Shogi (also known as Japanese board or simply Shirogi) is a strategy board game for two players that is very similar to the Japanese version. It is the second most widely played chess variant. Shegi literally translates to general's chess. It was first played in China in the 14th century. Shogi has been translated in many languages, including English. Some of its variants, such as shirogi joseki, have also been developed in the West. The game is primarily played in Japan.
A shogi board game set's basic idea is that players form alliances based on where they are placed on the board. Each player begins with ten stacks made of solid colors, called shikigamis. Five stacks are made of lighter colored stones, called mokus. These shikigamis are used to form alliances among players and represent different colors. After all these alliances are made, the game is over and everyone is declared winner. There are some rules to this match. The winner will be the player who reaches twenty-five stones.
In shogi boards game sets, the larger pieces are more valuable than the smaller ones. This is to stop a player from acquiring too many powerful pieces (called modes), and having them controlled by another player. This rule also prevents players from taking all the small, light-colored stones piles of other players. A player can challenge multiple players at once, but they cannot take all the stone piles because they are controlled differently.
This game's basic strategy is very similar to Chess. Each team alternately places its pieces on each corner and moves their rook one square at time. Each player will be awarded a piece if they have a piece in their corner. The other player will move their rook square one space forward. A player can have a piece on their end line, and another player can have a piece in the open row. Each player will take one turn to move their pieces on the row or the end line. After the turns have ended, the player who has the most tiles will move his or her piece onto the open row/end line. The other player will then move theirs from the open row/end line.
There are 24 chess pieces total. These pieces are made up of eleven white pieces, four black pieces, and the remainder are unknown colors. These pieces can also be divided equally among two-player teams. A player can have a white or black rook and two black bishops. Another player might have a black bishop and white rook and three black queens. Each team has two queens, one knight, eight rooks and six knights. The game has 18 pieces total.
Each player first chooses a color and then they each select one of the twenty shapes allowed on their chessboards. Each player can then arrange the remaining pieces on the open columns and rows, and move their pieces across the chessboard. If there's no way to break the tie, a Shogi game ends in a tie. A Shogi winner takes home the prize money, as well as the title "silver general" or the premium prize "gold general".