From: "J. A. Lipscomb" <ewwa <at> CHATTANOOGA <dot> NET>
Date: 30 nov 1999
Subject: Re: Forget the bare king rule! (willingly...but it seems a lot of

Hmm... I don't know if a mate can be forced by a king and promoted pawn,
but one can certainly be constructed if the lone king cooperates.  The
same is true of unpromoted pieces all the way down to the copper.

Two questions:

1. Why is the blind tiger, which can move in seven directions, listed as
inferior to the gold general, which can only move in six directions?
(With the aid of a king, either can force mate in its promoted form, I'm
pretty sure.)

2. Why is it that:
the hisha is the Rook, not the Flying Chariot; the kakugyo is the
Bishop, not the Angle-mover; the keima is the Knight, not the Honorable
Horse; the osho is the King, not the Emperor or the Jade General; and
the fuhyo is the Pawn, not the Foot-soldier--but the hon'o is the Free
King rather than the Queen?