Lesson 2: The Pieces
Shogi is played with 8 types of pieces. Each player gets 20 pieces, for a total of 40 pieces in the game. Like Xiangqi (Chinese chess), shogi pieces are flat with their names written on them in Chinese characters.
Each player gets the following pieces:
9 Pawns
2 Lances
2 Knights
2 Silver Generals
2 Gold Generals
1 Bishop
1 Rook
1 King
Pawn
?? (fuhyou) – Foot Soldier
The Pawn moves one square forwards, and captures the same way. It cannot move any other way under any circumstances, and there is no capturing en passant
Lance
?? (kyousha) – Incense Chariot
The lance moves any amount of squares forward, and must stop when it reaches the end of the board, a piece of the same player, or when it captures a piece.
Knight
?? (keima) – Cassia Horse
The knight can move to the square 2 squares forward and one square to the side, like the chess knight, but it can only move forwards. It can also leap over other pieces.
Silver General
?? (ginshou) – Silver General
The Silver General can move one square diagonally in any direction and one square forwards.
Gold General
?? (kinshou) – Gold General
A gold general can move to any adjacent square except diagonally backwards.
Bishop
?? (kakugyou) – Angle Mover
The bishop can move any amount of squares diagonally until it meets the end of the board, a piece of the same player, or captures a piece.
Rook
?? (hisha) – Flying Chariot
The rook can move any amount of squares forwards, backwards, and sideways until it meets the end of the board, a piece of the same player, or captures a piece.
King
?? (oushou) – King General ?? (gyokushou) – Jewel General
The king can move to any adjacent square. The difference between the King General and the Jewel General is that the superior uses the King General and the inferior player uses the Jewel General. Examples of this are when a title holder plays against the challenger in a professional title match, a higher ranked player plays a lower ranked player in a tournament, a father plays his son, etc.
