From: Colin Paul Adams <colin <at> COLINA <dot> DEMON <dot> CO <dot> UK>
Date: 6 feb 2000
Subject: Re: Chu Shogi castles (part I)

>>>>> "Nick" == Nick Bardsley <nbardsley <at> ICC <dot> CO <dot> UK> writes:

    Nick> Do any well defined castles exist for Chu Shogi?

Well, no, not in the literature, but I have found it necessary to
invent some names for certain formations that keep occurring, just to
help keep things straight in my head.

    Nick> particularly about the decision to keep Golds at home or
    Nick> send them to the battle front (leaving a rather small
    Nick> defence force of the Drunken Elephant and the 2 Blind
    Nick> Tigers).

I always prefer to leave the golds at home, for several reasons:

1) They have a good promotion, and so are worth keeping back in case
the endgame should become thin on pieces, in which case they can be
moved up for a promotion.

2) There sideways movement is more valuable in defence than in attack,
and most importantly:

3) Without the Golds, the Kings defences look particularly feeble in
the endgame, when the game is decided.

If I had to choose, I'd move the Blind Tigers up in preference to the
Golds.

    Nick> I also wonder about the fact that the King and his
    Nick> entourage/castle do not seem to move from the centre. This
    Nick> is, of course, very different from Modern Shogi - is it
    Nick> always best practise?

In general, moving the King before the endgame is unlikely to be a
good idea, as you cannot be certain where the attack is going to come
from (even if both sides consistently attack on the right, in the
endgame, with powerful, mobile, promoted pieces around, the action
tends to be all over the board).
Once you see specific threats, then it may be a good idea to move the
King. How to decide if this is a good idea?

1) Decide where you are going to go with the King.
2) Count how many moves it will take to move it there.
3) Count how many moves your opponent's attack will be held up.
4) If the figure in step 3) is greater than the figure in step 2),
then it could be a good idea to move it.
--
Colin Paul Adams
Preston Lancashire