughly most to least powerful) they are:
1 King (King general/Jeweled general) 1 Queen 1 Rushing bird 1 Free demon 1 Free dream-eater 1 Water buffalo 1 Dragon king 1 Dragon horse 1 Square mover 1 Racing chariot 1 Rook 1 Bishop 1 Golden bird 1 Great dragon 1 Standard bearer 1 Fragrant elephant 1 White elephant 1 Lion 1 Lion dog 1 Dove 1 She-devil 1 Blue dragon 1 White tiger 1 Right chariot 1 Left chariot 1 Phoenix 1 Kirin 1 Poisonous snake 1 Old kite 2 Violent oxen 1 Flying dragon 1 Enchanted fox 1 Old rat 1 Enchanted badger 1 Flying horse 1 Prancing stag 2 Savage tigers 1 Hook mover 1 Long-nosed goblin 1 Northern barbarian 1 Southern barbarian 1 Eastern barbarian 1 Western barbarian 1 Neighboring king 1 Blind monkey 2 Ferocious leopards 2 Evil Wolves 2 Violent bears 1 Right general 1 Left general 2 Gold generals 2 Silver generals 2 Copper generals 2 Iron generals 2 Wood generals 2 Stone generals 2 Angry boars 1 Cat sword 2 Reverse chariots 2 Lances 2 Side movers 1 Vertical mover 2 Howling Dogs 17 Pawns
Many of the English-language names are chosen to correspond to their rough equivalents in Western chess, not necessarily as translations of the Japanese names. (Sometimes the queen is called the "free king", a direct translation of its Japanese name. The kirin's name is sometimes anglicised as kylin.)
Each piece has its name in the form of two Japanese characters marked on its face. On the reverse side of some pieces are one or two other characters, often in a different color (e.g., red instead of black); this reverse side is used 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.
Listed below are the pieces of the game and, if they promote, which pieces they promote to.
Table of pieces
Relatively few pieces promote (or demote) in dai dai shogi. A few pieces (*asterisked) only appear upon promotion.
Piece Kanji RōmajiAbbrev. Promotes to Jeweled general 玉将 gyokushō K 玉 — King general 王将 ōshō K 王 — Angry boar 嗔猪 shincho AB 猪 — Bishop 角行 kakugyō B 角 — Blind monkey 盲猿 mōen BM 猿 mountain witch Blue dragon 青龍 seiryū BD 青 — Cat sword 猫刄 myōjin CS 猫 dragon horse Copper general 銅将 dōshō C 銅 — Dove 鳩槃 kyūhan Do 鳩 — Dragon horse 龍馬 ryūme DH 馬 — Dragon king 龍王 ryūō DK 竜 — Eastern barbarian 東夷 tōi Ea 東 lion Enchanted badger 変狸 henri EB 狸 dove Enchanted fox 変狐 henko EF 狐 she-devil Evil wolf 悪狼 akurō EW 狼 — Ferocious leopard 猛豹 mōhyō FL 豹 — Flying dragon 飛龍 hiryū FD 龍 dragon king Flying horse 馬麟 barin FH 麟 queen Fragrant elephant 香象 kōzō FE 象 — Free demon 奔鬼 honki Fr 鬼 — Free dream-eater 奔獏 honbaku FT 獏 — *Furious fiend 奮迅 funjin FF 迅 — Gold general 金将 kinshō G 金 — Golden bird 金翅 kinshi GB 翅 — Great dragon 大龍 dairyū GD 大 — *Great elephant ‡ 大象 taizō GE – — Hook mover 鉤行 kōgyō HM 行 — Howling dog 𠵇犬 † kiken HD 𠵇 — Iron general 鉄将 tesshō I 鐵 — Kirin 麒麟 kirin Kr 麒 great dragon Lance 香車 kyōsha L 香 — Left chariot 左車 sasha LC – — Left general 左将 sashō LG – — Lion 獅子 shishi Ln 獅 furious fiend Lion dog 狛犬 komainu LD 狛 great elephant ‡ Long-nosed goblin 天狗 tengu Lo 天 — *Mountain witch 山母 sambo MW 母 — Neighboring king 近王 kinnō NK 近 standard bearer Northern barbarian 北狄 hokuteki No 北 fragrant elephant Old kite 古鵄 kotetsu OK 古 long-nosed goblin Old rat 老鼠 rōso OR 鼠 wizard stork Pawn 歩兵 fuhyō p 歩 — Phoenix 鳳凰 hōō Ph 鳳 golden bird Poisonous snake 毒蛇 dokuja Po 蛇 hook mover Prancing stag 踊鹿 yōroku PS 鹿 square mover Queen 奔王 honnō Q 奔 — Racing chariot 走車 sōsha Ra 走 — Reverse chariot 反車 hensha Rv 反 — Right chariot 右車 usha RC – — Right general 右将 ushō RG – — Rook 飛車 hisha R 飛 — Rushing bird 行鳥 gyōchō RB 鳥 free demon Savage tiger 猛虎 mōko ST 虎 — She-devil 夜叉 yasha SD 叉 — Side mover 横行 ōgyō SM 横 — Silver general 銀将 ginshō S 銀 — Southern barbarian 南蛮 namban So 南 white elephant Square mover 方行 hōgyō Sq 方 — Standard bearer 前旗 zenki SB 前 — Stone general 石将 sekishō St 石 — Vertical mover 竪行 shugyō VM 竪 — Violent bear 猛熊 mōyū VB 熊 — Violent ox 猛牛 mōgyū VO 牛 — Water buffalo 水牛 suigyū WB 水 free dream-eater Western barbarian 西戎 seijū We 西 lion dog White elephant 白象 hakuzō WE – — White tiger 白虎 byakko WT – — *Wizard stork 仙鶴 †† senkaku WS 仙 — Wood general 木将 mokushō W 木 —
† The first kanji of Howling Dog may not appear in some fonts. It is a combined 口 and 奇. ‡ The great elephant is mentioned as the promoted lion dog in the Shōgi Rokushu no Zushiki, but not in the other two Edo-era sources, when the lion dog does not promote. †† The second character in 'wizard stork' is not present in most fonts: it should be 而 atop 鷦 ().
The queen could also be abbreviated FK (for free king) and the kirin as Ky (for kylin).
Setup
Below is a diagram showing the setup of one player's pieces. The way one player sees their own pieces is the same way the opposing player will see their pieces.
Board layout87 HD HD 6ppppppppppppppppp5LCSMVOABEWVBFLSTSBSTFLVBEWABVOSMRC4BDFENoWeWStICGBCIStWEaSoWEWT3 VM EF WB SGDS FH EB B 2RvOKLnORPSCSPhGNKGKrRBFDBMLDPoRv1LLoSDRaDHFrQLGKRGFTDKSqRDvHMLABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQ AB = Angry BoarB = BishopBM = Blind MonkeyBD = Blue DragonCS = Cat SwordC = Copper GeneralDv = DoveDH = Dragon HorseDK = Dragon KingEa = Eastern BarbarianEB = Enchanted BadgerEF = Enchanted FoxEW = Evil WolfFL = Ferocious LeopardFD = Flying DragonFH = Flying HorseFE = Fragrant ElephantFr = Free DemonFT = Free Dream-EaterG = Gold GeneralGB = Golden BirdGD = Great DragonHM = Hook MoverHD = Howling DogI = Iron GeneralK = KingKr = KirinL = LanceLC = Left ChariotLG = Left GeneralLn = LionLD = Lion DogLo = Long-nosed GoblinNK = Neighboring KingNo = Northern BarbarianOK = Old KiteOR = Old RatP = PawnPh = PhoenixPo = Poison SnakePS = Prancing StagQ = QueenRa = Racing ChariotRv = Reverse ChariotRC = Right ChariotRG = Right GeneralR = RookRB = Rushing BirdST = Savage TigerSD = She-DevilSM = Side MoverS = Silver GeneralSo = Southern BarbarianSq = Square MoverSB = Standard BearerSt = Stone GeneralVM = Vertical MoverVB = Violent BearVO = Violent OxWB = Water BuffaloWe = Western BarbarianWE = White ElephantWT = White TigerW = Wood General
Game play
The players alternate making a move, with Black moving first. (The traditional terms 'black' and 'white' are used to differentiate the sides during discussion of the game, but are not literally correct.) A move consists of moving a piece on the board and potentially promoting the piece. Each of these options is detailed below.
Promotion Unusually for a large-board shogi variant, only a minority of pieces (21 of 64) are able to promote. The rule for promotion in these larger games is different from smaller board variants.
A piece promotes at the end of its first capturing move. Promotion has the effect of changing how the piece moves (see the table above for what each piece promotes to), and is effected by turning the piece over after it moves, revealing the name of its promoted rank. Promotion for pieces able to do so is both compulsory and permanent.
This is very different from smaller shogi variants, where pieces promote when they cross a promotion zone (the enemy camp), and where promotion is optional. The dots on the dai dai shogi board that would represent promotion zones in other games only function as placement guides for the initial setup of the two camps.
Most promoting pieces promote to a piece that exists in the initial setup of the board. However, such a promoted piece cannot then promote a second time as its namesake does. For example, a lion promotes to a furious fiend. However, while an eastern barbarian promotes to a lion on its first capturing move, it does not further promote to a furious fiend on its second. Rather, it remains a lion for the rest of the game. This should be obvious from the game pieces, which only have two sides.
If a piece which is only able to move forward (a pawn, lance, stone general, wood general, or iron general) reaches the far rank without promoting, it is unable to move further and must remain there until captured.
The promoting pieces appear on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th ranks of the initial setup. Pieces on the middle three files or the edge file do not promote. Most promoting pieces stand close to their promoted versions in the initial setup.
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 (meaning 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 lion, lion dog, and furious fiend are exceptions, in that they do not move, or are not required to 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 remain there until captured. This applies to the pawn, lance, stone general, wood general, and iron general.
Many 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.)
Limited ranging pieces Some pieces can move along a limited number (2, 3, or 5) of free (empty) squares along a straight line in certain directions. Other than the limited distance, they move like ranging pieces (see below).
Jumping pieces
Several pieces can jump, that is, they can pass over any intervening piece, whether friend or foe, with no effect on either. These are the lion, lion dog, kirin, phoenix, and poisonous snake.
Ranging pieces