Shogi (将棋, Shōgi) is a strategy board game featured as a recurring minigame in the Yakuza series. It was first introduced in the original Yakuza 2.
Overview
Description
Shogi is a Japanese variant of chess played on a board divided into nine rows ("ranks") and nine columns ("files"), totaling eighty-one squares.
Ranking Match
In a Ranking Match, two players begin the game with twenty pieces each: a king, two gold generals, two silver generals, two knights, two lances, a bishop, a rook, and nine pawns.
The objective of the game is to force the opponent's king into a position where it can be captured ("in check"), trapping it so it cannot escape regardless of what move is made (a "checkmate").
Challenge Mode
In Challenge Mode, the player must win with a specific board arrangement which puts the player at a handicap.
Puzzle Shogi
Introduced in Judgment. In Puzzle Shogi, the player must win in a given number of turns with a specific board arrangement, which includes limited pieces for both sides. Some pieces may already be promoted at the start of a puzzle shogi game.
Puzzle shogi must be unlocked in Judgment and Lost Judgment.
- Judgment: Complete friendship with Goro Moroboshi and acquire the "Artisanal Shogi Board" through Quickstarter, then give the board to a homeless man in Children's Park.
- Lost Judgment: Purchase the "Artisanal Shogi Board" from Outdoor Shogi Kamurocho.
Rules
Setup
Ranking Match
The players' starting pieces are distributed across the three ranks nearest to each player at the start of the game. Afterwards, the player who moves first is determined by tossing five pawn pieces. If more pawns land, the player character moves first. If more promoted pawns land, the opponent moves first.
Pieces
Each piece has its own defined range of movement, and cannot be placed on a square outside of its range. Additionally, a piece cannot move past a square occupied by another piece (except a knight, which can), or land on a square occupied by an allied piece.
| Piece | Starting Position | |
|---|---|---|
 (王将/玉将, ō-shō/gyokushō) |
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| (金将, kinshō) |
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| (銀将, ginshō) |
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| (桂馬 , keima) |
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| (香車, kyōsha) |
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| (角行, kakugyō) |
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| (飛車, hisha) |
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| (歩兵, fuhyō) |
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Promotion
All pieces except the king and gold generals can be turned over (“promoted“) once they enter the three ranks nearest to the opponent (the "promotion zone"). Promotion changes a piece's range of movement.
Once promoted, a piece will stay promoted until and unless it is captured, at which point it will revert. A piece dropped in the promotion zone must move at least once before it can be promoted. It can still be promoted if it moves outside of the promotion zone on the turn it becomes eligible.
| Piece | Promotion Characteristics | |
|---|---|---|
| (龍馬, ryūma or ryūme) |
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| (龍王, ryū-ō) |
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| (全) |
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| (杏) |
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| (今) |
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| (と, to) |
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Capture and Drops
When a piece lands on a square occupied by an enemy piece, the enemy piece is captured; if it is a promoted piece, it reverts to its original state. Starting the next turn, the captured piece can be dropped onto an empty square as an allied piece. A piece cannot be moved or promoted on the same turn it is dropped.
Illegal Moves
The rules of shogi forbid the following moves:
- A king cannot be moved into check or left in check.
- A pawn cannot be dropped onto a square that will result in a checkmate.
- A pawn cannot be dropped onto a square in the same file as an allied pawn, with the exception of promoted pawns.
- A piece cannot be dropped onto a square from which it is unable to move.
- The same board positions cannot be repeated four times.