NOTATION AND INITIAL SETUP =============================


NOTATION
--------

Moves are represented by the abbreviation of a piece, followed by the 
indication of the square where the piece goes to. Abbreviations are: 
K = King, R = Rook, B = Bishop, G = Gold, S = Silver, N = kNight, 
L = Lance, P = Pawn. If the representation is ambiguous then the starting
square is given too (e.g. G4a-5b). Captures are indicated by an x
(e.g. Px5e). Drops are indicated by ' or * (e.g. P'8f or P*8f). Since an
asterisk can easily be mistaken for an "x", the preferred notation for
drops is an apostrophe (e.g. P'8f). Promotion is indicated by a + behind
the move (e.g. B7g+). A promoted piece is represented by a + followed by
the abbreviation of the unpromoted piece (e.g. +S3d). Sometimes not
promoting a piece that could have promoted is indicated by = behind the
move (e.g. S3c=).


INITIAL SETUP
-------------

The representation of the board with the initial setup (which has become
the de facto standard in electronic correspondence Shogi) is given below.
The w and b in front of the abbreviations indicate white and black
respectively. When a piece promotes, it will be shown on the e-mail board
with a preceding "+", as in "+bL".
Captured pieces are kept in the boxes at the right side of the board.
When sending games back and forth between players, the moves are listed
above the board. This works well, as you can see the latest moves and the
board as well at the bottom of the file.

   9    8    7    6    5    4    3    2    1
+--------------------------------------------+       White in hand:
| wL | wN | wS | wG | wK | wG | wS | wN | wL |  a   +------------------+
+--------------------------------------------+      |                  |
|    | wR |    |    |    |    |    | wB |    |  b   |                  |
+--------------------------------------------+      +------------------+
| wP | wP | wP | wP | wP | wP | wP | wP | wP |  c
+--------------------------------------------
|    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |  d
+--------------------------------------------+
|    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |  e
+--------------------------------------------+
|    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |  f
+--------------------------------------------+
| bP | bP | bP | bP | bP | bP | bP | bP | bP |  g
+--------------------------------------------+      Black in hand:
|    | bB |    |    |    |    |    | bR |    |  h   +------------------+
+--------------------------------------------+      |                  |
| bL | bN | bS | bG | bK | bG | bS | bN | bL |  i   |                  |
+--------------------------------------------+      +------------------+



Chris Sterritt and Pieter Stouten, 13-th June 1990.
Last revision 1-st July 1990 - Preferred notation for drops.
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