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



歩兵 (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



香車 (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



桂馬 (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



銀将 (ginshou) - Silver General

The Silver General can move one square diagonally in any direction and one square forwards.



Gold General



金将 (kinshou) - Gold General

A gold general can move to any adjacent square except diagonally backwards.



Bishop



角行 (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



飛車 (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



王将 (oushou) - King General 玉将 (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.



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