From: Rikard Nordgren ETEK CHALMERS SE> Date: 30 nov 1999 Subject: Re: Forget the bare king rule! (willingly...but it seems a lot of Nick Bardsley wrote: > > Yes, well. I happen to believe that the rule applies with promoted Chu Pawns (I more and > more believe that they cannot be regarded as 'Tokins' in the modern Shogi sense), i.e. once > promoted they are regarded as Gold Generals (except, of course, they cannot promote > further - they can still force a win though...). I don't think the rule applies to tokins and can the lone tokin really win? > > I have enormous respect for George Hodges as the one man who has done more than > anyone else to popularise Shogi and particularly the variants in the West. His views should > clearly be treated with respect. But they are open to question. This is particularly so when his > views appear to be predicated on a literal reading of texts which it may well not be safe to > read literally. It has to be understood that this is a problem and that any group wishing to > hold tournaments have the right to decide collectively on an interpretation with which they or > a majority of their group can agree. There are two solutions to this problem. Either we play by the historical rules stated by the ancient documents (interpreted by Mr Hodges) or else we come up with our own rules. I vote on the first of these but if we decided on the second I would vote to remove the bare king rule (it is really a silly rule) and the pawn non-promotion rule (also a silly rule). > Rikard> In the chapter by Mr Schmittberger in > Rikard> MSM, he has misinterpreted this rule and thus he writes that a promoted > Rikard> ferocious leopard would win against a bare king. > > (I may say that if this is the way they play in the US, and I understand there is quite a > network of Chu players and a tournament or two, it has obvious implications for us in > Europe...) If the americans have misinterpreted the rules then that is not our problem. Rikard Nordgren