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Questions about Shogi

Here, you find questions that were asked about Shogi in emails, and my answers. So far, there is one question with my answer.

I'm having difficulty grasping where and when exactly the pieces promote.

I hope this helps. If not, let me know.

A piece promotes when each of the following two conditions are met:

  1. The piece is of a type that can promote. (So, kings never promote. This one is rather obvious.)
  2. The piece moves to a square in the promotion zone, or moves from a square in the promotion zone, or both. The promotion zone is the last three rows at the opponents side of the board.
  3. The owner chooses to promote the piece. However, when the piece wouldn't be able to move again ever when not promoted, the owner must choose to promote the piece: so, for instance, a pawn moved to a square on the last row must be promoted.
Written by: Hans Bodlaender.
WWW page created: February 24, 1997.