Shogi 101: An Introduction to Japanese Chess

Here's a brief run-down of each shogi piece and its characteristics.

King (Osho)

Moves one square in any direction (identical to a chess king). Protect your own, and hunt your opponent's without mercy. Castling is not accomplished in one move; it consists of moving the king into a position where it's shielded from the attack by a coordinated group of defensive pieces (when building a castle, it's a good idea to leave a "back door" escape route open if you can).

Moves one square in any direction except diagonally backwards. Golds are very strong and good for defense, but have limited mobility in the early stages of a game.

Moves one square diagonally or straight forward, sort of like a "mini-bishop." Silvers are very flexible in general and move easily among pawn formations. When Silvers promote, they become Golds and lose their resemblance to bishops.

Jumps two squares forward and one square to either side (think of a "T"). Shogi knights jump the way chess knights do, but they only have two possible squares to move to, so they're not as valuable at the beginning of the game and must be developed with care. A knight that advances too early is easy prey for a pawn.

A knight in hand, however, can be quite useful. Knights promote to Golds and must promote when they reach either of the last two ranks.

Lances are like vestigial rooks. They start the game in the corners of the board and can move forward as many squares as they are able. They're restricted to their file, though, and can't move backwards. Lances play an important role in edge attacks, but often they don't do anything else until they're captured and dropped. Lances promote to Golds and must promote when they reach the last rank.

Pawns move and capture one square straight forward. They don't protect each other diagonally, so you can't build pawn chains, but a row of pawns supported by a Silver or Gold behind them can make an effective "wall." Pawns promote to Golds, and promoted pawns ("tokins") are especially useful because they're as powerful as Golds on the board. However, once they're captured they revert to simple pawns.

Moves an unlimited number of squares diagonally, like a chess bishop. There are only two bishops in shogi, and they start the game pointing at each other, so each game begins with the possibility of a bishop exchange. A promoted bishop is a horse or "king-bishop," which combines the moves of king and bishop.

Moves an unlimited number of squares orthogonally, like a chess rook. The rook is the root of most opening attacks, and shogi openings are generally classified according to where the rook is positioned in the first few moves of the game.

Promoting the rook is an important achievement because a promoted rook, or dragon, is very powerful and can do a lot of damage to the opposing camp with the right support. A dragon is a "king-rook," meaning it can move as a rook or one square diagonally.

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