From: George Fernandez EROLS COM> Date: 21 nov 1996 Subject: Re: Basic Rules of Shogi At 04:19 AM 11/15/97 -0800, you wrote: >Basic Rules of Shogi > > by Sam Sloan, 2-dan > Dear Sam, Thank you for taking the time to compile your candid rendition of the rules of shogi. It was informative and enjoyable reading. There are a few sections, however, which I believe to be misleading and would like to bring to your attention. Regarding "PROMOTIONS" you write: > In the case of the >bishop, the rook and the pawn, there is never a situation when it is better >not to promote than to promote. (Work this out). However, there are >situations in which a silver, a lance or a knight might chose not to promote. There are hundreds of situations in which the Rook or Bishop should NOT promote in order to bring about or prevent checkmate. In fact, there's a whole genre of tsume shogi dealing with non-promotion problems. Normally, it has to do with _allowing_ a drop-pawn check(at some later point) which would otherwise be an illegal drop-pawn mate OR creating a position, by virtue of not promoting, when the oppponent's drop-pawn check(leading to mate) is now an illegal drop-pawn mate. >There is no such thing as stalemate in shogi. However unlikely, in large handicap[8-10 pieces] games stalemate can occur. If a player has no legal move he/she loses the game. Unlike chess, when it is declared a draw. > Since pieces never leave the >game but can always be dropped back into the game by the capturing side, >just about the only mathematical way for stalemate to occur would be if one >side had all the pieces and the other side had only a bare king. This is true, but it is possible to have two pieces pinned and say 2 lances and a pawn stuck directly behind the King! :-) . > In a real >competitive game, the side with the lone king would be checkmated long >before this could occur. Regarding the draw by impasse rule you write: [...] >the result of the game is decided by a point count. >This works like this: each player counts the pieces in his possession. Each >rook and each bishop, whether promoted or unpromoted, is worth five points. >Every other piece or pawn is worth one point. The kings don't count. The >total number of points in the game is 54. (Work this out).The rule is: If a >player has more than 31 points, he wins. If a player has less than 23 >points, he loses. If a player has anywhere from 23 to 31 points, the game is >a draw and must be replayed. The correct numbers are: 31 or more wins; 23 or less loses; If the totals are between 24 and 30 for each player, the game is a draw. >Mathematically, this works out that if a player has three of the four major >pieces in the game, the two rooks and the two bishops, he almost certainly >wins the game. If he has only one of the four major pieces, he almost >certainly loses. If both sides each have two of the four major pieces, the >game will almost certainly be a draw. (Work this out.) In my opinion, all three of these statements are wholly invalid. Neither, in my personal experience[3 such games], nor, in the professional games which I've reviewed over the years have I seen such a pattern. Usually, games decided by impasse are very wild and oftentimes the major pieces are traded back and forth several times. During one of my impasse games, for example, I had 12 pawns in hand! >OTHER CONSIDERATIONS > >One of the most commonly asked questions is: What is the relative value of >the pieces? In chess, there is a well known formula. The pawn is worth one, >the knight and bishop are worth three, the rook is worth five and the queen >is worth nine. Every chess player in the world, from Kasparov down to the >lowest patzer, applies this formula in determining who is ahead in material. >Naturally, chess players expect to find a similar rule in shogi. > >However, in shogi, there is no such rule. There are clear guidelines as to the relative value of the pieces, although, as you explain, it is of much lesser importance in shogi. Rook = 15; Bishop = 13 Gold = 9; Silver = 8 Knight= 6; Lance = 5 Pawn = 1 Therefore, the Rook is roughly equal to a Gold and a Knight, while the Bishop is roughly equal to a Silver and a Lance. There is another set of guidelines with respect to promoted pieces and yet another which deals with all pieces and their changing values depending on their location on[or off] the board(for example, a Gold on a central edge square is worth less than one back on the first or second rank), but I for one, found these latter articles confusing and of little use. Does anyone out there have a copy of these or know what I'm talking about? >Material advantage doesn't mean >much, if indeed anything at all. A silver general might be the most valuable >piece on the board if it is threatening checkmate on the next move, or it >might be less than worthless and an absolute liability if stranded out of >action on the wrong side of the board where it can be picked off at will and >made part of the enemy army. This is generally true in the late middle-game or endgame. However, in the early going, it is important not to fall too far behind in material without good reason. At times, losing a single pawn in the opening can lead to a horrible game in shogi too! Being "Fu-less" [fugire](without pawns) in shogi is a certain recipe for defeat. Take care, George George I. Fernandez 2000 S. Eads St., Apt. #504 Arlington, VA 22202 USA Telephone: (703)521-5107 E-Mail: fernandz erols com