Chu Shogi
Chu Shogi Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Setup
Each player's pieces are placed on the board as shown in the setup diagram. Files are numbered 12 to 1 from left to right, and ranks are lettered a to l from top to bottom. White's pieces (white backgrounds) occupy ranks a to e, Black's pieces (gray backgrounds) occupy ranks h to l, and ranks f and g begin empty.
| Rank | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| a (White) | Lance | Ferocious Leopard | Copper General | Silver General | Gold General | Drunk Elephant | King | Gold General | Silver General | Copper General | Ferocious Leopard | Lance |
| b (White) | Reverse Chariot | Bishop |
The table above transcribes the setup diagram; an empty cell is an empty square.
Pieces
Each piece, the piece it promotes to, and its starting amount per player. Black pieces have gray backgrounds and White pieces have white backgrounds.
| Piece | Promotes to | Starting Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Pawn | Gold General | 12 |
| Gold General | Rook | 2 |
| Rook | Dragon King | 2 |
| Dragon King | Soaring Eagle | 2 |
| Soaring Eagle | ||
| Go Between | Drunk Elephant | 2 |
| Drunk Elephant | King | 1 |
| King | 1 | |
| Blind Tiger |
Piece Orientation
A player's pieces face forward by having the creases and the arrowheads at their tops face the opponent's side, showing who controls what.
Deciding who goes first
The players may decide who goes first via a game of chance or mutual agreement. Traditionally, the least skilled player goes first.
The player who goes first is called Black and controls the pieces with gray backgrounds. The other player is called White and controls the pieces with white backgrounds.
Gameplay
After deciding who goes first, players alternate making a move. Making a move is required; skipping a move is illegal, even if having to do so is detrimental. Play continues until all a player's Kings are captured, a player resigns, or a draw is reached. Players cannot capture their own pieces, and only one piece can be moved per turn.
Object of the game
The object of the game is to capture all your opponent's Kings.
Each King has a crown in place of the arrowheads and a cross in the center of the move mnemonic to distinguish it from the other pieces.
Movement Types
The table below explains the symbols found in the movement diagrams and their meanings.
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Moving piece (the piece shown on a gray square with an arrowhead) | The piece whose movement is being shown. |
| Dot (filled circle) | Jumps directly to this square, ignoring intervening pieces. |
| Arrow (straight, in one of the eight directions) | Slides any number of unoccupied squares in a straight line. Must stop upon capture. |
| Circle with diamond | Steps to this square, then optionally step to any square that is orthogonally or diagonally adjacent to this square, even if the first step captures something. |
| Double arrow with diamonds (straight) or corner-triangle square (diagonal) | Steps to this square, then optionally step to the starting square or the second square in the same direction, even if the first step captures something. |
Movement Diagrams
Promoted versions of starting pieces move identically to their unpromoted counterparts. The movements below are the printed movement diagrams, written out in words. Pieces are listed with their promotion and starting amount from the piece table in the Pieces section.
Unpromoted pieces
- Pawn: Steps one square forward.
- Go Between: Steps one square forward or one square backward.
- Copper General: Steps one square diagonally forward (left or right), one square straight forward, or one square straight backward.
- Silver General: Steps one square forward, diagonally forward (left or right), or diagonally backward (left or right).
- Gold General: Steps one square forward, diagonally forward (left or right), sideways (left or right), or straight backward.
- Ferocious Leopard: Steps one square forward, diagonally forward (left or right), straight backward, or diagonally backward (left or right). It cannot move sideways.
- Blind Tiger: Steps one square in any direction except straight forward.
- Drunk Elephant: Steps one square in any direction except straight backward.
- King: Steps one square in any of the eight directions.
- Lance: Slides any number of unoccupied squares straight forward.
- Reverse Chariot: Slides any number of unoccupied squares straight forward or straight backward.
- Side Mover: Slides any number of unoccupied squares sideways (left or right), and jumps one square straight forward or straight backward.
Promoted pieces
- Flying Stag (promoted from Blind Tiger): Slides any number of unoccupied squares straight forward or straight backward, and jumps directly to the six squares that are diagonally forward (left and right), sideways (left and right), and diagonally backward (left and right).
- White Horse (promoted from Lance): Slides any number of unoccupied squares straight forward, straight backward, and diagonally backward (left and right).
- Whale (promoted from Reverse Chariot): Slides any number of unoccupied squares straight forward, straight backward, and diagonally forward (left and right).
- Free Boar (promoted from Side Mover): Slides any number of unoccupied squares sideways (left or right), and diagonally in any of the four diagonal directions.
- Flying Ox (promoted from Vertical Mover): Slides any number of unoccupied squares straight forward or straight backward, and diagonally in any of the four diagonal directions.
- Horned Falcon (promoted from Dragon Horse): Slides any number of unoccupied squares diagonally in any of the four diagonal directions, and sideways (left or right) and straight backward. It can also step to the square straight forward, then optionally step to the starting square or the second square straight forward, even if the first step captures something. It can jump directly to the square two squares straight forward.
- Soaring Eagle (promoted from Dragon King): Slides any number of unoccupied squares straight forward, sideways (left or right), straight backward, and diagonally backward (left and right). It can jump directly to the two squares two squares away diagonally forward. It can also step to a diagonally forward square, then optionally step to the starting square or the second square in the same direction, even if the first step captures something.
Promotion
The promotion zone is the farthest four ranks (rows) of the board (indicated by two inscribed dots). A piece may promote if its move:
- Enters the promotion zone
- Starts in the promotion zone and captures something
A Pawn that reaches the last rank (row) can always be promoted, even on a non-capture.
Promotion is done by flipping the piece over, revealing its promoted value. Promotion is optional unless the moving piece cannot promote at all, in which case it is left as is. Promoted pieces cannot promote further, even if their unpromoted counterparts can.
Promoted pieces have a plus sign (+) on either side of the arrowhead and a dot or hollow cross in the center of the move mnemonic to distinguish them from unpromoted pieces.
| Piece | Promotion Rule (if different from normal) |
|---|---|
| King, Lion, Queen | Does not promote |
| Pawn | Promotion on last rank (row) is always allowed |
The source's worked promotion example is a diagram on page 5 and is not reproduced here.
Lion-trading Rules
Lion captures are forbidden in situations where this would in general trade two Lions out of the game. This is symbolized by the "shield" symbols flanking the Lion's move mnemonic.
- Bridge-capture - A Lion cannot capture another Lion if this would expose the moving Lion to capture after its move, unless one of the following applies:
- The two Lions stand on orthogonally or diagonally adjacent squares.
- The move first captures something that is not a Pawn or Go Between.
- Capturing a Pawn or Go Between along with a Lion is allowed if said Pawn or Go Between was the only thing defending the Lion.
- Counter-strike - A non-Lion piece cannot capture a Lion when on the immediately preceding turn a non-Lion piece just captured a Lion on another square.
- This includes hit-and-run captures from Soaring Eagles and Horned Falcons.
- If a Kirin captures a Lion, it can always be recaptured, even if it had simultaneously promoted to Lion.
These rules do not differentiate between Lions and promoted Kirins, nor do they apply recursively in the case of multiple Lions.
Examples of the Lion-trading Rules
The source's case diagrams are not reproduced; the captions are transcribed below.
- Case 1: Adjacent Lions can always capture each other. In both cases, the Lions are adjacent, so both Lions may capture each other, and even land on squares where they could be captured.
- Case 2: Bridge-capture example. Here, neither Lion can capture the other Lion alone. Black's Lion can take White's Go Between and Lion simultaneously. White's Lion can take Black's Copper General and Lion simultaneously, even though it could then be captured by the Lance.
- Case 3: Counter-strike example. Here, neither Lion can capture the other. However, both Rooks can capture the opposing Lion. The other player then cannot immediately capture the other Lion on the next move but may do so on any future move.
- Case 4: Hidden protectors and multiple Lions. Black's leftmost Lion cannot take White's Lion, even if it took the Pawn as well, since the Free Boar could then capture it. White cannot capture Black's leftmost Lion with his own Lion, as Black's other Lion is protecting it.
- Case 5: Blocking hidden protectors and Kirins. Black's Lion can capture White's Lion without taking the Pawn, as the Free Boar could not capture it afterward. If White captures Black's Lion with his Kirin and promotes it to Lion, Black can take the newly promoted Lion.
Repetition
Repeating the same board position four times with the same player to move each time is forbidden, but this does not apply to a player who is in check (see below).
Certain pieces can pass a turn in certain situations. This leaves the position unchanged but does not violate the repetition rule, as it would be the other player's turn to move. Of course, two consecutive passes are not possible, as this would result in the same position as before.
Check and Mate
A player is in check if at least one of their Kings is under attack. Players are not required to keep their King(s) out of check and can even move into check, though this is almost always a blunder.
A player with two Kings may sacrifice one of them without losing the game.
If a player has no legal moves that will keep at least one of his Kings out of check, that player is mated and has effectively lost the game.
Illegal Move
A player who makes an illegal move loses immediately. This rule may be relaxed in casual games, where the offending player can take back the move and make a legal move.
End of Game
A player wins when they capture all the other player's Kings.
At any time, a player may resign, and their opponent wins the game.
Draw
At any time, the players may agree to a draw.
In positions where the winning condition is practically impossible to fulfill for either player, the game is considered a draw.
Handicaps
Games between players of disparate strengths are often played with handicaps, where White's army is weakened and/or Black's army is strengthened, but White moves first as compensation. Some commonly used handicaps are:
- Two Kings: Black starts with his Drunk Elephant promoted to King.
- Two Lions: Black starts with his Kirin promoted to Lion.
- Three Lions: Black swaps his Phoenix for White's Kirin, and Black starts with both Kirins promoted to Lions.
In handicaps where White removes one or more of his pieces from the board, he may also be allowed to move up a few of his pieces or rearrange them to fill in the gaps to protect the weaker pieces as well.