K G G SHOGI Pieces

- Print this page twice

- Apply a red & black piece with
the same letter to the back of
each other.
- K and G cannot promote and
thus do not have a red side.
S S S S
Movement:
Each line shows the possible
directions of movement--no arrow
is one space. Arrow = any number
of spaces with jumping over
another piece.
N N N N
Exception: Knights 2 spaces forward
and 1 to the right or left, jumping over
any intermediate piece.
(i.e. like a knight in Chess--except
only in the forward direction)
L L L L
K = King
G = Gold General
S = Silver General
N = kNight B = Bishop
L = Lance R = Rook
P = Pawn
R R B B
P P

P P P P P P P P

P P P P P P P P
 P P P P P

L N S G K

Shogi Board-Left Side

Print this side & right side twice. Cut on dotted lines and tape together to form 9x9 board.
P P P P P

K G S N L

Shogi Board-Right Side

Print this side & leftt side twice. Cut on dotted lines and tape together to form 9x9 board.
Shogi Rules: (Japanese Chess) L N S G K G S N L

Players 2 - Although the pieces are all white, the starting player is designated Black & R B
second player White.
P P P P P P P P P

Set Up: Each piece is set up unpromoted side up (Black printing) on the space with a
matching letter. Pieces are set up so they point towards the opponent. (Pieces are
differentiated by orientation, not color.)

Each player staring with Black, moves a single piece. Movement is shown in
diagrammatic form on this set.
P P P P P P P P P
K = King: One space in any orthogonal or diagonal direction
G = Gold General: One space in any orthogonal direction or diagonally forward. B R
S= Silver General: One space in any diagonal direction or orthogonally forward.
N = kNight: 2 spaces forward and 1 to either right or left, jumping over any piece. L N S G K G S N L
(Like Chess knight exc. only forward direction.)
L = Lance any number of spaces orthogonally forward only.
Cannot jump over any piece. K G S N L
R B
(Like a chess Rook, but only forward direction) P
P = Pawn. One space forward only.
(No double pawn move or diagonal capture--
pawns capture forward in Shogi)
B = Bishop. Any number of spaces in diagonal direction. Cannot jump over any piece.
(Just like Chess Bishop)
R = Rook. Any number of spaces in any orthogonal direction. Cannot jump over any piece .
(Just like Chess Rook.)

Capture: Just like in Chess--land on opposing piece. However, piece is retained by the capturing player and may re-enter the
game on the capturing player’s side. Captured pieces should be left on the table so both players can see which pieces each
has available.

Entering a Captured man (Drops): Instead of moving a piece, a captured piece may be entered on any vacant space on the
board, subject to the following rules:
- Piece is always placed unpromoted (Black printed) side up. A piece must be able to move after placement. Therefore, Pawns
& Lances cannot be placed on the last rank and Knights on the last two ranks.
- A second unpromoted Pawn cannot be dropped on the same file (i.e. column) of the board. A Pawn can be dropped in the
same file as a promoted Pawn.
- A Pawn cannot be dropped so that it delivers checkmate. (Other pieces may be dropped to deliver checkmate.)
- Pieces are oriented in the direction of its new owner, pointing towards the opponent.

Promotions: Every piece except King & Gold General promotes. A piece promotes after any move that either begins and/or
ends in the final 3 ranks of the board (marked by dots on the board). Promotion is always optional unless there is no further
move available in their unpromoted form. Pieces are flipped to their red printing side upon promotion.

Rooks & Bishops promote so they move one space in the directions R B
S N L
they normally do not move. All other promotable pieces promote to P
the same move as the Gold General.

Once promoted, piece never returned to their unpromoted state, except if captured.

Game is won by Checkmating the opposing King as in Regular Chess.

Repetition of moves--If the same board position (including ownership of captured pieces and the same player to play) occurs 4
times in the same game, the game is drawn, unless due to perpetual check. In cases of perpetual check, the checking player
cannot repeat the same board position a fourth time or he loses.

Impasse: If both Kings reach their promotion zone, the game can reach impasse where checkmate is impossible. (Because
most pieces are better attackers in forward directions.) Once it becomes clear neither side can checkmate the other and once
all pieces on the board are safe from capture, players count their piece value--5 pts. for each Rook or Bishop, 1 pt. for each
other pieces (including pawns). Kings count 0. Captured pieces also count. If both players have at least 24 pts., the game is a
draw. If one player has less than 24 points, he loses.