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83-418: In shogi , Bishop Exchange ( Japanese : 角換わり or 角換り , romanized :  kakugawari ) is a Double Static Rook opening in which the players exchange their bishops relatively early so as to have bishops in hand. Throughout the game, both players have a bishop drop threat, with which they can exploit any positional weakness that their opponent inadvertently creates. The Bishop Exchange opening

166-431: A promoted pawn (と金 tokin ; alternate forms: と, 个) all move the same way as a gold general. The promoted pawn is often called by its Japanese name tokin , even by non-Japanese players. Captured pieces are retained in hand and can be brought back into play under the capturing player's control. The Japanese term for piece(s) in hand is either 持ち駒 mochigoma or 手駒 tegoma. On any turn, instead of moving

249-483: A Bishop Exchange opening being prevented by having both players' bishop diagonals open is true for the regular Bishop Exchange opening discussed here, which requires White's bishop diagonal to remain closed initially. The Japanese term 角換わり kakugawari without modification refers to this class of openings. However, the 1.P-76 P-34 sequence still allows for a possibility of a Tempo Loss Bishop Exchange opening, in which White exchanges bishops with ...Bx88+ before Black moves

332-487: A Bishop Exchange opening since White is threatening to exchange eighth file pawns before Black exchanges pawns on the second file which, if allowed by Black, may lead to White gaining the initiative. So, White is forcing Black to decide now on whether to stop the pawn exchange. White's other option for their second move is 2...G-32. This defensive move is more flexible than 2...P-85 since 2...G-32 does not put pressure on Black to immediately decide on whether to prevent or allow

415-619: A bishop exchange with 3...Bx88+ 4.Gx88. However, this sequence is very rare among professional players since it requires Black to lose tempo when moving the gold on 88 back to 78 effectively reversing Black to now play as White, which is undesirable given the slight statistical winning advantage for Black. Thus, White's 1...P-34 after Black's 1.P-76 essentially rejects a Bishop Exchange possibility and will lead to other Double Static Rook, Static Rook vs Ranging Rook, or Double Ranging Rook games. For instance, 1...P-34 2.P-26 P-84 3.P-25 P-85 can lead to Side Pawn Capture . Note that this comment about

498-527: A check vocally is unheard of in competitive tournaments. Lifetime Meijin Meijin ( 名人 ) is one of the eight titles in Japanese professional shogi , and is the most prestigious title, along with Ryūō . The word meijin ( 名 mei "excellent, artful", 人 jin "person") refers to a highly skilled master of a certain field (the various arts found in traditional Japanese culture , such as

581-503: A normal Meijin by circumstances. Sakata is the only person to receive this title. Below is a list of past Meijin title holders from 1937 when the new tournament method for determining the title holder was established. The number in parentheses represents the cumulative times the player had won the title to date. Below is a list of professional players grouped by their class for the 83rd Meijin league including their rank in dan as of 20 May 2024 . The current Meijin title holder

664-582: A pawn push. The game can now be seen as a Double Static Rook game and is strongly indicative that a Bishop Exchange opening will occur (to the point that some explanations merely say that this will lead Bishop Exchange without mentioning transpositions). Note that 1.P-76 P-84 2.P-26 freely transposes to 1.P-26 P-84 2.P-76. Although 2.P-26 is most typical for Bishop Exchange, other moves are possible. For instance, 2.G-78 can develop into Bishop Exchange via 2.G-78 G-32 3.P-26 P-85 4.B-77 P-34 5.S-88 or 2.G-78 P-85 3.B-77 P-34 4.S-88. One reason for playing 2.G-78 first

747-405: A piece is moved, if part of the piece's path lies within the promotion zone (that is, if the piece moves into, out of, or wholly within the zone; but not if it is dropped into the zone – see Drops ), then the player has the option to promote the piece at the end of the turn. Promotion is indicated by turning the piece over after it moves, revealing the character of the promoted piece. Promoting

830-436: A piece is usually not compulsory; however, if a pawn or lance is moved to the furthest rank, or a knight is moved to either of the two furthest ranks, that piece must promote (otherwise, it would have no legal move on subsequent turns). A silver general is never required to promote, and it is often advantageous to keep a silver general unpromoted (it is easier, for example, to extract an unpromoted silver from behind enemy lines:

913-516: A piece on the board, a player may select a piece in hand and place it – unpromoted side up and facing the opposing side – on any empty square. The piece is then one of that player's active pieces on the board and can be moved accordingly. This is called dropping the piece, or simply, a drop . A drop counts as a complete move. A drop cannot capture a piece, nor does dropping within the promotion zone result in immediate promotion. Capture and/or promotion may occur normally, however, on subsequent moves of

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996-585: A possible opening and lead to completely different set of lines (namely, Black's variation of the Bishop-33 opening ). Alternately, if Black attempts to use the left gold to defend the bishop with 1.P-76 P-34 2.P-26 P-84 3.G-78 in hopes of positioning the silver on 68 and the bishop on 77 later, White can simply push their rook pawn with 3...P-85 and if Black plays 4.B-77 (to defend the 86 square) White can thereafter capture with bishop with 4...Bx77+ again leading to Black to recapture with 5.Gx77 (or 5.Nx77) instead of

1079-399: A promoted one, it is common to leave a silver unpromoted at the far side of the board. (See Promotion ). A knight (桂) jumps at an angle intermediate to orthogonal and diagonal, amounting to one square straight forward plus one square diagonally forward, in a single move. Thus the knight has two possible forward destinations. Unlike international chess knights , shogi knights cannot move to

1162-494: A promoted silver, with only one line of retreat, can be easily blocked.) Rooks, bishops and pawns are almost always promoted, as these pieces do not lose any of their powers upon promotion. Promoting a piece changes the way it moves. The various pieces promote as follows: When captured, a piece loses its promoted status. Otherwise promotion is permanent. A promoted rook (literally dragon king ( 龍王 ( ryūō ) ); shortended forms: 龍 ( ryū ) and 竜 ( ryū ) ) moves as

1245-464: A rook and as a king. It is commonly referred to as dragon . A promoted bishop (literally dragon horse ( 龍馬 ( ryūma ) ); shortened form 馬 ( uma ) ) moves as a bishop and as a king. It is commonly referred to as horse . A promoted silver (成銀 narigin ; alternate forms: 全, cursive 金), a promoted knight (成桂 narikei ; alternate forms: 圭, 今, cursive 金), a promoted lance (成香 narikyō ; alternate forms: 杏, 仝, cursive 金) and

1328-633: A rook pawn push 3.P-25 and the immediate bishop defense of the eighth file 3.B-77 . 3.P-25. The older option found in Classic Bishop Exchange games was to advance Black's rook pawn in response to White's 2...P-85 since White's bishop head (that is, the 23 square) is unprotected. (See §Classic Bishop Exchange below.) However, doing so now is a little more suggestive of a Side Pawn Capture opening (or even Double Wing Attack) in professional play since modern Bishop Exchange openings generally delay another second file pawn push for later in

1411-521: A select number of players. Finally, in 1947, the JSA officially established the preliminary round of ranking tournaments ( 順位戦 , jun'isen ) that it currently uses. The Meijin title is only open to professional shogi players that are members of the Meijin tournament system. This means that unlike some other tournaments amateur players, women's professional players, and regular professionals outside of

1494-437: A sudden sound effect, bringing the piece to the attention of the opponent. This is also true for capturing and dropping pieces. On a traditional shogi-ban , the pitch of the snap is deeper, delivering a subtler effect. A player's promotion zone consists of the furthest one-third of the board – the three ranks occupied by the opponent's pieces at setup. The zone is typically delineated on shogi boards by two inscribed dots. When

1577-488: A variant of the Dented Fortress castle (へこみ矢倉 hekomi yagura ) with the king directly under the left gold (on 31) and the right gold adjacent to the left gold (on 42) with the pawn above it pushed to allow for development into a Gold Fortress. More recently in 2018, the emphasis on White's king safety has been relaxed, and the king is placed the 52 square or the 42 square instead of moving to 31 or 22. (Note that if

1660-407: Is a Double Static Rook opening. Black starts with activating both their bishop (P-76) and rook (P-26) while White quickly puts pressure on Black with rook pawn pushes (...P-84, ...P-85). White's aim is to exchange their rook pawn off the board on the eighth file as soon as possible. This has a number of benefits: it gives White a pawn in hand that can be used to drop later in the game, and it frees up

1743-400: Is also possible that it is left on the 26 square so that the knight can jump to 25. In some cases, moving the silver to 56 very early can be problematic. The traditional form of Reclining Silver uses a Helmet castle with the right gold on the 58 square. This position allows a possible attack on the fourth file by having the rook shift to the 48 square. A more recent Reclining Silver position is

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1826-551: Is another Mejin-related title. Only two have received this title, Kensosuke Kosuke in 1936 and Ichitarō Doi in 1954. A special Posthumous Meijin ( 追贈名人 , Tsuizō Meijin ) title was given to Sankichi Sakata in 1955 by the Japan Shogi Association after his death in 1945. Sakata, a folk hero for the Osaka area, was known during his heyday for his brilliant, inventive playing but was prevented from becoming

1909-606: Is known as the Lifetime Meijin system ( 終生名人制 ). In 1935, however, the Japan Shogi Association , or JSA, announced that it was abolishing the existing system of succession in favor of something more short-term and reflective of actual playing strength, known as the Real Strength Meijin system ( 実力名人制 ). In 1937, the reigning 13th Meijin Kinjirō Sekine , who had received his title under the old system and

1992-400: Is no difference in the color of the pieces.) For each turn, a player may either move a piece that is currently on the board (and potentially promote it, capture an opposing piece, or both) or else drop a piece that has been previously captured onto a square of the board. These options are explained below. The usual goal of a game is for one player to checkmate the other player's king, winning

2075-515: Is quite uncommon since Black usually moves their bishop to 77 this early only when White plays the forcing ...P-85 rook pawn push. Moreover, if Black plays 2.S-68 and still wants to play Bishop Exchange, in this situation White is now free to delay the rook pawn push which allows for the possibility of White's ...N-85 knight jump later in the game, which is not possible in a usual Bishop Exchange opening with White's ...P-85 (and, consequently, this knight jump option gives White some formal similarities with

2158-408: Is that it is a measure to discourage White's Climbing Silver . If Black plays the more common 2.P-26, then White can aim to skip playing a future ...G-32 in order to speed up their Climbing Silver development and without Black's G-78 White's attack will be more threatening. However, playing 2.G-78 so early also gives White a possible Feint Ranging Rook option if White wants to try to take advantage of

2241-485: Is the position of the king initially on the 68 square. Since the bishop is off the board, the king is not restricted in rightward movement to the 69 square like the usual development in the Fortress opening. After the king moves to 68, it may be possible to move the king into the castle to the 88 square via 79. However, again, it often happens that the middlegame will start before the king can make it to 88. Because of this,

2324-402: Is traditionally placed so that its bottom-left corner aligns with the bottom-right corner of the board from the perspective of each player. It is not permissible to hide pieces from full view. It is common for players to swap bishops, which oppose each other across the board, early in the game. This leaves each player with a bishop in hand to be dropped later. The ability for drops in shogi gives

2407-492: Is used to decide who moves first. One of the players tosses five pawns. If the number of tokins (promoted pawns, と) facing up is higher than unpromoted pawns (歩), then the player who tossed the pawns plays gote 後手 'white' (that is, getting the second move). After the piece toss furigoma, the game proceeds. If multiple games are played, then players alternate turns for who goes first in subsequent games. (The terms "Black" and "White" are used to differentiate sides although there

2490-445: The Japan Shogi Association game record database. White ( Toyoshima ) moved their king from 42 to 52 opting for losing tempo (since he could have played K-52 from the start position) and waiting for a counterattack over deviating from his ideal configuration, in which White is broadly defending against bishop drops. There are a number of attacking strategies used with Bishop Exchange. The three main strategies are classified by

2573-649: The Japanese tea ceremony , go , competitive karuta , rakugo , budō ). The Meijin institution started in the 17th century ( Edo period ), and for around 300 years (1612–1937) was a hereditary title that was passed from the reigning Meijin upon his retirement or death to another selected from three families (the Ohashi Main family, the Ohashi Branch family, and the Ito family), as deemed to be worthy. This

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2656-729: The Nara period . Shogi in its present form was played as early as the 16th century, while a direct ancestor without the drop rule was recorded from 1210 in a historical document Nichūreki , which is an edited copy of Shōchūreki and Kaichūreki from the late Heian period (c. 1120). Two players face each other across a board composed of rectangles in a grid of 9 ranks (rows, 段 ) by 9 files (columns, 筋 ) yielding an 81-square board. In Japanese they are called Sente 先手 (first player) and Gote 後手 (second player), but in English are conventionally referred to as Black and White, with Black

2739-596: The Tempo Loss Bishop Exchange opening). Thus, in order to prevent these other complications, the Bishop Exchange book line for Black is 2.P-26 while 2.S-68 is the book line leading to Fortress. Additionally, Black is not required to play Bishop Exchange at this point since there are many other possibilities such as playing the aforementioned 2.S-68 for a Fortress opening or 2.P-56 for a Central Rook opening, among others. 2...P-85. After

2822-466: The 1980s and 1990s and is now the main book line. (See: §Delayed rook pawn below.) It immediately prevents White's ...P-86 attack that aims to trade off White's eighth file rook pawn. Moving the bishop while keeping the rook pawn on the 26 square allows for the future possibility of Black jumping their knight to the 25 square (from the 37 square). Shogi Shogi was the earliest historical chess-related game to allow captured pieces to be returned to

2905-571: The 33 square (so that it defends the 24 square preventing a second file pawn exchange). Depending on the game, this may occur fairly late in the opening. Before Black's pawn push, White's silver will usually remain on the 42 square until that time. Of course, this Helmet castle may be developed into a regular (Gold) Fortress castle if the opponent aims for an attack on the sixth file (or fourth file for White). White may often choose this castle development if they are playing defensively. In Double Reclining Silver games, White's castle has often been

2988-488: The 38 square. This G48/G62 is a form that Lifetime Meijin Yoshio Kimura (now deceased) had experimented with in the first half of the last century and is now experiencing a revival in popularity becoming the most common form found in current (2016–2019) professional shogi . As for White's Hemlet development, White will often wait for Black to push their rook pawn to the 25 square before moving their castle silver to

3071-411: The Meijin tournament system are not allowed to compete in the tournament. The Meijin ranking tournaments are divided into five classes (A, B1, B2, C1, C2) and players compete against others within their class in a round-robin tournament throughout the year. Players who perform well during their class tournament may be promoted to the next highest class while those who perform poorly may be relegated to

3154-499: The P-25 · G-48 · R-29 variation. This positions the right gold on 48 instead of 58 and the rook moves down to the 29 square (if left on 28 then the gold and rook are susceptible to an opponent's fork by dropping their bishop to the 39 square). Due to its involvement of several pieces, Reclining Silver is the most deliberate out of the three silver strategies and it is balanced with both offensive and defensive characteristics. In comparison,

3237-602: The balance of the position. Bishop Exchange openings typically use a variant of the Fortress castle known as the Helmet Fortress castle (or just Helmet castle). This castle has the characteristic Fortress form with a silver on 77 and gold on 78. However, unlike the standard Fortress, the Helmet castle keeps the right gold on the 58 square and the sixth file pawn is not necessarily pushed to 66 to make way for

3320-482: The bishop to the 77 square. But, this formally distinct opening is not referred to simply with 角換わり kakugawari but rather 一手損角換わり ittezon kakugawari. Although there are similarities between Bishop Exchange openings and Tempo Loss Bishop Exchange openings, the Tempo Loss Bishop Exchange is treated separately in its respective article. 2.P-26. Black mirrors White in activating their rook with

3403-597: The bishops are exchanged. If White's bishop diagonal is open (via 1...P-34) before the Black's bishop has moved to 77, then Black will not be able to position their silver on 77 in recapturing White's bishop for the following reasons. Firstly, moving the bishop to 77 first before the moving the silver (that is, 1.P-76 P-34 2.B-77) will most likely result in White immediately capturing the bishop with 2...Bx77+ forcing Black to recapture with 3.Nx77 which will eliminate Bishop Exchange as

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3486-481: The bishops are off the board, each player is restricted in their development compared to other openings since they must not allow any holes where their opponent can drop a bishop. Certain positions of Bishop Exchange – particularly, the Reclining Silver variations with identical forms for each player – have had a tendency to be drawish in which White wishes for sennichite and Black is unwilling to break

3569-464: The board by the capturing player. This drop rule is speculated to have been invented in the 15th century and possibly connected to the practice of 15th-century mercenaries switching loyalties when captured instead of being killed. The earliest predecessor of the game, chaturanga , originated in India in the 6th century, and the game was likely transmitted to Japan via China or Korea sometime after

3652-425: The characters, however, partially because the traditional pieces are already iconic by size, with more powerful pieces being larger. As a result, Westernized pieces have never become popular. Bilingual pieces with both Japanese characters and English captions have been developed as have pieces with animal cartoons. Each player sets up friendly pieces facing forward (toward the opponent). A furigoma 振り駒 'piece toss'

3735-415: The configuration of the right offensive silver: Reclining Silver , Climbing Silver , Rushing Silver . The most popular strategy among professional players is the Reclining Silver variation where the right silver is advanced to the 56 square (54 square for White) via 47. Typically, the right knight is also advanced to the 37 square for the attack. The rook pawn may be advanced to the 25 square although it

3818-604: The eighth file pawn exchange leaving the opening still fairly ambiguous. For instance, Black still has time to respond with 3.S-68 (or 3.S-78) for a Fortress opening (meeting 3...P-85 with 4.S-77). And, Black's 3.G-78 response would also still allow for Bishop Exchange (2...G-32 3.G-78 P-85 4.B-77 P-34 5.S-88) and Side Pawn Capture or Double Wing Attack (2...G-32 3.G-78 P-34 4.P-25 P-85 5.P-24 or 2...G-32 3.G-78 P-85 4.P-25 P-86 or 2...G-32 3.P-25 P-85 4.P-24 Px24 5.Rx24 P*23 6.R-26 P-86) openings. More recent authors – such as 長岡 (2015), 小林 (2017), 佐藤 (2017), 塚田 (2018) – have treated 2...G-32 as

3901-422: The first player. The board is nearly always rectangular, and the rectangles are undifferentiated by marking or color. Pairs of dots mark the players' promotion zones. Each player has a set of 20 flat wedge-shaped pentagonal pieces of slightly different sizes. Except for the kings, opposing pieces are undifferentiated by marking or color. Pieces face forward by having the pointed side of each piece oriented toward

3984-418: The furthest rank. (See Promotion .) In practice, however, a pawn is usually promoted whenever possible. There are two restrictions on where a pawn may be dropped. (See Drops .) All pieces but the knight move either horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. These directions cannot be combined in a single move; one direction must be chosen. Every piece blocks the movement of all other non-jumping pieces through

4067-418: The game tactical richness and complexity. The fact that no piece ever goes entirely out of play accounts for the rarity of draws. When a player's move threatens to capture the opposing king on the next turn, the move is said to give check to the king and the king is said to be in check. If a player's king is in check, that player's responding move must remove the check. Ways to remove a check include moving

4150-414: The game. Most shogi pieces can move only to an adjacent square. A few may move across the board, and one jumps over intervening pieces. The lance, bishop, and rook are ranging pieces: They can move any number of squares along a straight line limited only by intervening pieces and the edge of the board. If an opposing piece intervenes, it may be captured by removing it from the board and replacing it with

4233-475: The game. Nonetheless, although currently not as popular, some professional players have played these positions 2015–2019 aiming for the new P-25 G-48 R-29 Reclining Silver formation. Another feature of 3.P-25 is that it prevents White from playing Snowroof after declining the Bishop Exchange lines, which has become more popular after 2016. (See: §White's Bishop Exchange Declined .) 3.B-77. This move started to become more popular among professional players in

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4316-426: The gold on 78 preventing Black's usual Boat castle development against Ranging Rook strategies. Yet another possible second move for Black is 2.S-68 (or 2.S-78). While more typical of a Fortress opening , this is also compatible with Bishop Exchange since 2...P-34 can be followed by 3.B-77 so that the silver on 68 can still recapture an exchanged bishop on 77. Nonetheless, this 1.P-76 P-84 2.S-68 P-34 3.B-77 sequence

4399-427: The king away from the threat, capturing the threatening piece, or placing another interposing piece between the king and the threatening piece. To announce check in Japanese, one can say ōte ( 王手 ), however, this is an influence of international chess and is not required, even as a courtesy. It may be common to announce ōte in beginner matches or for local rules to dictate that you have to announce it. Announcing

4482-417: The king in its start position before attacking. This the quickest attack out of the three silver strategies. The player may also start their attack before pushing edge pawns. The Rushing Silver variation places the silver on the 46 square (or White's 64 square) after moving through the 37 square, which has been cleared with a P-36 pawn push. The aim is to attack starting on the third file moving diagonally to

4565-417: The king is on 42, then this implies that White will position their silver on 22 if Black has not already pushed their rook pawn to 25, which differs from the book lines that use the silver on 42.) The adjacent diagram shows an example of such a position from 2019 – a Double Reclining Silver, P25 R29 G48 Identical Formation variation. At the time of this example, there were over 40 games with this same position in

4648-435: The king often remains on 68 or on the intermediate 79 square. In some variations, moving to 88 is even not recommended. The ninth file edge pawn is typically pushed (P-96/...P-14) in this castle since both bishops are in hand and could otherwise be dropped on the ninth or first files. (The standard Fortress often does not have the edge pawn pushed.) However, faster attacking strategies (Climbing Silver, Rushing Silver) may start

4731-468: The main line. At any rate, 2...G-32 easily transposes to the main line shown here. Note that White can still reject Bishop Exchange by opening their bishop diagonal with 2...P-34 instead of 2...P-85, in which case the opening is likely to become Side Pawn Capture or, possibly, Double Wing Attack (with open bishop diagonals), especially if Black follows 2...P-34 with 3.P-25. After 1.P-76 P-84 2.P-26 P-85, Black has two main options for Bishop Exchange:

4814-580: The major Double Static Rook openings. In contrast to Double Wing Attack and Side Pawn Capture openings, but like the Double Fortress opening, the Bishop Exchange opening prevents each player from trading off each other's rook pawn. Both players move their left silver to the 77 and 33 squares (Black and White, respectively) in order to accomplish this goal in both Bishop Exchange and Fortress openings. (And, Fortress contrasts with Bishop Exchange by preventing an early bishop exchange as well.) Because

4897-455: The moving piece. If a friendly piece intervenes, the moving piece must stop short of that square; if the friendly piece is adjacent, the moving piece may not move in that direction at all. A king (玉/王) moves one square in any direction, orthogonal or diagonal. A rook (飛) moves any number of squares in an orthogonal direction. A bishop (角) moves any number of squares in a diagonal direction. Because they cannot move orthogonally,

4980-569: The next lowest one, except in the case of Class C2 where players are relegated to "Free class" status. New professionals are placed at the bottom of Class C2, and the top three players of Class C2 are promoted to Class C1 for the next year. Similarly, the top two players of Classes C1, B2, B1 are promoted to the B2, B1, and A, respectively, for the next year. A new professional, therefore, needs at least five years experience (five successive promotions) after their debut before they can qualify to challenge for

5063-412: The offense before the edge pawns are pushed. Another variation of the castle formation is to have the right gold on the 48 square (62 square for White) where it can defend more area on the right side of the board from the opponent's bishop drop. In the case of a Right King formation in which the king moves rightward away from the Helmet castle, the gold on 48 will be closer to the king, which can rest on

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5146-563: The opponent's side – this shows who controls the piece during play. The pieces from largest (most important) to smallest (least important) are: Several of these names were chosen to correspond to their rough equivalents in international chess, and not as literal translations of the Japanese names. Each piece has its name written on its surface in the form of two kanji ( Chinese characters used as syllabograms or as logograms to record texts in Old Japanese ), usually in black ink. On

5229-468: The original values, with a reduced number of strokes: 圭 for a promoted knight (桂) , 杏 for a promoted lance (香) , and the 全 as above for a promoted silver, but と (a hiragana symbol for the syllable "to") for tokin . The suggestion that the Japanese characters have deterred Western players from learning shogi has led to " Westernized " or "international" pieces which use iconic symbols instead of characters. Most players soon learn to recognize

5312-487: The other two silver strategies have a stronger attacking character. Several entire books have been written on solely Reclining Silver Bishop Exchange variations. The Climbing Silver variation places the silver on the second file on 26 (or 84 for White) usually aiming for an attack on the first file followed by the second file but also sometimes aiming for an attack on the third file instead. Castle development in this strategy can often be very minimal even with leaving

5395-557: The piece manufacturers. Following is a table of the pieces with their Japanese representations and English equivalents. The abbreviations are used for game notation and often when referring to the pieces in speech in Japanese. English speakers sometimes refer to promoted bishops as horses and promoted rooks as dragons , after their Japanese names, and generally use the Japanese term tokin for promoted pawns. Silver generals and gold generals are commonly referred to simply as silvers and golds , respectively. The characters inscribed on

5478-416: The piece. Restrictions. There are three restrictions on dropping pieces; the last two of these apply only to pawns. A corollary of the second restriction is that a player with an unpromoted pawn on every file is unable to drop a pawn anywhere. For this reason, it is common to sacrifice a pawn in order to gain flexibility for drops. Captured pieces are typically kept on a wooden stand (駒台 komadai) which

5561-462: The players' unpromoted bishops can reach only half the squares of the board, unless one is captured and then dropped. A gold general (金) moves one square orthogonally, or one square diagonally forward, giving it six possible destinations. It cannot move diagonally backwards. A silver general (銀) moves one square diagonally, or one square straight forward, giving it five possible destinations. Because an unpromoted silver can retreat more easily than

5644-405: The possibility of a Bishop Exchange opening. Moreover, 1...P-84 is required for a Bishop Exchange opening. Note that if White had opened their bishop diagonal (1...P-34) instead of 1...P-84, then a regular Bishop Exchange opening would no longer be possible. The Bishop Exchange opening has Black's bishop positioned on 77 which is subsequently replaced by their left silver on the same 77 square after

5727-480: The required silver recapture, which also disallows a Bishop Exchange opening. Finally, moving their silver to 78 or 68 (that is, 1.P-76 P-34 2.S-68 ?? ) is clearly a blunder as this will leave Black's bishop undefended to be captured for free with 2...Bx88+. The only way a Bishop Exchange opening can occur is for Black to delay pushing their rook pawn and instead prioritize developing their left gold and silver with this sequence: 1.P-76 P-34 2.G-78 P-84 3.S-68 after which

5810-478: The reverse side of each piece, other than the king and gold general, are one or two other characters, in amateur sets often in a different color (usually red); this side is turned face up during play to indicate that the piece has been promoted. In some cases, the backsides of the King pieces (the narrow side which faces back toward the player during normal play) will display kanji containing additional information about

5893-518: The reverse sides of the pieces to indicate promotion may be in red ink, and are usually cursive. The characters on the backs of the pieces that promote to gold generals are cursive variants of 金 'gold', becoming more cursive (more abbreviated) as the value of the original piece decreases. These cursive forms have these equivalents in print: 全 for promoted silver, 今 for promoted knight, 仝 for promoted lance, and 个 for promoted pawn (tokin). Another typographic convention has abbreviated versions of

5976-410: The right gold to move to 67. One reason for this difference is that the middlegame fight often starts before this development could be finished. In some situations, when the right offensive knight has jumped to 37 square (or 73 square for White), the gold may need to move from 58 to the 67 square in order to protect the head of the knight (the 36 square) from the opponent's pawn drops. Another difference

6059-410: The rook except it cannot move backwards or to the sides. It is often useful to leave a lance unpromoted at the far side of the board. A lance must promote, however, if it reaches the furthest rank. (See Promotion .) A pawn (歩) moves one square straight forward. It cannot retreat. Unlike international chess pawns , shogi pawns capture the same way as they move. A pawn must promote if it arrives at

6142-516: The rook is used as a defense piece protecting the bottom rank. The left silver may be used for offense. Right King is more commonly played by White but uncommon for Black in the regular Bishop Exchange opening. However, in the Tempo Loss Bishop Exchange opening, it is more frequently played by Black than in regular Bishop Exchange and thought to be effective there. Either player may choose any combination of these strategies. However, there are recommended strategies for each player in some positions. In

6225-413: The rook so that it can move to any rank above Black's camp (see: Sabaki ). However, in this opening, in response, Black wishes to prevent White's early rook pawn exchange by defending the 86 square with the bishop via B-77 (and, later after the bishop exchange with the left silver via S-77). Generally speaking, there is usually this tension of whether to allow rook pawn exchanges and/or bishop exchanges in

6308-461: The second file. An issue with the P-36 configuration is that once the offensive silver has moved for its attack, the rook on 28 becomes susceptible to the opponent's bishop attacks through the 37 square. A fourth and less common strategy is the defensive Right King . This strategy flouts the general shogi maxim that the king and rook should be far apart by having the king next to the rook. Here,

6391-570: The shogi of the early part of the twentieth century, fifth file pawn pushes – P-56 and ...P-54 – were very common. They were found in Fortress openings as well as many Double Wing Attack (see: §Old Double Wing ) and Snowroof games. However, eventually, shogi theory found them problematic in Bishop Exchange openings due to the forking capabilities of the bishops in hand. (They also dropped out of favor in Double Wing Attack openings as well.) The Bishop Exchange, Reclining Silver variation

6474-464: The sides or in a backwards direction. The knight is the only piece that ignores intervening pieces on the way to its destination. It is not blocked from moving if the square in front of it is occupied, but neither can it capture a piece on that square. It is often useful to leave a knight unpromoted at the far side of the board. A knight must promote, however, if it reaches either of the two furthest ranks. (See Promotion .) A lance (香) moves just like

6557-417: The square it occupies. If a piece occupies a legal destination for an opposing piece, it may be captured by removing it from the board and replacing it with the opposing piece. The capturing piece may not continue beyond that square on that turn. Shogi pieces capture the same as they move. Normally, when moving a piece, a player snaps it to the board with the ends of the fingers of the same hand. This makes

6640-403: The third move by Black, White has a choice between advancing their rook pawn further (2...P-85) or defending the head of their bishop with a gold (2...G-32) from Black's possible second file pawn attack (which is P-25 aiming for P-24 Px24 Rx24). Among current (2018) professional players, the choice between the two moves is about equal. The 2...P-85 rook pawn option shown here is more suggestive of

6723-488: The title of Meijin. The first thirteen Lifetime Meijins ( 終生名人 , shūsei meijin ) were determined through succession. The Lifetime Meijin as a competitive title, eisei meijin ( 永世名人 ) , was established by the JSA in 1952. Players who capture the Meijin title five times (does not have to be consecutive) qualify to receive this title, but are only officially awarded it upon their retirement or death (with exceptions). The Honorary Meijin ( 名誉名人 , meiyo meijin )

6806-427: Was 70 years old at the time, voluntarily gave up his title so that a new Meijin could be decided through actual tournament play. Later that year Yoshio Kimura , who was a student of Sekine, became the first Meijin to gain the title based upon actual performance by winning a tournament which included eight other top players. From 1937 to 1947, the challenger for the Meijin title was determined through tournaments involving

6889-575: Was a popular opening up until the 1950s. However, it became prone to draws due sennichite and lost its popularity. After this, Climbing Silver and Rushing Silver variations became popular in the 1960s and 1970s. The main book line for Bishop Exchange starts with 1.P-76 P-84 2.P-26 P-85 3.B-77 P-34 4.S-88 G-32 5.G-78 Bx77+ 6.Sx77 S-42 7.S-38. 1.P-76. Black chooses the flexible option of activating their bishop. However, Black can start with 1.P-26 as well. 1...P-84. White pushes their rook pawn showing their intent to play Static Rook and gives both players

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