From: Reijer Grimbergen ETL GO JP> Date: 16 apr 1996 Subject: Re: Checkmate rule Let me enter the discussion and confuse the issue a little more, since it is my feeling that this rule is one of the strangest in Shogi and is also making the rules for the game inconsistent. If I remember correctly, even Habu has some doubts about the reasons for having this rule in Shogi (I think I read it in one of the many interviews he gave recently). The problem as I see it is as follows: in Shogi there is no checkmating rule. As a result it is perfectly legal to leave your king in check, even though that would not be very wise because your opponent might spot this and take your king, thereby ending the game. A Shogi game is only truly finished when the king of either player is taken. If so, you can not say: "dropping a pawn with mate is illegal", because there is no definition of mate. In my opinion this rule has no place in Shogi and I have often wondered about its historical significance. Why was it decided that this was the only reasonable drop that was not allowed? Of course the other illegal drops hinder play, like double pawn drops and lance or knight on squares where they can not move, but mate with a pawn drop does not interfere with play at all. Why then this rule? Any Japanese historians with the answer? Reijer -- Reijer Grimbergen Electrotechnical Laboratory Palcious Tsukuba 302 1-1-4 Umezono 1-24-8 Ninomiya Tsukuba-shi, Ibaraki-ken Tsukuba-shi, Ibaraki-ken 305 JAPAN 305 JAPAN E-mail: grimberg etl go jp Tel: 0298-59-1606 WWW: http://www.etl.go.jp:8080/etl/suiron/~grimberg Tel: +81-(0)298-54-5080 extension: 67431 Fax: +81-(0)298-58-5918