What is Tori Shogi?
Tori shogi, "bird shogi", is played on a 7×7 board with 16 pieces a side, all named after birds. The phoenix is the king and stands in the middle of the back row, with a crane, a pheasant and a quail on each side of it. The falcon stands in front of the phoenix, and eight swallows act as the pawns: seven fill the third row and the eighth stands one square ahead of them.
Each bird has its own move. Most step one square, but the quails slide along lines and the pheasant jumps. Captured birds change sides and are dropped back into play, as in shogi.
The promotion zone is the far two rows, and only two birds promote: the falcon becomes the eagle, a long-range piece, and the swallow becomes the goose, which jumps. Their promotion is forced, the moment they move into, out of or within the zone.
Rule changes
| Rule | Standard Shogi | Tori Shogi |
|---|---|---|
| Board | Standard Shogi9×9. | Tori Shogi7×7. |
| Pieces | Standard Shogi20 each: king, rook, bishop, gold and silver generals, knights, lances and pawns. | Tori Shogi16 each: the phoenix (the king), the falcon, two cranes, two pheasants, a left and a right quail, and eight swallows (the pawns). |
| Promotion | Standard ShogiThe zone is the far three rows. Most pieces may choose to promote; pawns, lances and knights must when they would have no move left. | Tori ShogiThe zone is the far two rows. Only the falcon (to the eagle) and the swallow (to the goose) promote, and they must, as soon as they move into, out of or within the zone. |
| Drops | Standard ShogiOne unpromoted pawn per file, no checkmate by a pawn drop, and no piece dropped where it could never move. | Tori ShogiAt most two unpromoted swallows of one player per file, no swallow on the far row, and no checkmate by a swallow drop. Other birds can be dropped on any empty square. |
| Repetition | Standard ShogiThe game is drawn when the same position occurs for the fourth time, unless one player gave check with every move of the repetition: that player loses. | Tori ShogiNo move may make the same position occur for the third time, so the player who would repeat must play something else. |
| How to win | Standard ShogiCheckmate the opponent's king. | Tori ShogiCheckmate the opponent's phoenix. |
History
Tori shogi was devised in 1799 by Toyota Genryū, a shogi player of the Edo period. Most historical shogi variants made the board bigger and added more pieces, without drops. Tori shogi went the other way: a smaller board, a new set of pieces and the drops of standard shogi.
It is one of the few historical variants still played today, and it keeps a following among shogi variant players in Japan and abroad.