Shogi

Was watching a Jap guy teach his Korean friend Shogi, Japanese chess. Played by 2 players, the objective of this board game is to capture the opponent's King. Shogi is played on a 9x9 board, each side having 20 pieces each - 1 King, 2 Gold generals, 2 Silver generals, 2 Knights, 2 Lances, 1 Rook, 1 Bishop & 9 Pawns.



Much of the moves are similar to what we all know as the western chess, except for some interesting differences. For example : some of the pieces get promoted to stronger pieces once they reach the opponent's side of the board. Their new ranks are written at the back of the pieces, so the piece is flipped to reflect the change. Promotion, however, is optional, provided that the piece still can make a legal move in case it is not promoted.



Another one is that captured pieces become part of the capturer's force. They can be dropped back onto the board, in an empty square. Pieces are always dropped unpromoted. Meaning, if a promoted piece is captured, it reverts back to its unpromoted rank.



This makes shogi an exciting board game to play. If you're familiar with western chess, it's relatively easy to learn up japanese chess, whose moves are a little varied. Once you are able to recognise the Japanese characters for each piece, you're on your way to enjoying this immensely popular Japanese board game. I even managed to play another type of game with the same board, but only using Pawns. It's called hasami, or scissors. ;)