1Captured pieces join your side and can be dropped back onto an empty square.
2Most pieces promote when they move into, within or out of the last three ranks.
3You can't drop a pawn on a file where you already have an unpromoted pawn.
4A pawn drop can't give checkmate; checkmate the king any other way to win.
Questions
Checkmate the opponent's King. Unlike Western chess, stalemate results in a loss for the stalemated player. Checkmate the King. If the same position (board, pieces in hand and player to move) occurs for the fourth time, the game is a draw (sennichite), unless one player gave check with every move of the repetition: that player loses. Draws are rare, so games are almost always decisive.
Played on a 9x9 board. Each player has 20 pieces: 1 King, 1 Rook, 1 Bishop, 2 Gold Generals, 2 Silver Generals, 2 Knights, 2 Lances, and 9 Pawns. Pieces point toward the opponent to show ownership.
Dropping pieces makes defense easier and attacks more complex - always consider where captured pieces might appear. A piece in hand is often worth more than on the board - it can appear anywhere. The Rook and Bishop are powerful but vulnerable to piece drops nearby.
Shogi evolved from chaturanga like other chess variants, reaching its modern form in Japan around the 16th century. The piece-drop rule makes it unique among chess variants.
boardgames.zone
