Games - Maka dai dai shogi

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	Games - Maka dai dai shogi

Maka daidai shōgi (摩訶大大将棋 'ultra-huge chess') is a large board variant of shogi (Japanese chess). The game dates back to the 15th century and is based on dai dai shogi and the earlier dai shogi. Apart from its size, the major difference is in the range of the pieces and the “promotion by capture” rule.

Rules of the game

Objective

The objective is to capture the opponent's king or emperor. If a prince is in play, it too must be captured. Unlike standard shogi, pieces may not be dropped back into play after being captured.

Game equipment

Two players, Black and White (or sente and gote), play on a board composed of squares in a grid of 19 ranks (rows) by 19 files (columns) with a total of 361 squares. The squares are undifferentiated by marking or color.

Each player has a set of 96 wedge-shaped pieces of 49 different types. In all, the players must remember 74 different moves. The pieces are of slightly different sizes, from largest to smallest (or roughly most to least powerful.) they are:

1 King
1 Hook mover
1 Capricorn
1 Free king
2 Dragon kings
2 Dragon horses
2 Rooks
2 Bishops
2 Side flyers
1 Lion
1 Lion dog
1 She-devil
1 Wrestler
1 Guardian of the Gods
1 Buddhist devil
2 Violent oxen
2 Flying dragons
2 Old rats
1 Right chariot
1 Left chariot
2 Vertical movers
2 Side movers
1 Phoenix
1 Kirin
2 Donkeys
2 Knights
1 Drunken elephant
2 Blind tigers
2 Ferocious leopards
1 Reclining dragon
2 Gold generals
2 Silver generals
2 Copper generals
2 Tile generals
2 Evil Wolves
2 Iron generals
2 Stone generals
2 Reverse chariots
2 Lances
2 Earth generals
2 Go betweens
2 Blind bears
1 Chinese cock
1 Old monkey
2 Angry boars
2 Cat swords
1 Coiled serpent
1 Dark spirit
1 Deva
19 Pawns

Many of the English-language names are chosen to correspond to their rough equivalents in Western chess, not necessarily as translations of the Japanese names.

Each piece has its name in the form of two Japanese characters marked on its face. On the reverse side of some pieces are one or two other characters, often in a different color (e.g., red instead of black); this reverse side is used to indicate that the piece has been promoted during play. The pieces of the two sides do not differ in color, but instead each piece is shaped like a wedge, and faces forward, toward the opposing side. This shows who controls the piece during play.

Table of pieces

Listed below are the pieces of the game and, if they promote, which pieces they promote to. Pieces marked with an asterisk only appear with promotion.

Setup

Below is a diagram showing the setup of one player's pieces. The way one player sees their own pieces is the same way the opposing player will see their pieces.

Board layout

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Maka dai dai shogi ]

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