From: Manabu Terao JAPAN SUN COM> Date: 17 feb 1999 Subject: Re: shuffle chess(or shogi) Thanks, Larry. Now I understand well what shuffle chess is like and what you imagine shuffle shogi is like. Shuffling the original set- up makes one's knowledge of opening theory meaningless and in that sense both player can match evenly. Although shuffle chess seems accepted even by top level players, I doubt shuffle shogi would be accepted in the shogi world. Three things I would like to point out. Restriction of Lance's and kNight's mobility in the original set-up in shogi, the difference in symetry between shogi and chess, and exchangeability of Bishops. As you know, A Lance can move to only 8 squares in the file originally located and a kNight can move to only 10 sqares(for example, the kNight on 2i can move to 1g,3g,2e,4e,1c,3c,5c,2a,4a,6a) without either promotion or drop, while a kNight in chess can move to all the squares. Judging from that shuffle chess forces the Bishops to be on the opposite colour which means there is no change in the movable squares of the Bishops, the Lances and kNights in shuffle shogi should be located in the same squares as original to keep the movable squares same. In the original set-up in Shogi, all the minor pieces and the Kings are located symetrically by the line of fifth rank and at the same time all the pieces are located symetrically by the point of the very center square on 5e, while chess pieces are located symetrically by only the border line between 4th and 5th rank. Since shuffle chess keeps the original symetry, shuffle shogi should keep the original line and point symetry, too. It means the Kings should be kept in the 5th file. Imagine removing all the Pawns, you can find the Bishops are originally located to be exchanged quite easily in only one move. I think this easy Bishop exchangeability is one of the essential and critical factors which make shogi an attractive game. Shuffle shogi should keep this exchangeability. In consideration of keeping movable squares of each piece, symetry and Bishop exchangeability at the same time, shufflable pieces and patterns are very limited in shogi. This is why I think shuffle shogi would not be considered seriously. In order to solve the problem of memorized opening theory, I think starting a game at a specific position extracted from a Joseki sequence or verbal agreement of what strategy both sides choose before a game would serve. The latter could be an alternative to Lance handicap, also. Regards, Manabu Terao