Japanese game shogi
Shogi is a traditional Japanese strategy board game, similar to Western chess. It is not known as well in the western world, but trust us, this game is much more entertaining and challenging. Current chess players will be happy to know that shogi will improve their game by at least one class. And if you do not believe us, come and play with us. :)
Shogi comes in numerous variants. In addition to the traditional Japanese characters (1-kanji and 2-kanji sets), there is a version with international symbols.
These are hard to come by and lose their oriental charm. We combined the Japanese characters with the international symbols to make the game accessible and interesting.
It is impossible to find these type of pieces. It is our original patent-pending idea to combine the two markings, understandable by beginners and professionals, who play shogi only in Japanese.
Shogi is similar to the classic game of chess, but has interesting changes and addition to the rules. The main change is the re-entry of captured pieces (“drop rule”), which makes the game more engaging and makes unexpected turnover possible. Another addition is the promotion of all pieces. The pieces become stronger, and make the game more interesting (Explained further in the rules). New players who have never played chess before can become proficient within two or three games, thanks to our special marking. An experienced chess player can learn even sooner. It is truly a game good for professionals looking for a challenge as well as for beginners.
About Us
We are two enthusiasts of the game of Shogi. The game is not well known here, so beginning in 2012 we toured game festivals or festivals about Japanese culture in the Czech Republic, where we teach and demo the game.
We discovered Shogi by chance. We are both IT technicians, and when reading world news in Technology we stumbled upon an article: “Computers beat humans again, this time in Japanese Chess.” The article interested us, and we searched the Internet how to play. We found that Shogi was unavailable in the Czech Republic (Today the situation is better). Unfortunately, most playing sets were only marked with Japanese characters, without helping arrows. We created our first set out of cardboard. We liked the game so much we ordered a custom wooden set. When word spread about our improved version of the game people wanted to order these sets from us. And then it was only a small step to start selling Shogi on the internet. We are constantly improving our sets and we are producing the fourth version now, which was successfully funded on the Kickstarter. We are also a co-founder of the Czech Association of Shogi.
Shogi History
The exact origin of Shogi is unknown, but it most likely evolved from Chinese chess when it was delivered by the imperial ambassador during the rule of Nara (710-794). It became popular with Japanese nobility in the Heian period (794 - 1185) when the Japanese capital moved from Nara to Kyoto.
The word “Shogi” means “the game of the generals,” which is derived from the word “Shogun”, or “supreme military commander.”
The emperor formally named the Shogun, who ruled the powerful and often rebellious samurai. Real power throughout the empire came from the Shogunate. Another important period in Shogi history is the interruption of the rule of emperor Muromachi (1333-1568) by a family of hereditary shoguns Ashikaga in the capital Kyoto. At this time the most popular version was Dai-shogi (Large Shogi, played on a 13 x 13, or 15 x 15 playing field), opposed to Chu-shogi (Medium Shogi) and Sho-shogi (Small Shogi). Small shogi peaked in popularity by the end of this period, which was played on a 9 x 9 board, because it took the three main pieces from the favoured medium shogi; bishop, rook, and drunken elephant (Sui-zo). The drunken elephant was removed because it had the ability to promote to an emperor, which Emperor Go-Nara (1526-1557) did not like.
The origin of the re-entry of captured playing pieces is not known, but it was probably introduced in the 16th century. At that time, captured soldiers had two options, execution or enter a battle for the enemy.
The modern shogi was developed from a version of Sho-shogi (Small shogi). The rules were officially established and precisely formulated at the beginning of the Edo period (1600-1868; Edo is the former name of Tokyo).
(Source: www.geocities.jp)
FAQ
Shogi is similar to the classic game of chess, but even people who dislike chess have found this game to be fun. The main differences between the games are the upgrading of all pieces, and the re-entry of captured pieces. A radical change can happen anytime in the game.
1. Are the rules very complicated?
A beginner can understand the rules in only 5 minutes! :)
2. What if I don’t understand Japanese?
We don’t know Japanese either, that is why we added helpful arrows. Players do not have to learn Japanese, or even know chess to play Shogi.
3. Do Shogi and Chess go together well?
Absolutely! Shogi helps improve chess strategy, especially becoming more aggressive. Shogi is a much more complicated game, while in chess there are 10^123 possible combinations, Shogi has an incredible 10^224 combinations.
