For the past three issues I have been writing about the rather ancient game of Shogi, which many recognize as Japanese chess.
In those columns I detailed interviews with Canadian champion Colin Ng and some of the history of the game, albeit just a brief overview considering Shogi is centuries old and that means enough history to fill books.
To conclude the storyline I thought I should offer a few personal observations on Shogi, recognizing I have limited plays because local opponents are rarer than the proverbial hen’s tooth.
To start with there is a definite learning curve with Shogi, and I am not just referring to the rules.
The pieces in most sets have Japanese symbols to differentiate what they are, although there is a difference in size in some pieces as well.
Recognizing the symbols takes some learning, I would highly recommend initially a cheat sheet at hand to help with that.
Some suggest applying a sticker with the English name, but that crutch will mean never learning the actual Japanese, and Shogi deserves at least that much attention from players that are at all serious about the game.
The same cheap sheet is a must in terms of the movements of pieces too, although generally Shogi is no more complicated in that regard than a first foray into western chess.
In terms of game play there are a couple of key elements that set Shogi apart from western chess.
The first is that pieces promote after achieving varying ranks on the board, and the promoted pieces have different movements.
In developing game strategies it’s important to remember that as an opponent’s piece can suddenly move, flip to its promoted side and threaten your king or other piece. Initially it’s very easy to miss that possibility when studying a game lay out.
Similarly, promoting a piece can be an important element of developing attack strategies.
Captured pieces can be ‘dropped’ back on the board by the capturing player at a later point in the game. This element means you have to be keenly aware of what pieces an opponent has essentially held in reserve that he can ‘drop’ to change the face of the board in a hurry.
And, again timely drops are part of an offensive strategy too.
I would also suggest because of the drop rule, more thought needs to be put into piece sacrifices and piece trades.
In western chess a player might give up a bishop to set up a longer range plan to capture a rook and pressure the king. Using a similar approach in Shogi gives the opponent access to the captured piece.
In western chess a game will often reach a juncture where players trade pieces. Sometimes rook for rook, as an example, often to open the board. In Shogi that may just lead to the pieces back on the board, and in more strategic places than before.
A trade of a knight for a bishop might work in western chess at times, but again if you trade a knight for a gold general the pieces can reappear later.
The ability to drop also tends to keep a Shogi board more densely populated by pieces as the game wears on. In western chess a board opens as pieces are removed, and that tends to add late game value to ranging pieces such as rooks because they can cross greater distances.
A Shogi board reduces that ranging ability, and that means all pieces tend to hold their starting value throughout the game, although they will promote, so that can’t be forgotten.
Overall Shogi plays significantly different from western chess, which is of course exactly why you should learn it, and enjoy it.
