From: Michael Vanier <mvanier <at> BBB <dot> CALTECH <dot> EDU>
Date: 3 feb 1999
Subject: Re: Wa shogi drops

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> Date:         Wed, 3 Feb 1999 23:17:03 +0100
> Reply-To: The Shogi Discussion List <SHOGI-L <at> techunix <dot> technion <dot> ac <dot> il>
> Sender: The Shogi Discussion List <SHOGI-L <at> techunix <dot> technion <dot> ac <dot> il>
> From: Rikard Nordgren <e7rikard <at> ETEK <dot> CHALMERS <dot> SE>
> Organization: Chalmers University of Technology
>
> > > "Sekai no Shogi" says Washogi is played without drops.
> > >
> >
> > Darn! :-)  Looking at the piece moves and the limited number of ranging
> > pieces really makes it look like the game was meant to be played with
> > drops.  In fact, Wa is pretty close to what you'd get if you wanted to
> > create the ultimate (playable) shogi variant with drops -- the large number
> > of pieces with different moves guarantee a very large number of possible
> > tesujis.  Plus the ratio of ranging/stepping pieces is fairly close to what
> > we see in shogi, but vastly smaller than in Chu shogi.
> >
> > Oh well, I've flogged a dead horse long enough...
> >
> > Mike
>
> If wa is better when played with drops why not do it? Then we make the
> future not the
> history.
>
> Rikard
>

Of course, I agree totally.  Still, some folks in the shogi community
appear to sometimes value historical accuracy over play value, so it would
be nice if the historical record supported the commonly-held view that Wa
is better played with drops.  I suspect the authors of Shogi no Sekai
probably were just tabulating the rules and didn't actually play the games
themselves.  I also understand that the few other sources on Wa shogi
disagree with each other in many fundamental ways, even in the moves of the
pieces, so it's difficult to know what the inventors really had in mind.

Mike