Maka dai dai shōgi (摩訶大大将棋 or 摩𩹄大大象戯 'ultra-huge chess') is a large board variant of shogi (Japanese chess). The game dates back to the 15th century and is based on dai dai shogi and the earlier dai shogi. The three Edo-era sources are not congruent in their descriptions of the pieces not found in smaller games. Apart from its size and number of pieces, the major difference from these smaller games is the "promotion by capture" rule. A more compact modern proposal for the game is called hishigata shogi.

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 maka dai dai shogi are not clear. Different sources often significantly differ in the moves attributed to the pieces, and the degree of contradiction (summarized below with the listing of most known alternative moves) is so great 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 unclear whether 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 or emperor. If a prince is in play, it too must be captured. 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 19 ranks (rows) by 19 files (columns) with a total of 361 squares. The squares are undifferentiated by marking or color.

Each player has a set of 96 wedge-shaped pieces of 50 different types. In all, the players must remember 74 different moves. The pieces are of slightly different sizes, from largest to smallest (or roughly most to least powerful) they are:

1 King 1 Hook mover 1 Capricorn 1 Queen 2 Dragon kings 2 Dragon horses 2 Rooks 2 Bishops 2 Side fliers 1 Lion 1 Lion dog 1 She-devil 1 Wrestler 1 Guardian of the Gods 1 Buddhist devil 2 Violent oxen 2 Flying dragons

2 Old rats 1 Right chariot 1 Left chariot 2 Vertical movers 2 Side movers 1 Phoenix 1 Kirin 2 Donkeys 2 Knights 1 Drunken elephant 2 Blind tigers 2 Ferocious leopards 1 Reclining dragon 2 Gold generals 2 Silver generals 2 Copper generals 2 Tile generals

2 Evil Wolves 2 Iron generals 2 Stone generals 2 Reverse chariots 2 Lances 2 Earth generals 2 Go betweens 2 Blind bears 1 Chinese cock 1 Old monkey 2 Angry boars 2 Cat swords 1 Coiled serpent 1 Dark spirit 1 Deva 19 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.

Table of pieces

Listed below are the pieces of the game and, if they promote, which pieces they promote to. Of the 50 kinds of pieces, 21 promote to gold, 26 promote to new pieces (though some move like starting pieces, e.g. the free cat moves like a bishop, the free earth & goer like a reverse chariot); and 3 do not promote (queen, dragon king, and dragon horse). The new pieces are marked with an asterisk (*).

+Maka dai dai pieces (arranged by setup position) Piece Kanji Rōmaji Promotes to King 玉将/王将 gyokushō/ōshō *Emperor 自在天王 jizai tennō Deva 提婆 daiba *Teaching king 教王 kyōō Dark spirit 無明 mumyō *Buddhist spirit 法性 hōsei Gold general 金将 kinshō *Free gold 奔金 honkin Silver general 銀将 ginshō *Free silver 奔銀 hongin Copper general 銅将 dōshō *Free copper 奔銅 hondō Iron general 鉄将 tesshō *Free iron 奔鉄 hontetsu Tile general 瓦将 gashō *Free tile 奔瓦 honga Stone general 石将 sekishō *Free stone 奔石 honseki Earth general 土将 doshō *Free earth 奔土 hondo Lance 香車 kyōsha Gold Drunken elephant 酔象 suizō *Prince 王子 ōji Blind tiger 盲虎 mōko *Free tiger 奔虎 honko Ferocious leopard 猛豹 mōhyō *Free leopard 奔豹 honpyō Coiled serpent 蟠蛇 banja *Free serpent 奔蛇 honja Reclining dragon 臥龍 garyū *Free dragon 奔龍 honryū Chinese cock 淮鶏 waikei *Wizard stork 仙鶴 † senkaku Old monkey 古猿 koen *Mountain witch 山母 sambo Cat sword 猫刄 myōjin *Free cat 奔猫 honmyō Reverse chariot 反車 hensha Gold Lion 獅子 shishi *Furious fiend 奮迅 funshin Kirin 麒麟 kirin *Great dragon 大龍 dairyū Phoenix 鳳凰 hōō *Golden bird 金翅 kinshi Evil wolf 悪狼 akurō *Free wolf 奔狼 honrō Blind bear 盲熊 mōyū *Free bear 奔熊 hon'yū Angry boar 嗔猪 shincho *Free boar 奔猪 honcho Old rat 老鼠 rōso *Bat 蝙蝠 kōmori Lion dog 狛犬 komainu Gold Wrestler 力士 rikishi Gold Guardian of the Gods 金剛 kongō Gold Buddhist devil 羅刹 rasetsu Gold She-devil 夜叉 yasha Gold Flying dragon 飛龍 hiryū Gold Violent ox 猛牛 mōgyū Gold Knight 桂馬 keima Gold Donkey 驢馬 roba Gold Queen 奔王 hōnnō — Capricorn 摩羯 makatsu Gold Hook mover 鉤行 kōgyō Gold Dragon king 龍王 ryūō — Dragon horse 龍馬 ryūme — Bishop 角行 kakugyō Gold Vertical mover 竪行 shugyō Gold Side flier 横飛 ōhi Gold Side mover 横行 ōgyō Gold Left chariot 左車 sasha Gold Right chariot 右車 usha Gold Rook 飛車 hisha Gold Pawn 歩兵 fuhyō Gold Go between 仲人 chūnin *Free goer 奔人 honnin † 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 layout                                                                                       仲               仲           歩 歩 歩 歩 歩 歩 歩 歩 歩 歩 歩 歩 歩 歩 歩 歩 歩 歩 歩飛左横横飛竪角馬龍摩奔鉤龍馬角竪横飛横右飛驢 桂 牛 飛龍羅力狛剛叉飛龍 牛 桂 驢 鼠 猪 熊 狼麒獅鳳狼 熊 猪 鼠 反 猫 鶏 蛇豹虎象虎豹臥 猿 猫 反香土石瓦鉄銅銀金提玉/王無金銀銅鉄瓦石土香

Board layout                                                                                       GB               GB           p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p R LC SM SF VM B DH DK Ca Q HM DK DH B VM SF SM RC R Dn   N   VO   FD BD W LD GG SD FD   VO   N   Dn   OR   AB   BB   EW Kr Ln Ph EW   BB   AB   OR   RV   CS   CC   Co FL BT DE BT FL RD   OM   CS   RV L E St T I C S G Dv K DS G S C I T St E L

Legend AB: Angry Boar B: Bishop BB: Blind Bear BD: Buddhist Devil BT: Blind Tiger C: Copper General Ca: Capricorn CC: Chinese Cock Co: Coiled Serpent CS: Cat Sword Dv: Deva DE: Drunk Elephant DH: Dragon Horse DK: Dragon King Dn: Donkey DS: Dark Spirit E: Earth General EW: Evil Wolf FD: Flying Dragon FL: Ferocious Leopard G: Gold General GB: Go-between GG: Guardian of the Gods HM: Hook Mover I: Iron General K: King Kr: Kirin L: Lance LC: Left Chariot LD: Lion Dog Ln: Lion N: Knight OM: Old Monkey OR: Old Rat p: Pawn Ph: Phoenix Q: Queen R: Rook RC: Right Chariot RD: Reclining Dragon RV: Reverse Chariot S: Silver General SD: She-devil SF: Side Flier St: Stone General SM: Side Mover T: Tile General VM: Vertical Mover VO: Violent Ox W: Wrestler

The Shōgi rokushu no zushiki gives the following mnemonic poem to aid in the memorization of the initial setup:

立馬略頌 玉醉獅犬奔王歩 提虎騏力摩羯歩 金豹悪羅龍王歩 銀蛇飛龍龍馬歩 銅将盲熊角歩仲 鐵鶏猛牛竪行歩 瓦将嗔猪横飛歩 石猫桂馬横行歩 土将老鼠左車歩 香反驢馬飛車歩 歩兵左右不レ替者 走馬與レ利立レ于レ端 釣行龍々角竪行 横飛横行右飛車 金夜飛龍牛桂驢 鳳悪盲熊嗔老鼠 虎豹臥龍猿猫反 無明金銀銅鐵将 瓦将石将土将香 両方相違對揚馬 提婆無明與レ王副 麒麟鳳皇獅子脇 金剛力士犬左右 釣行摩羯龍王内 羅刹夜叉龍王下 臥龍蟠蛇銀将上 古猿淮鶏鐵将上 左右両車飛車内

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, though the pieces are all the same color.) A move consists of moving a piece on the board and potentially promoting the piece. Each of these options is detailed below.

Movement and capture

Most pieces in the game move in a unique manner.

Step movers The kings, drunken elephants, blind tigers, ferocious leopards, reclining dragons, Chinese cocks, old monkeys, evil wolves, generals, angry boars, cat swords, coiled serpents, dark spirits, Devas, go betweens and pawns only move one square at a time. If an opponent's piece occupies a square that is a possible destination for the moving piece, the opponent's piece may be captured by placing the moving piece on that square, and removing the opponent's piece from the board. If a friendly piece (that is, a piece controlled by the same player) occupies the square, the moving piece may not move in that direction.

Limited ranging pieces The she-devil, wrestler, guardian of the Gods, Buddhist devil, violent ox, flying dragon and old rat can move along a limited number of free squares in certain directions.

Jumping pieces The emperor, lion, lion dog, furious fiend, teaching king, Buddhist spirit, kirin, phoenix, donkey and knight jump, that is, they can move over any intervening piece, whether friend or foe.

Ranging pieces The queen, dragon king, dragon horse, chariots, rook, bishop, side flier, movers and lance can move any number of squares along a straight line, limited by the edge of the board. If an opponent's piece intervenes, it may be captured by moving to that square, and removing it from the board. 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.

Hook moves (changing tack) The hook mover and Capricorn can move any number of squares along a straight line, then any number of squares along a perpendicular straight line limited by the edge of the board. If an opponent's piece intervenes, it may be captured by moving to that square, and removing it from the board. 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. Although they have the ability to move in two directions in one move, they are not required to.

Lion moves (multiple captures)

The lion, lion dog, furious fiend, teaching king, and Buddhist spirit have sequential multiple-capture abilities, called "lion moves". The details of these powerful moves are described for the lion and lion dog, below.

Promotion According to The Chess Variant Pages, pieces that can promote can choose whether or not they will promote when they capture an unpromoted enemy piece; however, if a piece captures a promoted piece, it must promote if able. Promotion is indicated by turning the piece over after it moves, revealing the character for the promoted piece. There are no promotion zones; dots on the board that usually represent promotion zones are present after the sixth rank only as a placement guide for initial setup.

TSA and Japanese Wikipedia suggest instead that promotion is compulsory on any capture, but this seems unlikely; many of the most powerful pieces cannot be obtained through promotion, but many very powerful pieces "promote" to a far weaker gold general, so compulsory promotion on any capture would quickly degenerate the armies into seas of golds.