The Bond of Competition - Shogi

Shogi is a Japanese strategy game with the same lineage as chess, originating with the ancient Indian game of Chaturanga. Shogi is comparable to chess in its turn-based, piece-capturing gameplay, with different units having different movement capabilities. However, both the board and the movement rules are expanded compared to chess, and shogi contains additional dynamics that come into play later in the game. Below are the main ways in which shogi rules differ from those of chess:

You can see shogi in action through the upcoming JICC event where two of the best shogi players in the world demonstrate a match and give you, the audience, the opportunity to predict their next moves! For more information on the April 28th event, click here.

Shogi Notation

Shogi notation is a system used to record the movements of each piece of a shogi game by recording each movement in this format; piece initial, type of movement, and the file and rank of where the piece has moved to, e.g. Rx2c which means rook moves to 2c and captures whatever piece is on 2c. In this example “R” is the initial for rook, “x” means capture, “2” is the file, and “c” is the rank.

File refers to the numbered columns that can be seen across the top of the shogi board, numbered 1-9 from right to left. Rank refers to the rows that are labeled from top to bottom to the right of the board going from a-i.

The initials for each piece are “K” for king, “G” for gold, “S” for silver, “N” for kNight, “L” for Lance, “B” for bishop, “R” for rook, and “P” for pawn.

The following are also some common notations that are likely to appear during a shogi match: