From: leung kaiwan gmail com> Date: 25 feb 2007 Subject: A Comparison of Shogi, Chess, Xiangqi ------=_Part_4065_23036060.1172339377490 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline Hi, As promised, below is my sharing of shogi, chess, and xiangqi (Chinese chess). Wish you enjoy and find it helpful. Regards, Kai Wan Leung Hong Kong, China A Comparison of Shogi, Chess, Xiangqi ===================================== Many friends have been wondering how chess games evolved in different countries are similar or different from each other, and how experienced players in a kind of game may affect their learning and playing styles in the others. In my opinion, shogi and xiangqi belong to two extremes, and chess is in-between. In this article, I assume all readers are experienced chess and shogi players but know very little or nothing about xiangqi. Wish my words are not too lengthy or confusing. PIECES Among the three games, queen in chess is the most powerful piece, combining the powers of rook and bishop, controls up to 27 out of 64 squares on an unblocked chessboard. There are two rooks in chess and xiangqi, but only one rook and two lances in shogi. There are also two bishops in chess, but only one in shogi, and bishop (or elephant) in xiangqi may only moves two squares diagonally. Although both xiangqi and chess knights can move in eight directions, versus only two in shogi, there is a special restriction on moving knights in xiangqi. A pawn may become queen in chess or gold in shogi, but just a pawn in xiangqi. Even when a xiangqi pawn reaches the bottom line, it can not move backward or be promoted to another piece. Although there are gold and silver in shogi and cannon in xiangqi, in general, chess pieces seem to be the most powerful, in terms of movement and control capacity. Excluding king and pawns, all other chess pieces can move throughout the board. And it takes at most two steps (knight d5-e7-d8) for a piece to move from the centre to the edge or corner. In xiangqi, only six out of ten pieces, again excluding king and pawns, can move to the other half of the board. Despite its short-distant moving feature, shogi pieces are always reusable and can be dropped almost anywhere, leading to a unique fighting style. On the contrary, king in xiangqi is the mostly restricted. It can only move orthogonally only, not diagonally, and is restricted within a 3x3 matrix (4g-6i). Both chess and shogi kings can move around the whole board whilst both chess and xiangqi pieces are eliminated when being captured. Hence, in different games, checkmates become attainable because the pieces are getting more mobile, reusable, or the kings being more restricted. These impacts are significant as reusable shogi pieces lead to unique mating techniques, which frequently decide which player will be the winner. BOARD DENSITY & OPENING There are 64 and 81 squares in chess and shogi boards and 90 grid points in xiangqi board, such that xiangqi board is the largest whilst chessboard is the smallest. When a game starts, there are 32 chess pieces on a 64-square board and 40 shogi pieces on an 81-square board. Around half of the squares are occupied. However, in xiangqi, only 32 out of 90, approximately one-third of the points are occupied when a game starts. Meanwhile, there are 8 pawns on 8 files in chess and 9 pawns on 9 files in shogi, but only 5 pawns on 9 files in xiangqi and leaves 4 open files. These mean that xiangqi board is less densely occupied. In many shogi open strategies, we develop pawns first, then silvers, golds, and knights, whilst rook is usually kept in our own camps. In chess, we also develop pawns, followed by knights and bishops, and then queen and rooks. In xiangqi, however, rooks, the strongest pieces, are often developed early and advanced to the enemy's camp (cross the river). This difference in opening strategy, in my opinion, is due to the difference in board density whereby xiangqi board is less densely occupied and the strong pieces are less severely blocked and threatened by other pieces and become more powerful. DRAW Due to the reusable pieces feature, shogi games almost never draw, except by repetition. At least we won't plan to draw in 99 out of 100 games. But in both chess and xiangqi, pieces are kept on being removed, and attacking powers are diminishing, maybe up to a point where neither side is still good enough to mate, then the game ends in a draw. Only in shogi, we don't consider a draw, hence we must fight. We don't ask whether, but only when and where. This leads to the question of fighting sooner or later, but never consider never. In the later half of a shogi game, it is easy to say that a move is either attacking or defending, but less often to say both or neither. Such distinction is less obvious in xiangqi, and probably in chess as well. Why? The short distant feature of shogi pieces (e.g. pawn, gold, silver) is a reason. Another is our desire to get not less than a half point. In shogi, after making a move, the outcome of any variations is either winning, losing, or unforeseeable. A good move is a move that improves the chance of winning and reduces the chance of losing, or that raise the expected score (probability weighted). But in the other games, outcomes can include: winning, better (may win or draw), even but risky (either side may win, but draw is unlikely), even and likely to draw, inferior (may lose or draw), losing. The half point consideration sometimes makes deciding a move difficult. And this may be further complicated by the performances of ourselves and the other players in the other rounds, especially in Swiss and round robin. But in shogi, we don't care that but simply fight, early or lately. KING'S SAFETY & CASTLING The king's safety is always a critical concern in shogi. If your king is safer than your opponent's, you may launch strong attack, otherwise you need to play defensively to avoid fierce counter attack. One measure of king safety is how well it is surrounded by your own pieces. Another is how far it is distant from the opponent's attacking pieces and the main battlefield (usually the board centre). A third measure is whether your king has a way to escape, if needed. When a king castles in chess, it moves two squares toward a corner and is surrounded by its own rook and pawns. Shogi castling is more complicated, but the ideas of moving towards the corner from the battlefield and being surrounded are essentially the same. In both chess and shogi, a king may go to any square. But in xiangqi, due to the restriction that a king must move within an assigned area of 3x3 squares in the mid-bottom of the board, we almost do not castle, except against the central file. CHECKMATE & ENDING Again, dropping captured pieces makes shogi unique, especially in mating skills. And material advantage becomes less important in shogi endgames as speed, king safety issues, etc. arise. On the other hand, many chess endgames have been "solved" with established winning or drawing procedures. A superior position can be simplified to a winning endgame and an inferior position may be simplified to a drawn one. Promotion also makes pawn advantage decisive. So, sometimes we don't need to mate to win a chess game. In xiangqi, the pieces are not as mobile as in chess, especially the king. In xiangqi endgames, we often make waiting moves to force our opponents move from good to bad or from safe to danger positions. (This is identical to the concept of mobility and quiet moves in Othello, another board game.) In many classical endgame puzzles, such techniques are fundamental. And this trick can be applied in xiangqi midgames very well. When applying in shogi, this is to nullify any possible good moves for your opponent and prepare for a later fight. (In shogi, we must fight - sooner or later.) OVERALL If shogi belongs to the hard end with its fierce mating feature, I'd like to say that xiangqi belongs to the soft end because very often we have to let our opponents make their own losing moves. Some professional shogi games commentaries may say that a player lets his opponent the chance to make a move when all choices will go losing. This appears advanced in shogi but commonly used in xiangqi. I am not going to rank which game is more interesting or challenging (sorry if that appears belittling shogi or any person), but just different skills for different games. Maybe, being a xiangqi player, I am fortunate enough to see this early from a very different perspective. When I started playing shogi with Japanese people, I found their attacking and mating skills almost unbelievable. Then I started practise tsumeshogi and hisshi (brinkmate) problems intensely and still keep exercises today. In casual games, I often make over aggressive moves, put myself into danger and sometimes lose terribly. That is not to play unseriously or being over-prided, but a helpful way to practise manage the unmanageable complications. I have no idea how well these words provide an alternate insight on shogi for chess players. But to apply the skills from one game onto another is amazing for me. Wish you like. --^---------------------------------------------------------------- This email was sent to: shogi-l shogi net EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a2i6Ys.aB5TiY.c2hvZ2kt Or send an email to: shogi-unsubscribe topica com For Topica's complete suite of email marketing solutions visit: http://www.topica.com/?p=TEXFOOTER --^---------------------------------------------------------------- ------=_Part_4065_23036060.1172339377490 Content-Type: text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline

Hi,

As promised, below is my sharing of shogi, chess, and xiangqi (Chinese chess).  Wish you enjoy and find it helpful.

Regards,

Kai Wan Leung
Hong Kong, China

 

A Comparison of Shogi, Chess, Xiangqi
=====================================

Many friends have been wondering how chess games evolved in different countries are similar or different from each other, and how experienced players in a kind of game may affect their learning and playing styles in the others.

In my opinion, shogi and xiangqi belong to two extremes, and chess is in-between.  In this article, I assume all readers are experienced chess and shogi players but know very little or nothing about xiangqi.  Wish my words are not too lengthy or confusing.

PIECES

Among the three games, queen in chess is the most powerful piece, combining the powers of rook and bishop, controls up to 27 out of 64 squares on an unblocked chessboard.  There are two rooks in chess and xiangqi, but only one rook and two lances in shogi.  There are also two bishops in chess, but only one in shogi, and bishop (or elephant) in xiangqi may only moves two squares diagonally.  Although both xiangqi and chess knights can move in eight directions, versus only two in shogi, there is a special restriction on moving knights in xiangqi.  A pawn may become queen in chess or gold in shogi, but just a pawn in xiangqi. Even when a xiangqi pawn reaches the bottom line, it can not move backward or be promoted to another piece.  Although there are gold and silver in shogi and cannon in xiangqi, in general, chess pieces seem to be the most powerful, in terms of movement and control capacity.

Excluding king and pawns, all other chess pieces can move throughout the board.  And it takes at most two steps (knight d5-e7-d8) for a piece to move from the centre to the edge or corner.  In xiangqi, only six out of ten pieces, again excluding king and pawns, can move to the other half of the board.

Despite its short-distant moving feature, shogi pieces are always reusable and can be dropped almost anywhere, leading to a unique fighting style.  On the contrary, king in xiangqi is the mostly restricted.  It can only move orthogonally only, not diagonally, and is restricted within a 3x3 matrix (4g-6i).  Both chess and shogi kings can move around the whole board whilst both chess and xiangqi pieces are eliminated when being captured.

Hence, in different games, checkmates become attainable because the pieces are getting more mobile, reusable, or the kings being more restricted.  These impacts are significant as reusable shogi pieces lead to unique mating techniques, which frequently decide which player will be the winner.

BOARD DENSITY & OPENING

There are 64 and 81 squares in chess and shogi boards and 90 grid points in xiangqi board, such that xiangqi board is the largest whilst chessboard is the smallest.

When a game starts, there are 32 chess pieces on a 64-square board and 40 shogi pieces on an 81-square board.  Around half of the squares are occupied.  However, in xiangqi, only 32 out of 90, approximately one-third of the points are occupied when a game starts.  Meanwhile, there are 8 pawns on 8 files in chess and 9 pawns on 9 files in shogi, but only 5 pawns on 9 files in xiangqi and leaves 4 open files.  These mean that xiangqi board is less densely occupied.  In many shogi open strategies, we develop pawns first, then silvers, golds, and knights, whilst rook is usually kept in our own camps.  In chess, we also develop pawns, followed by knights and bishops, and then queen and rooks.  In xiangqi, however, rooks, the strongest pieces, are often developed early and advanced to the enemy's camp (cross the river).  This difference in opening strategy, in my opinion, is due to the difference in board density whereby xiangqi board is less densely occupied and the strong pieces are less severely blocked and threatened by other pieces and become more powerful.

DRAW

Due to the reusable pieces feature, shogi games almost never draw, except by repetition.  At least we won't plan to draw in 99 out of 100 games.  But in both chess and xiangqi, pieces are kept on being removed, and attacking powers are diminishing, maybe up to a point where neither side is still good enough to mate, then the game ends in a draw.  Only in shogi, we don't consider a draw, hence we must fight.  We don't ask whether, but only when and where.  This leads to the question of fighting sooner or later, but never consider never.

In the later half of a shogi game, it is easy to say that a move is either attacking or defending, but less often to say both or neither.  Such distinction is less obvious in xiangqi, and probably in chess as well.  Why?  The short distant feature of shogi pieces ( e.g. pawn, gold, silver) is a reason.  Another is our desire to get not less than a half point.

In shogi, after making a move, the outcome of any variations is either winning, losing, or unforeseeable.  A good move is a move that improves the chance of winning and reduces the chance of losing, or that raise the expected score (probability weighted).   But in the other games, outcomes can include: winning, better (may win or draw), even but risky (either side may win, but draw is unlikely), even and likely to draw, inferior (may lose or draw), losing.  The half point consideration sometimes makes deciding a move difficult.  And this may be further complicated by the performances of ourselves and the other players in the other rounds, especially in Swiss and round robin.  But in shogi, we don't care that but simply fight, early or lately.

KING'S SAFETY & CASTLING

The king's safety is always a critical concern in shogi.  If your king is safer than your opponent's, you may launch strong attack, otherwise you need to play defensively to avoid fierce counter attack.  One measure of king safety is how well it is surrounded by your own pieces.  Another is how far it is distant from the opponent's attacking pieces and the main battlefield (usually the board centre).  A third measure is whether your king has a way to escape, if needed.  When a king castles in chess, it moves two squares toward a corner and is surrounded by its own rook and pawns.  Shogi castling is more complicated, but the ideas of moving towards the corner from the battlefield and being surrounded are essentially the same.  In both chess and shogi, a king may go to any square.  But in xiangqi, due to the restriction that a king must move within an assigned area of 3x3 squares in the mid-bottom of the board, we almost do not castle, except against the central file.

CHECKMATE & ENDING

Again, dropping captured pieces makes shogi unique, especially in mating skills.  And material advantage becomes less important in shogi endgames as speed, king safety issues, etc. arise.  On the other hand, many chess endgames have been "solved" with established winning or drawing procedures.  A superior position can be simplified to a winning endgame and an inferior position may be simplified to a drawn one.  Promotion also makes pawn advantage decisive.  So, sometimes we don't need to mate to win a chess game.  In xiangqi, the pieces are not as mobile as in chess, especially the king.  In xiangqi endgames, we often make waiting moves to force our opponents move from good to bad or from safe to danger positions.  (This is identical to the concept of mobility and quiet moves in Othello, another board game.)  In many classical endgame puzzles, such techniques are fundamental.  And this trick can be applied in xiangqi midgames very well.  When applying in shogi, this is to nullify any possible good moves for your opponent and prepare for a later fight.  (In shogi, we must fight - sooner or later.)

OVERALL

If shogi belongs to the hard end with its fierce mating feature, I'd like to say that xiangqi belongs to the soft end because very often we have to let our opponents make their own losing moves.  Some professional shogi games commentaries may say that a player lets his opponent the chance to make a move when all choices will go losing.  This appears advanced in shogi but commonly used in xiangqi.  I am not going to rank which game is more interesting or challenging (sorry if that appears belittling shogi or any person), but just different skills for different games.  Maybe, being a xiangqi player, I am fortunate enough to see this early from a very different perspective.  When I started playing shogi with Japanese people, I found their attacking and mating skills almost unbelievable.  Then I started practise tsumeshogi and hisshi (brinkmate) problems intensely and still keep exercises today.  In casual games, I often make over aggressive moves, put myself into danger and sometimes lose terribly.  That is not to play unseriously or being over-prided, but a helpful way to practise manage the unmanageable complications.

I have no idea how well these words provide an alternate insight on shogi for chess players.  But to apply the skills from one game onto another is amazing for me.  Wish you like.

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