The King's board game

Game Components

Ōgi is played by two opponents sitting across from each other, with a game board that features a grid of 8 ranks (rows) and 8 files (columns), making up a total of 64 squares. In the tradition of Japanese games, players are identified as Sente (先手), the player who goes first, and Gote (後手), the player who goes second. However, in English, they are simply called Black and White, with Black making the first move.

While we use the names "Black" and "White" to distinguish between the two sides, all the game pieces look the same in color. This naming is just a convenient way to tell the players apart.

Each player starts the game with 18 pieces. These pieces are flat, wedge-shaped, and pentagonal, differing slightly in size. All pieces except for the kings are identical in appearance, regardless of which player they belong to. To show a piece's direction, its pointed end faces towards the opponent's side of the board, indicating who controls the piece. The pieces range from the most significant (the largest) to the least significant (the smallest) as follows:

• 1 King
• 1 Princess
• 1 Rook
• 1 Bishop
• 2 Silver Generals
• 2 Knights
• 2 Lances
• 8 Pawns

The names of these pieces may sound familiar because they are meant to resemble their counterparts in Western chess. However, these names aren't direct translations from Japanese; instead, they've been chosen for their conceptual similarities.

On each piece, you'll find its name inscribed in kanji, written in black ink. For all pieces except the king, there are additional characters on the reverse side. When a piece is flipped to this side during the game, it signifies that the piece has been promoted and now has different movement capabilities.

The character 王 (King) symbolizes the king piece for the player of higher rank or the reigning champion, while the character 玉 (also meaning King, but used distinctively) represents the king for the player of lower rank or the challenger.

Below, you'll see a list of the pieces, their names in Japanese, and their corresponding English names. These abbreviations are commonly used in game notation and when referring to the pieces in conversation.

Pieces

	Not promoted				Promoted
Name	Abbr.		Image		Abbr.		Image
King	K	王
Princess	I	姫			+I	神
Rook	R	飛			+R	龍
Bishop	B	角			+B	馬
Silver General	S	銀			+S	全
Knight	N	桂			+N	圭
Lance	L	香			+L	杏
Pawn	P	歩			+P	と

Gameplay Rules

Objective

The primary aim of the game is to checkmate your opponent's king. Achieving this results in winning the game.

Setup

At the beginning of the game, both players arrange their pieces on the board with each piece facing the opponent. This setup signals the readiness of the pieces to move forward into play.

Here is how the pieces are arranged at the start of the game:

Starting position

Typically, diagrams showing the board are illustrated from the viewpoint of the Black player, who is positioned at the bottom side of the diagram.

Determining Who Plays Black

A method called 振り駒(furigoma) or piece toss is used to decide who moves first. One player tosses five pawns. If the number of promoted pawns (と) facing up exceeds the number of unpromoted pawns (歩), then that player will play as White, meaning they will make the second move.

After the initial piece toss, the game begins. If multiple games are played in succession, players alternate the role of moving first in subsequent games. On each turn, a player can either move a piece already on the board (potentially promoting it, capturing an opposing piece, or both) or place a previously captured piece back on the board. These options are detailed below.

Movements

King

Moves of the king

A king (玉/王) moves one square in any direction, orthogonal or diagonal.

Princess

Moves of the princess

A princess (姫) moves as a bishop and as a knight, including the knight's ability to move forward, backward, or to the sides.

Promoted Princess

Moves of the promoted princess

A promoted princess (神) moves as a princess and as a king.

Rook

Moves of the rook

A rook (飛) moves any number of squares in an orthogonal direction.

Promoted Rook

Moves of the promoted rook

A promoted rook (龍) moves as a rook and as a king.

Bishop

Moves of the bishop

A bishop (角) moves any number of squares in a diagonal direction.

Promoted Bishop

Moves of the promoted bishop

A promoted bishop (馬) moves as a bishop and as a king.

Silver General

Moves of the silver general

A silver general (銀) moves one square diagonally, or one square straight forward, giving it five possible destinations.

Promoted Silver General

Moves of the promoted silver general

A promoted silver general (全) moves one square orthogonally, or one square diagonally forward, giving it six possible destinations. It cannot move diagonally backwards.

Knight

Moves of the knight

A knight (桂) jumps at an angle intermediate to orthogonal and diagonal, amounting to one square straight forward plus one square diagonally forward, in a single move. Thus the knight has two possible forward destinations. Unlike Western chess knights, Ōgi knights cannot move to the sides or in a backwards direction. The knight is the only piece that ignores intervening pieces on the way to its destination. It is not blocked from moving if the square in front of it is occupied, but neither can it capture a piece on that square.

Promoted Knight

Moves of the promoted knight

A promoted knight (圭) moves the same way as a promoted silver general.

Lance

Moves of the lance

A lance (香) moves just like the rook except it cannot move backwards or to the sides.

Promoted Lance

Moves of the promoted lance

A promoted lance (杏) moves the same way as a promoted silver general.

Pawn

Moves of the pawn

A pawn (歩) moves one square straight forward. It cannot retreat. Unlike Western chess pawns, Ōgi pawns capture the same as they move.

Promoted Pawn

Moves of the promoted pawn

A promoted pawn (と) moves the same way as a promoted silver general.

Promotion

The promotion zone for each player is the three furthest ranks on the board, initially occupied by the opponent's pieces. A piece entering, moving within, or exiting the promotion zone during a move (but not when dropped) must be promoted at the turn's end. Promotion is signified by flipping the piece to show the character of its promoted state.

A captured piece reverts to its unpromoted state. Except when captured, a piece's promotion is irreversible.

Black's promotion zone (in yellow)

Drops

Players keep captured pieces in hand to potentially reintroduce them to the game. In Japanese, these are called 持ち駒(mochigoma) or 手駒(tegoma). Instead of moving a piece on the board, a player can place a piece from their hand onto any empty square, with the unpromoted side up. This reintroduces the piece into play as one of that player's active pieces, and this action is known as a drop. Each drop is considered a complete move.

Dropping a piece does not allow for capturing an opponent's piece or immediate promotion if placed within the promotion zone. However, the dropped piece can capture or be promoted on future moves as usual.

Restrictions

There are specific rules that limit how certain pieces can be dropped:

• Piece with No Moves (行き所のない駒(ikidokorononaikoma)): Pawns, lances, and knights cannot be dropped on the last rank (8th), and knights also cannot be dropped on the penultimate rank (7th). This is because such positions would leave these pieces without any legal moves on their next turn, given their forward-only movement.
• Two Pawns (二歩(nifu)): A pawn cannot be dropped in a file (column) that already has an unpromoted pawn of the same player. This rule does not apply to promoted pawns.

Check

If a king could be captured on the opponent's next move, it is in a state known as check. When a king is in check, the player must make a move to protect the king. This can be done by moving the king to a safe square, capturing the piece that is threatening the king, or blocking the threat with another piece.

End of the Game

Most Ōgi games end with a checkmate, where one player captures the opponent's king and wins the game. In Ōgi, because pieces remain in play after being captured and can be returned to the board, there are usually enough pieces available to achieve checkmate.

However, games can also end through repetition, where the same series of moves is repeated (though this is rare), or by an illegal move, which is uncommon in professional games.

Cultural Narrative and Urban Legend

Ōgi retains the core principles of Shōgi but distinguishes itself with contemporary myths rather than traditional historical origins, setting it apart from games with well-documented ancestries like Chaturanga. Central to its cultural narrative is an urban legend involving a mythical yōkai named Komayō.

This story lends Ōgi a mystical charm and places it within the vast tapestry of Japanese folklore. Whether the tale is based in fact or fiction, it adds depth to the game's context, drawing players into a world where strategic gameplay is intertwined with mythological storytelling.