From: Pieter Stouten <STOUTEN <at> EMBL <dot> BITNET>
Date: 4 jul 1990
Subject: Mistake in the rules in Leggett's "Shogi - Japan's Game of

Below a question caused by a mistake in Leggett's book ("Shogi - Japan's
Game of Strategy", see SHOGI BOOKS file in the archive). Since several
of the subscribers seem to have Leggett's book, I thought it wise to repost
it with the answer.
 
Q:
>In the rules-file it is not stated (in contradiction to the rules provided
>by LEGGETT) that a moving pawn (as opposed to a dropped pawn) HAS to be
>promoted when crossing the promotion line. who wins? Leggett or the
>SHOGI RULES-file?
 
A:
Leggett is wrong. Such errors can be disastrous when they spread !
The ONLY forced promotions occur when an unpromoted piece does not have
a legal move anymore when it remains unpromoted. This applies to pawns and
lance moving to the last row (back rank) and a knight moving to one of the
last two rows.
 
 
   Pieter Stouten <stouten <at> embl <dot> bitnet>