From: ivan TREASURY GOVT NZ> Date: 24 jun 1993 Subject: Tori shogi rules This post is actually from Hans Wolfgang Loidl risc uni-linz ac at> who was unable to post it to shogi-l, despite being able to receive from it! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Dear Shogi Friends! I also got the rule leaflet about Tori Shogi from G. F. Hodges some time ago and I am posting the rules for those of you who don't know Tori Shogi but who also want to learn more about this game. Alas, I myself had no opportunity to play the game, yet. So, I'm not 100 % sure if I interpreted all rules right. But as most parts seem to be unambigous there should be no problem. The only point where I am not sure is the thing with the Quails: There are two of them, they move differently but look the same. I guess, that might cause confusion in a game. Any comments on that are welcome. Now, here are the rules: Tori Shogi ========== As Tori Shogi belongs to the family of chess games, the principal rules are the same as shogi unless defined otherwise below. The major difference are the size of the board (7x7) and the available pieces, which are entirely named after birds (that's why it's called Tori Shogi -- Bird Chess). The available pieces in Tori Shogi are: 1) PHOENIX (Otori) (Shorthand: Ph) Possible moves: +--------------+ | o | o | o | +--------------+ | o | Ph | o | +--------------+ | o | o | o | +--------------+ Doesn't promote. 2) FALCON (Taka) (Shorthand: Fa) Possible moves: +--------------+ | o | o | o | +--------------+ | o | Fa | o | +--------------+ | o | | o | +--------------+ Promotes to: EAGLE (Washi) (Shorthand: Eg) Possible moves: +------------------------+ | * | | | | * | +------------------------+ | | * | o | * | | +------------------------+ | | o | Eg | o | | +------------------------+ | | o | * | o | | +------------------------+ | o | | * | | o | +------------------------+ 3) CRANE (Tsuru) (Shorthand: Cr) Possible moves: +--------------+ | o | o | o | +--------------+ | | Cr | | +--------------+ | o | o | o | +--------------+ Doesn't promote. 4) PHEASANT (Kiji) (Shorthand: Pt) Possible moves: +--------------+ | | x | | +--------------+ | | | | +--------------+ | | Pt | | +--------------+ | o | | o | +--------------+ Doesn't promote. 5) QUAIL (Uzura) (Shorthand: Q) There are two pieces, both called Quail, but with different moves. Left Quail: Possible moves: +--------------+ | | * | | +--------------+ | | LQ | | +--------------+ | o | | * | +--------------+ Doesn't promote. Left Quail: Possible moves: +--------------+ | | * | | +--------------+ | | RQ | | +--------------+ | * | | o | +--------------+ Doesn't promote. 6) SWALLOW (Tsubame) (Shorthand: Sw) Possible moves: +--------------+ | | o | | +--------------+ | | Sw | | +--------------+ | | | | +--------------+ Promotes to: GOOSE (Kari) (Shorthand: Go) Possible moves: +------------------------+ | x | | | | x | +------------------------+ | | | | | | +------------------------+ | | | Go | | | +------------------------+ | | | | | | +------------------------+ | | | x | | | +------------------------+ Notation of the moves: o ... describes a move to that adjacent square (like generals in normal shogi). Note that the eagle can't jump to the second square in rear diagonal direction if the first square into that direction is occupied! * ... describes the possibility of moving any number of unobstructed squares into that direction (like rook and bishop). x ... describes a jump to that square (like knight in normal shogi). The initial set-up of the game is as follows: +----------------------------------+ | WRQ| WPt| WCr| WPh| WCr| WPt| WLQ| +----------------------------------+ | | | | WFa| | | | +----------------------------------+ | WSw| WSw| WSw| WSw| WSw| WSw| WSw| +----------------------------------+ | | | WSw| | BSw| | | +----------------------------------+ | BSw| BSw| BSw| BSw| BSw| BSw| BSw| +----------------------------------+ | | | | BFa| | | | +----------------------------------+ | BLQ| BPt| BCr| BPh| BCr| BPt| BRQ| +----------------------------------+ Rules different to normal shogi: 1) The Phoenix takes the place of the King in normal shogi. 2) The Quails are distinguished by the Japanese characters for left and right, resp. on the reverse side of the pieces (Note: These can't promote). 3) The restrictions of dropping Swallows are the same as those for dropping Pawns in normal shogi with one exception: It is not allowed to drop a Swallow on a file, where there are already TWO Swallows of the same side. 4) Promotion is COMPULSORY as soon as a Falcon or Swallow makes a move wholely or partly within the promotion zone (furthest TWO ranks from the player). 5) Should the same position occur three times by repetition of moves, the player starting the sequence MUST vary the move. By `same position' is meant: position of pieces on the board, same pieces in hand and same turn to play. Greetings, -- Hans Wolfgang Loidl hwloidl risc uni-linz ac at ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- | RISC-Linz | Phone: +43 7236 3231-66 | | Research Institute for Symbolic Computation | FAX: +43 7236 3231-30 | | Johannes Kepler University | | | A-4040 Linz, Austria, Europe | Bitnet: K318576@ALIJKU11 | |--------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Vanitas Vanitatum! | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Comments from Ivan: Note that there is no need to worry about problems with 'Entering Phoenixes' since the pieces overall seem fairly balanced between strength out front, and strength behind. The rules leaflet has the scores of all eight(!) of the Tori Shogi games bequeathed to us by history. George Hodges sells sets of all the shogi variants. They tend to be rather expensive (speaking as someone who buys Avalon Hill type games) but are of very good quality. He also sells rules leaflets for all the variants, and has just published 'The Middle Shogi Manual', which includes all 6 historical game scores (from 1728 or thereabouts), complete details of the handicap system and examples of how to play each handicap, notes on strategy and 224 (historical) problems with solutions. Limited edition of 250, so if you are interested, buy it now! ]