Shogi

A traditional shōgi ban (shogi board) displaying a set of koma (pieces). The pieces on the far side are turned to show their promoted values. The stands on either side are komadai used to hold captured pieces. The board itself is raised for the comfort of players seated on tatami mats (background), and is hollowed underneath to produce a pleasing sound when the pieces are moved.

Two players face each other across a board composed of rectangles in a grid of 9 ranks (rows, 段) by 9 files (columns, 筋) yielding an 81-square board.[lower-alpha 1] In Japanese they are called Sente 先手 (first player) and Gote 後手 (second player), but in English are conventionally referred to as Black and White, with Black the first player. The board is nearly always rectangular, and the rectangles are undifferentiated by marking or color. Pairs of dots mark the players' promotion zones.[5]

Each player has a set of 20 flat wedge-shaped pentagonal pieces of slightly different sizes. Except for the kings, opposing pieces are undifferentiated by marking or color. Pieces face forward by having the pointed side of each piece oriented toward the opponent's side – this shows who controls the piece during play. The pieces from largest (most important) to smallest (least important) are:

• 1 king
• 1 rook
• 1 bishop
• 2 gold generals
• 2 silver generals
• 2 knights
• 2 lances
• 9 pawns

Several of these names were chosen to correspond to their rough equivalents in international chess, and not as literal translations of the Japanese names.

Each piece has its name written on its surface in the form of two kanji (Chinese characters used in Japanese), usually in black ink. On the reverse side of each piece, other than the king and gold general, are one or two other characters, in amateur sets often in a different color (usually red); this side is turned face up during play to indicate that the piece has been promoted.

In some cases, the backsides of the King pieces (the narrow side which faces back toward the player during normal play) will display kanji containing additional information about the piece manufacturers.

Following is a table of the pieces with their Japanese representations and English equivalents. The abbreviations are used for game notation and often when referring to the pieces in speech in Japanese.

Closeup of shogi pieces. Top: +R, R, K (reigning), K (challenging), B, +B. Bottom: +L, L, +S, S, G, N, +N, P, +P

Another popular style of shogi pieces different from the usual Japanese characters. Shows a 7-move tsumeshogi problem. White has pawns on 13, 24, 34; king on 23; and a promoted rook on 29. Black has a bishop on 44, a pawn on 17, a lance on 19, and a rook, two golds, and a silver in hand.

Pieces in the most simplified kurobori (黒彫) typeface.

An example set of "international" pieces. In this set, those pieces that do not have their equivalents in chess have symbols that iconically show their movement (e.g. the silver general's crown and ribbons point towards its possible directions of movement).

English name	Image	Kanji	Rōmaji	Meaning	Abbreviations			Betza notation
King (higher ranked player or reigning champion)		王将	ōshō	king general	K	王	ō	K
King (lower ranked player or challenger)		玉将	gyokushō	jeweled general	K	玉	gyoku	K
Rook		飛車	hisha	flying chariot	R	飛	hi	R
Promoted rook ("Dragon")		竜王	ryūō	dragon king	+R	龍 or 竜[lower-alpha 2]	ryū	FR
Bishop		角行	kakugyō	angle mover	B	角	kaku	B
Promoted bishop ("Horse")		竜馬	ryūma or ryūme	dragon horse	+B	馬	uma	WB
Gold general ("Gold")		金将	kinshō	gold general	G	金	kin	WfF
Silver general ("Silver")		銀将	ginshō	silver general	S	銀	gin	FfW
Promoted silver		成銀	narigin	promoted silver	+S	(全)	—	WfF
Knight		桂馬	keima	katsura horse	N	桂	kei	ffN
Promoted knight		成桂	narikei	promoted katsura	+N	(圭or今)	—	WfF
Lance		香車	kyōsha	incense chariot	L	香	kyō	fR
Promoted lance		成香	narikyō	promoted incense	+L	(杏 or 仝)	—	WfF
Pawn		歩兵	fuhyō	foot soldier	P	歩	fu	fW
Promoted pawn ("tokin")		と金	tokin	reaches gold	+P	と (or个)	to	WfF

English speakers sometimes refer to promoted bishops as horses and promoted rooks as dragons, after their Japanese names, and generally use the Japanese term tokin for promoted pawns. Silver generals and gold generals are commonly referred to simply as silvers and golds, respectively.

The characters inscribed on the reverse sides of the pieces to indicate promotion may be in red ink, and are usually cursive. The characters on the backs of the pieces that promote to gold generals are cursive variants of 金 'gold', becoming more cursive (more abbreviated) as the value of the original piece decreases. These cursive forms have these equivalents in print: 全 for promoted silver, 今 for promoted knight, 仝 for promoted lance, and 个 for promoted pawn (tokin). Another typographic convention has abbreviated versions of the original values, with a reduced number of strokes: 圭 for a promoted knight (桂), 杏 for a promoted lance (香), and the 全 as above for a promoted silver, but と (a hiragana symbol for the syllable "to") for tokin.

The suggestion that the Japanese characters have deterred Western players from learning shogi has led to "Westernized" or "international" pieces which use iconic symbols instead of characters. Most players soon learn to recognize the characters, however, partially because the traditional pieces are already iconic by size, with more powerful pieces being larger. As a result, Westernized pieces have never become popular. Bilingual pieces with both Japanese characters and English captions have been developed as have pieces with animal cartoons.

Shogi starting setup; Black (at bottom) moves first.

Each player sets up friendly pieces facing forward (toward the opponent).

• In the rank nearest the player:
  • The king is placed in the center file;
  • The two gold generals are placed in files adjacent to the king;
  • The two silver generals are placed adjacent to each gold general;
  • The two knights are placed adjacent to each silver general;
  • The two lances are placed in the corners, adjacent to each knight.

That is, the first rank is

L

N

S

G

K

G

S

N

L

Or

香

桂

銀

金

玉

金

銀

桂

香

• In the second rank, each player places:
  • The bishop in the same file as the left knight;
  • The rook in the same file as the right knight.
• In the third rank, the nine pawns are placed one per file.

Deciding who goes first: Furigoma

A furigoma 振り駒 'piece toss' is used to decide who moves first. One of the players tosses five pawns. If the number of tokins (promoted pawns, と) facing up is higher than unpromoted pawns (歩), then the player who tossed the pawns plays gote 後手 'white' (that is, getting the second move).[6]

After the piece toss furigoma, the game proceeds. If multiple games are played, then players alternate turns for who goes first in subsequent games. (The terms "Black" and "White" are used to differentiate sides although there is no difference in the color of the pieces.) For each turn, a player may either move a piece that is currently on the board (and potentially promote it, capture an opposing piece, or both) or else drop a piece that has been previously captured onto a square of the board. These options are explained below.

Amateur players are ranked from 15 kyū to 1 kyū and then from 1 dan to 8 dan. Amateur 8 dan was previously only honorarily given to famous people. While it is now possible to win amateur 8 dan by actual strength (winning amateur Ryu-oh 3 times), this has yet to be achieved.

Professional players operate with their own scale, from 6 kyū to 3 dan for pro-aspiring players and professional 4 dan to 9 dan for formal professional players.[30] Amateur and professional ranks are offset (with amateur 4 dan being equivalent to professional 6 kyū).[31]

A shogi game record

There are two common systems used to notate piece movements in shogi game records. One is used in Japanese language texts while a second was created for western players by George Hodges and Glyndon Townhill in the English language. This system was updated by Hosking to be closer to the Japanese standard (two numerals).[32][33] Other systems are used to notate shogi board positions. Unlike chess, the origin (11 square) is at the top right of a printed position rather than the bottom left.

In western piece movement notation, the format is the piece initial followed by the type of movement and finally the file and rank where the piece moved to. The piece initials are K (King), R (Rook), B (Bishop), G (Gold), S (Silver), N (Knight), L (Lance), and P (Pawn). Simple movement is indicated with -, captures with x, and piece drops with *. The files are indicated with numerals 1–9. The older Hodges standard used letters a–i for ranks, and the newer Hosking standard also uses numerals 1–9 for the ranks. Thus, Rx24 indicates 'rook captures on 24'. Promoted pieces are notated with + prefixed to the piece initial (e.g. +Rx24). Piece promotion is also indicated with + (e.g. S-21+) while unpromotion is indicated with = (e.g. S-21=). Piece ambiguity is resolved by notating which square a piece is moving from (e.g. N65-53+ means 'knight from 65 moves to 53 and promotes,' which distinguishes it from N45-53+).

The Japanese notation system uses Japanese characters for pieces and promotion indication and uses Japanese numerals instead of letters for ranks. Movement type aside from drops is not indicated, and the conventions for resolving ambiguity are quite different from the western system. As examples, the western Rx24 would be 2四飛 in Japanese notation, +Rx24 would be 2四龍, S-21+ would be 2一銀成, S-21= would be 2一銀不成, and N65-53+ would be 5三桂左成 showing that the leftmost knight jumped (implicitly from the 65 square), which distinguishes it from 5三桂右成 in which the rightmost knight jumped.

Although not strictly part of the notational calculus for games, game results are indicated in Japanese newspapers, websites, etc. with wins indicated by a white circle and losses indicated by a black circle.

Shogi is similar to chess but has a much larger game tree complexity because of the use of drops, greater number of pieces, and larger board size.[34] In comparison, shogi games average about 140 (half-)moves per game (or 70 chess move-pairs) whereas chess games average about 80 moves per game (or 40 chess move-pairs) and minishogi averages about 40 moves per game (or 20 chess move-pairs).[35][lower-alpha 5]

Like chess, however, the game can be divided into the opening, middle game and endgame, each requiring a different strategy. The opening consists of arranging one's defenses usually in a castle and positioning for attack; the mid game consists of attempting to break through the opposing defenses while maintaining one's own; and the endgame starts when one side's defenses have been compromised.

In the adjacent diagram, Black has chosen a Ranging Rook position (specifically Fourth File Rook) where the rook has been moved leftward away from its starting position. Additionally, Black is utilizing a Silver Crown castle, which is a type of fortification structure constructed with one silver and two gold pieces and the king moved inside of the fortification – the silver crown name comes from the silver being positioned directly above the king's head on the 27 square as if it were a crown. In the diagram, White has chosen a Static Rook position, in which the rook remains on its starting square. This Static Rook position is specifically a type of Counter-Ranging Rook position known as Bear-in-the-hole Static Rook that uses a Bear-in-the-hole castle. The Bear-in-the-hole fortification has the king moved all the way into very edge corner of the board on the 11 square as if it were a badger in a hole with a silver moved to the 22 square in order to close up the hole and additional reinforcing golds on 31 and 32 squares. This board position required 33 moves (or 12 move pairs as counted in western chess) to construct.

Two men playing shogi outside in Ueno Park, 2014

Shogi players are expected to follow etiquette in addition to rules explicitly described. Commonly accepted etiquette include the following:

• Greetings to the opponent both before and after the game
• Avoiding disruptive actions both during the game and after, for instance:
  • Not changing the move once realized on the board
  • Fair withdrawal without any disruption, such as scattering pieces on the board to demonstrate frustration
• Announcing one's resignation

Shogi piece sets may contain two types of king pieces, 王 (king) and 玉 (jewel). In this case, the higher classed player, in either social or genuine shogi player rank, may take the king piece. For example, in titleholder system games, the current titleholder takes the king piece as the higher.

The higher-ranked (or older) player also sits facing the door of the room and is the person who takes the pieces out of the piece box.[36]

Shogi does not have a touch-move rule as in western chess tournament play or chu shogi. However, in professional games, a piece is considered to be moved when the piece has been let go of. In both amateur and professional play, any piece may be touched in order to adjust its centralization within its square (to look tidy).[37]

Taking back moves (待った matta) in professional games is prohibited. However, in friendly amateur games in Japan, it is often permitted.

Professional players are required to follow several ritualistic etiquette prescriptions such as kneeling exactly 15 centimeters from the shogi board, sitting in the formal seiza position, etc.[38]

Boys playing shogi (18th century)

Playing shogi in Japan (ca. 1916–1918)

Kōzō Masuda (升田幸三) in 1952

From The Chess Variant Pages:[2]

The world's first chess variant, chaturanga arose in India in approximately the seventh century AD. From there it migrated both westward and northward, mutating along the way. The western branch became shatranj in Arabia and Orthodox Chess in Europe. The northern branch became xiangqi in China and janggi in Korea. Sometime in the tenth to twelfth centuries, 'chess' crossed the channel to Japan where it spawned a number of interesting variants. One of these was called 'Small Shogi'. Eventually, Small Shogi (though it went through many forms) won out over the larger variants and is now referred to simply as 'Shogi'. It is certain that Shogi in its present form was played in Japan as early as the 16th century.

It is not clear when chess was brought to Japan. The earliest generally accepted mention of shogi is Shin Saru Gakuki (新猿楽記) (1058–1064) by Fujiwara Akihira. The oldest archaeological evidence is a group of 16 shogi pieces excavated from the grounds of Kōfuku-ji in Nara Prefecture. As it was physically associated with a wooden tablet written on in the sixth year of Tenki (1058), the pieces are thought to date from that period. These simple pieces were cut from a writing plaque in the same five-sided shape as modern pieces, with the names of the pieces written on them.

The dictionary of common folk culture, Nichūreki (二中歴) (c. 1210–1221), a collection based on the two works Shōchūreki (掌中歴) and Kaichūreki (懐中歴), describes two forms of shogi, large (dai) shogi and small (shō) shogi. These are now called Heian shogi (or Heian small shogi) and Heian dai shogi. Heian small shogi is the version on which modern shogi is based, but the Nichūreki states that one wins if one's opponent is reduced to a single king, indicating that drops had not yet been introduced. According to Kōji Shimizu, chief researcher at the Archaeological Institute of Kashihara, Nara Prefecture, the names of the Heian shogi pieces keep those of chaturanga (general, elephant, horse, chariot and soldier), and add to them the five treasures of Buddhism (jade, gold, silver, katsura tree, and incense).

Around the 13th century the game of dai shogi developed, created by increasing the number of pieces in Heian shogi, as was sho shogi, which added the rook, bishop, and drunken elephant from dai shogi to Heian shogi. The drunken elephant steps one square in any direction except directly backward, and promotes to the prince, which acts as a second king and must also be captured along with the original king for the other player to win. Around the 15th century, the rules of dai shogi were simplified, creating the game of chu shogi. Chu shogi, like its parent dai shogi, contains many distinct pieces, such as the queen (identical with Western chess) and the lion (which moves like a king, but twice per turn, potentially being able to capture twice, among other idiosyncrasies). The popularity of dai shogi soon waned in favour of chu shogi, until it stopped being played commonly. Chu shogi rivalled sho shogi in popularity until the introduction of drops in the latter, upon which standard shogi became ascendant, although chu shogi was still commonly played until about World War II, especially in Kyoto.

It is thought that the rules of standard shogi were fixed in the 16th century, when the drunken elephant was removed from the set of pieces present in sho shogi. There is no clear record of when drops were introduced, however.

In the Edo period, shogi variants were greatly expanded: tenjiku shogi, dai dai shogi, maka dai dai shogi, tai shogi, and taikyoku shogi were all invented. It is thought that these were played to only a very limited extent, however. Both standard shogi and Go were promoted by the Tokugawa shogunate. In 1612, the shogunate passed a law giving endowments to top shogi players (Meijin (名人)). During the reign of the eighth shōgun, Tokugawa Yoshimune, castle shogi tournaments were held once a year on the 17th day of Kannazuki, corresponding to November 17, which is Shogi Day on the modern calendar.

The title of meijin became hereditary in the Ōhashi and Itō families until the fall of the shogunate, when it came to be passed by recommendation. Today the title is used for the winner of the Meijin-sen competition, the first modern title match. From around 1899, newspapers began to publish records of shogi matches, and high-ranking players formed alliances with the aim of having their games published. In 1909, the Shogi Association (将棋同盟社) was formed, and in 1924, the Tokyo Shogi Association (東京将棋連盟) was formed. This was an early incarnation of the modern Japan Shogi Association (日本将棋連盟, nihon shōgi renmei), or JSA, and 1924 is considered by the JSA to be the date it was founded.[41]

In 1935, meijin Kinjirō Sekine stepped down, and the rank of meijin came to be awarded to the winner of a Meijin title match (名人戦, meijin-sen). Yoshio Kimura (木村義雄) became the first Meijin under this system in 1937. This was the start of the shogi title matches (see titleholder system). After the war other tournaments were promoted to title matches, culminating with the Ryūō title match (竜王戦, ryūō-sen) in 1988 for the modern line-up of seven. About 200 professional shogi players compete. Each year, the title holder defends the title against a challenger chosen from knockout or round matches.

After the Second World War, SCAP (occupational government mainly led by US) tried to eliminate all "feudal" factors from Japanese society and shogi was included in the possible list of items to be banned along with Bushido (philosophy of samurai) and other things. SCAP's reason for banning shogi was its exceptional character as a board game using captured pieces. SCAP insisted that this could lead to the idea of prisoner abuse. But Kozo Masuda, then one of the top professional shogi players, when summoned to the SCAP headquarters for an investigation, criticized such understanding of shogi and insisted that it is not shogi but western chess that potentially contains the idea of prisoner abuse because it just kills the pieces of the opponent while shogi is rather democratic for giving prisoners the chance to get back into the game. Masuda also said that chess contradicts the ideal of gender equality in western society because the king shields itself behind the queen and runs away. Masuda's assertion is said to have eventually led to the exemption of shogi from the list of items to be banned.[42]

2013 World Shogi Open Championship (amateur) tournament in Minsk

There are two organizations for shogi professional players in Japan: the JSA, and the Ladies' Professional Shogi-players' Association of Japan (日本女子プロ将棋協会, nihon joshi puro shōgi kyōkai), or LPSA. The JSA is the primary organization for men and women's professional shogi[41] while the LPSA is a group of women professionals who broke away from the JSA in 2007 to establish their own independent organization.[43] Both organize tournaments for their members and have reached an agreement to cooperate with each other to promote shogi through events and other activities.[44] Top professional players are fairly well-paid from tournament earnings. In 2016, the highest tournament earners were Yoshiharu Habu and Akira Watanabe who earned ¥91,500,000 and ¥73,900,000. (The tenth highest earner, Kouichi Fukaura, won ¥18,490,000.)[45]

The JSA recognizes two categories of shogi professionals: Professional (棋士, kishi), and Female Professional (女流棋士, joryūkishi). Sometimes kishi are addressed as seikishi (正棋士), a term from Go used to distinguish kishi from other classes of players. JSA professional ranks and female professional ranks are not equivalent and each has their own promotion criteria and ranking system. In 2006, the JSA officially granted women "professional status". This is not equivalent, however, to the more traditional way of "gaining professional status", i.e., being promoted from the "Shoreikai System" (奨励会): leagues of strong amateur players aspiring to become a professional. Rather, it is a separate system especially designed for female professionals. Qualified amateurs, regardless of gender, may apply for the "Shoreikai System" and all those who successfully "graduate" are granted kishi status; however, no woman has yet to accomplish this feat (the highest women have reached is "Shoreikai 3 dan league" by Kana Satomi and Tomoka Nishiyama), so kishi is de facto only used to refer to male shogi professionals.[46]

The JSA is the only body which can organize tournaments for professionals, e.g., the eight major tournaments in the titleholder system and other professional tournaments. In 1996, Yoshiharu Habu became the only kishi to hold seven major titles at the same time. For female professionals, both the JSA and LPSA organize tournaments, either jointly or separately. Tournaments for amateurs may be organized by the JSA and LPSA as well as local clubs, newspapers, private corporations, educational institutions or municipal governments for cities or prefectures under the guidance of the JSA or LPSA.

Since the 1990s, shogi has grown in popularity outside Japan, particularly in the People's Republic of China, and especially in Shanghai. The January 2006 edition of Kindai Shogi (近代将棋) stated that there were 120,000 shogi players in Shanghai. The spread of the game to countries where Chinese characters are not in common use, however, has been slower.

In Europe

Amateur shogi certificate for 2 dan

As of November 2017, in Europe there are currently over 1,200 active players.[47]

Shogi has the highest game complexity of all popular chess variants. Computers have steadily improved in playing shogi since the 1970s. In 2007, champion Yoshiharu Habu estimated the strength of the 2006 world computer shogi champion Bonanza at the level of two-dan shoreikai.

The JSA prohibits its professionals from playing computers in public without prior permission, with the reason of promoting shogi and monetizing the computer–human events.[48]

On October 12, 2010, after some 35 years of development, a computer finally beat a professional player, when the top ranked female champion Ichiyo Shimizu was beaten by the Akara2010 system in a game lasting just over 6 hours.[49]

On July 24, 2011, computer shogi programs Bonanza and Akara crushed the amateur team of Kosaku and Shinoda in two games. The allotted time for the amateurs was one hour and then three minutes per move. The allotted time for the computer was 25 minutes and then 10 seconds per move.[50]

On April 20, 2013, GPS Shogi defeated 8-dan professional shogi player Hiroyuki Miura in a 102-move game which lasted over 8 hours.[51]

On December 13, 2015, the highest rated player on Shogi Club 24 was computer program Ponanza, rated 3455.[52]

On April 10, 2016, Ponanza defeated Takayuki Yamasaki, 8-dan in 85 moves. Takayuki used 7 hours 9 minutes.[53]

In October 2017, DeepMind claimed that its program AlphaZero, after a full nine hours of training, defeated elmo in a 100-game match, winning 90, losing 8, and drawing two.[54][55]

From a computational complexity point of view, generalized shogi is EXPTIME-complete.[56]

Hundreds of video games were released exclusively in Japan for several consoles.

Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics was released internationally by Nintendo in 2020 for the Nintendo Switch console, offering both Shogi and mini Shogi variants using either traditional or bilingual pieces.

According to professional player Yoshiharu Habu, in Japan shogi is viewed as not merely a game as entertainment or a mind sport but is instead an art that is a part of traditional Japanese culture along with haiku, tanka, noh, ikebana, and the Japanese tea ceremony. Its elevated status was established by the iemoto system supported by the historical shogunate.[57][58]

The backwards uma (shogi horse symbol) is often featured on merchandise (such as on large decorative shogi piece sculptures, keychains, and other keepsakes) available for sale in Tendō. It also serves as a symbol of good luck. (Cf. Rabbit's foot.) There are multiple theories on its origin. One is that uma (うま ) spelled in the Japanese syllabary backwards is まう mau (舞う), which means (to) dance and dancing horses are a good luck omen.[59]

• 
  The backwards 馬 uma (左馬 hidari uma)
• 
  Ningen Shogi held in Himeji City with real people (2015)
• 
  Tendō shogi museum (right) next to Tendō Station (top)

• SHOGI Magazine (70 issues, January 1976 – November 1987) by The Shogi Association (edited by George Hodges)
• Aono, Teruichi (1983). Better Moves for Better Shogi. translated by John Fairbairn. Tokyo, Japan: Sankaido Publishing Co., Ltd. ISBN 978-4-381-00597-7.
• Aono, Teruichi (1983). Guide to Shogi Openings: Shogi Problems in Japanese and English. translated by John Fairbairn. Tokyo, Japan: Sankaido Publishing Co., Ltd. ISBN 978-4-381-00598-4.
• Fairbairn, John (1986). Shogi for beginners (2nd ed.). Ishi Press. ISBN 978-4-8718-720-10.
• Habu, Yoshiharu; Hosking, Tony (2000). Habu's Words. translated by Tony Hosking and Yamato Takahashi. Stratford-upon-Avon, England: The Shogi Foundation. ISBN 978-0-9531089-2-3.
• Hosking, Tony (1997). The Art of Shogi. Stratford-upon-Avon, England: The Shogi Foundation. ISBN 978-0-9531089-0-9.
• Hosking, Tony (2006). Classic Shogi: Games Collection. Stratford-upon-Avon, England: The Shogi Foundation. ISBN 978-0-9531089-3-0.
• Pritchard, D. B. (1994). "Shogi". The Encyclopedia of Chess Variants. Games & Puzzles Publications. pp. 269–79. ISBN 0-9524142-0-1.
• Yebisu, Miles (2016). Comprehensive shogi guide in English: How to play Japanese chess. Laboratory Publishing.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Shōgi.

• Shogi Shack
• Reijer Grimbergen's Shogi Page
• Shogi.Net
• Shogi Hub portal for current information about the shogi world (tournaments, news, etc.)
• Shogi-L shogi mailing list
• Ricoh Shogi Page Archived 2013-09-22 at the Wayback Machine
• Japanese–English shogi glossary
• Hans Geuns' Basic Shogi Vocabulary
• International Shogi Magazine

Rules

• Shogi Harbour: Level 1 Shogi Course by women's professional player Karolina Styczyńska
• 40 shogi lessons on YouTube by HIDETCHI
• An Introduction to Shogi for Chess Players
• Shogi by Hans Bodlaender and Fergus Duniho, The Chess Variant Pages
• Rules and Manners of Shogi by Tomohide Kawasaki (a.k.a. HIDETCHI)
• FESA - Shogi official playing rules
• Shogi, the Japanese Chess by Jean-Louis Cazaux
• Shogi and Dobutsu-Animal shogi rules to download by Filip Marek

Online play

• 81Dojo English-language shogi play online
• Lishogi free and open source shogi server
• Shogi Dojo 24 shogi server in Japan
• Shogi Wars
• Shogi Quest
• PlayOK shogi
• GoldToken online turn-based shogi
• World Shogi League international online tournament associated with 81Dojo and the Japan Shogi Association
• HamShogi handicap shogi against the computer, instructions
• boardspace.net real time play against human or (weak) computer players.

Online tools

• 将棋DB2 shogi game record database (in Japanese)
• Kyokumenpedia game record databases as move decision tree with user-generated wiki annotations (associated with 81Dojo) (in Japanese)
• Shogi Playground record or play through games, mate problems, board positions
• Create Shogi Diagram on the Web