Minishogi

Shogi variants
Standard shogi (9×9, drops)
Small variants
Nana shogi (3×3)
Dōbutsu shōgi (3×4, for children)
Micro shogi (4×5)
Minishogi (5×5)
Kyoto shogi (5×5)
Judkins shogi (6×6)
Whale shogi (6×6)
Tori shogi (7×7)
Yari shogi (7×9)
Heian shogi (8×8 or 9×8, 12th c.)
Standard-size variants
Sho shogi (9×9, 16th c.)
Cannon shogi (9×9)
Hasami shogi (9×9, 9 or 18 pc.)
Hand shogi (9×9, 19 pc., 10 in hand)
Annan shogi (9×9, neighbors influence movement)
Unashogi (9×9, all drops)
Large variants
Okisaki shogi (10×10)
Wa shogi (11×11)
Chu shogi (12×12)
Heian dai shogi (13×13)
Dai shogi (15×15)
Tenjiku shogi (16×16)
Dai-dai shōgi (17×17)
Maka dai-dai shōgi (19×19)
Kō shōgi (19×19)
Tai shogi (25×25)
Taikyoku shogi (36×36)
Three- and four-player variants
Sannin shogi (hexagonal board, 7 cells on a side, three-person)
Yonin shogi (9×9, four-person)

Minishogi (5五将棋 gogo shōgi "5V chess" or "5×5 chess") is a modern variant of shogi (Japanese chess). Shigenobu Kusumoto of Osaka, Japan, invented or rediscovered the game c. 1970. The rules are identical to those of standard shogi, except that it is played with a reduced number of pieces on a 5x5 board, and each player's promotion zone consists only of the rank farthest from the player.

Rules of the game

Minishogi is identical to standard shogi with the following exceptions:

Game equipment

Two players play on a board ruled into a grid of 5 ranks (rows) by 5 files (columns). The squares are undifferentiated by marking or color.

Each player has a set of 6 wedge-shaped pieces. The pieces are of slightly different sizes. From largest to smallest (or most to least powerful) they are:

• 1 king
• 1 rook
• 1 bishop
• 1 gold general
• 1 silver general
• 1 pawn

These are identical to the standard pieces of the same names.

Setup

Each side places his pieces in the positions shown below, from the perspective of Black, pointing toward the opponent.

In the rank nearest the player:

• The king is placed in the left corner file.
• The gold general is placed in the adjacent file to the king.
• The silver general is placed adjacent to the gold general.
• The bishop is placed adjacent to the silver general.
• The rook is placed in the right corner, adjacent to the bishop.

That is, the first rank is |K|G|S|B|R|.

• In the second rank, each player places the pawn in the same file as the king.

Promotion and drops

These are as in standard shogi, except that the promotion zone is the farthest rank away from you. Pieces promote as they do in shogi. You can drop like you do in shogi as well.

See also

• Shogi variant
• Tori shogi
• Microshogi
• Judkins shogi
• Kyoto shogi
• Cannon shogi
• Yari shogi

External links

• Minishogi at chessvariants.com
• Website of the Japanese Minishogi Association (in Japanese, but contains game records which can be understood without knowing Japanese)
• Mini Shogi 6x5 Mini Shogi iPhone software

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minishogi"