or is a board game native to Japan. It derived from Heian era shogi, and is similar to standard shogi (sometimes called Japanese chess) in its rules and game play. Dai shogi is only one of several large board shogi variants. Its name means large shogi, from a time when there were three sizes of shogi games. Early versions of dai shogi can be traced back to the Kamakura period, from about AD 1230. It was the historical basis for the later, much more popular variant chu shogi, which shrinks the board and removes the weakest pieces.
History Fujiwara no Yorinaga, tutor to the crown prince, recorded playing dai shogi, in his diary, the Taiki, written between 1135 and 1155 AD. The , an encyclopedia compiled in the 12th century by , described the rules for both dai shogi and Heian dai shogi, an ancestor of standard shogi played on a 13 × 13 board.
Rules of the game
Other than the additional pieces (the iron and stone generals, knights, angry boars, cat swords, evil wolves, violent oxen, and flying dragons, which all promote to gold generals), the rules of dai shogi are thought to have corresponded very closely to those of its descendant chu shogi.
Objective
The objective of the game is to capture the opponent's king and, if present, the prince, which counts as a second king. Unlike standard shogi, pieces may not be dropped back into play after capture.
Game play
Two players alternate, making a move with Black moving first. (The pieces are not differentiated by color; the traditional chess terms "Black" and "White" are only used to indicate who plays first, and to differentiate the sides during discussions of the game.) A move consists of moving a piece either to an empty square on the board or to a square occupied by an opposing piece, thus capturing that piece; and optionally of promoting the moving piece, if the move enters the promotion zone, or if it is a capture and any part of it is in the promotion zone.
Game equipment
Two players, Black and White (or 先手 sente and 後手 gote), play on a board ruled into a grid of 15 ranks (rows) and 15 files (columns) with a total of 225 squares. The squares are undifferentiated by marking or color, unlike a Western chess board.
Each player has a set of 65 pieces of 29 different types. In all, a player must remember 36 different moves. Each piece has its name written on it in Japanese kanji. The writing is typically in black. On the reverse side of most pieces there are characters to indicate the piece's promoted rank, typically written in red. The pieces are wedge-shaped and their orientation indicates which player they belong to, as they point toward the opposing side. The pieces are of slightly different sizes, from largest to smallest (most to least powerful) they are:
1 King 1 Queen 1 Lion 2 Dragon kings 2 Dragon horses 2 Rooks 2 Bishops 1 Kirin 1 Phoenix 2 Violent oxen 2 Flying dragons 1 Drunk elephant 2 Blind tigers 2 Ferocious leopards 2 Gold generals 2 Silver generals 2 Copper generals 2 Angry boars 2 Cat swords 2 Vertical movers 2 Side movers 2 Reverse Chariots 2 Lances 2 Knights 2 Evil wolves 2 Iron generals 2 Stone generals 2 Go-betweens 15 Pawns
Listed below are the pieces of the game and, if they promote, the pieces they promote to. Names are rough translations that have become somewhat standardized in English. Pieces are listed alphabetically by their English name. (Sometimes the queen is called the "free king", a direct translation of its Japanese name. The kirin's name is sometimes anglicised as kylin.)
The promotions apply only to pieces which start out with the ranks in the left-most column, that is, pieces with these ranks written in black; promoted pieces with those same ranks written in red may not promote further. Pieces which only appear upon promotion, that is, names which only occur written in red, are marked with an asterisk. The king, queen, and lion do not promote.
+Pieces Piece name Kanji Romaji Abbrev. Promotion Betza notation (of original piece) angry boar 嗔猪 shinchō 嗔 gold general W bishop (diagonal mover) 角行 kakugyō 角 dragon horse B blind tiger 盲虎 mōko 虎 flying stag FrlbW cat sword 猫刄 myōjin 猫 gold general F copper general 銅将 dōshō 銅 side mover fKbW dragon horse 龍馬 ryūma1 馬 horned falcon BW dragon king 龍王 ryūō 龍 soaring eagle RF drunk elephant 酔象 suizō 象 prince FfrlW evil wolf 悪狼 akurō 狼 gold general frlK ferocious leopard 猛豹 mōhyō 豹 bishop FfbW flying dragon 飛龍 hiryū — gold general B2 *flying ox 飛牛 higyū 牛 (promoted vertical mover) BfbR *flying stag 飛鹿 hiroku 鹿 (promoted blind tiger) fbRK *free boar 奔猪 honcho 猪 (promoted side mover) BrlR gobetween 仲人 chūnin 仲 drunk elephant fbW gold general 金将 kinshō 金 rook WfF *horned falcon 角鷹 kakuō 鷹 (promoted dragon horse) BrlbRf[avW]fD iron general 鉄将 tesshō 鉄 gold general fK king (challenging) 玉将 gyokushō 玉 — K king (reigning) 王将 ōshō 王 — K kirin 麒麟 kirin 麒 lion FD knight 桂馬 keima 桂 gold general ffN lance 香車 kyōsha 香 white horse fR lion 獅子 shishi 獅 — KNADcaKmcabK pawn 歩兵 fuhyō 歩 gold general fW phoenix 鳳凰 hōō 鳳 queen WA *prince 太子 taishi 太 (promoted drunk elephant) K queen (fast king) 奔王 honnō1 奔 — Q reverse chariot 反車 hensha1 反 whale fbR rook (chariot) 飛車 hisha 飛 dragon king R side mover 横行 ōgyō 横 free boar WrlR silver general 銀将 ginshō 銀 vertical mover FfW stone general 石将 sekishō 石 gold general fF *soaring eagle 飛鷲 hijū 鷲 (promoted dragon king) RbBf[avF]fA vertical mover 竪行 shugyō 竪 flying ox WfbR violent ox 猛牛 mōgyū 猛 gold general R2 *whale 鯨鯢 keigei 鯨 (promoted reverse chariot) fRbQ *white horse 白駒 hakku1 駒 (promoted lance) fQbR
1 The pronunciations of 龍馬, 奔王, 反車, and 白駒 are irregular. The regular forms ryūme, hon'ō, hansha, and hakuku are also seen.
Setup
Below is a diagram showing the initial setup of the board.
15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 香車 桂馬 石将 鉄将 銅将 銀将 金将 王将 金将 銀将 銅将 鉄将 石将 桂馬 香車 一 反車 猫刄 猛豹 盲虎 酔象 盲虎 猛豹 猫刄 反車 二 猛牛 嗔猪 悪狼 鳳凰 獅子 麒麟 悪狼 嗔猪 猛牛 三 飛車 飛龍 横行 竪行 角行 龍馬 龍王 奔王 龍王 龍馬 角行 竪行 横行 飛龍 飛車 四 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 五 仲人 仲人 六 七 八 九 仲人 仲人 十 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 歩兵 十一 飛車 飛龍 横行 竪行 角行 龍馬 龍王 奔王 龍王 龍馬 角行 竪行 横行 飛龍 飛車 十二 猛牛 嗔猪 悪狼 麒麟 獅子 鳳凰 悪狼 嗔猪 猛牛 十三 反車 猫刄 猛豹 盲虎 酔象 盲虎 猛豹 猫刄 反車 十四 香車 桂馬 石将 鉄将 銅将 銀将 金将 玉将 金将 銀将 銅将 鉄将 石将 桂馬 香車 十五
15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 L N St I C S G K G S C I St N L a RC CS FL BT DE BT FL CS RC b VO AB EW Ph Ln Kr EW AB VO c R FD SM VM B DH DK Q DK DH B VM SM FD R d P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P e GB GB f g h i GB GB j P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P k R FD SM VM B DH DK Q DK DH B VM SM FD R l VO AB EW Kr Ln Ph EW AB VO m RC CS FL BT DE BT FL CS RC n L N St I C S G K G S C I St N L o Legend AB: angry boar Kr: kirin B: bishop L: lance BT: blind tiger Ln: lion C: copper general N: knight CS: cat sword P: pawn DE: drunk elephant Ph: phoenix DH: dragon horse Q: queen DK: dragon king R: rook EW: evil wolf RC: reverse chariot FD: flying dragon S: silver general FL: ferocious leopard SM: side mover GB: gobetween VM: vertical mover G: gold general St: stone general I: iron general VO: violent ox K: king
The queen could also be abbreviated FK (for free king) and the kirin as Ky (for kylin).
Movement and capture
An opposing piece is captured by displacement: That is, if a piece moves to a square occupied by an opposing piece, the opposing piece is displaced and removed from the board. A piece cannot move to a square occupied by a friendly piece, that is, by another piece controlled by the moving player.
Each piece on the game moves in a characteristic pattern. Pieces move either orthogonally (that is, forward, backward, left, or right, in the direction of one of the arms of a plus sign, +), or diagonally (in the direction of one of the arms of a multiplication sign, ×). The lion and knight are exceptions in that they do not move, or are not required to move, in a straight line.
Many pieces are capable of several kinds of movement, with the type of movement most often depending on the direction in which they move. The movement categories are:
Step movers
Some pieces move only one square at a time. If a friendly piece occupies an adjacent square, the moving piece may not move in that direction; if an opposing piece is there, it may be displaced and captured.
The step movers are the king, drunk elephant, blind tiger, ferocious leopard, generals, angry boar, cat sword, evil wolf, go between and the 15 pawns on each side.
Limited ranging pieces
The violent ox and flying dragon can move along a limited number (2) of free (empty) squares along a straight line in certain directions. Other than the limited distance, they move like ranging pieces. See below.
Jumping pieces
Several pieces can jump, that is, they can pass over any intervening piece, whether friend or foe, with no effect on either. These are the lion, kirin, phoenix and knight.
Ranging pieces
Many pieces can move any number of empty squares along a straight orthogonal or diagonal line, limited only by the edge of the board. If an opposing piece intervenes, it may be captured by moving to that square and removing it from the board. A ranging piece must stop where it captures, and cannot bypass a piece that is in its way. If a friendly piece intervenes, the moving piece is limited to a distance that stops short of the intervening piece; if the friendly piece is adjacent, it cannot move in that direction at all.
The ranging pieces are the queen, dragon king, dragon horse, rook, bishop, vertical mover, side mover, reverse chariot and lance. Only the queen can range along all eight directions.
Lion moves (multiple captures)
The lion has sequential multiple-capture ability, called a 'lion move', as do the soaring eagle and horned falcon (promoted dragon king and dragon horse) to a lesser extent. The details of these powerful moves are described for the lion below.
Promotion
The promotion zone is the 'enemy camp', the farthest five ranks of the board, which are mostly occupied by the opposing player's pieces when the board is first set up. When a promotable piece makes a move entering the promotion zone, or makes a capture within the promotion zone—including moves entering, leaving, or moving entirely within the zone—it has the option of "promoting" to a more powerful rank. Promotion is effected by turning the piece over after it moves, revealing the name of its promoted rank. Promotion is not mandatory, and in some cases it may be beneficial to leave the piece unpromoted. Promotion is permanent and promoted pieces may not revert to their original rank.
If a piece is not promoted upon entering the promotion zone, then it may only promote if it makes a capture. This is reset by leaving the zone and reentering: promotion is possible on such a reentry even without a capture.
Promoting a piece has the effect of changing how that piece moves. See below.