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竜王戦 (Dragon King Competition)

FAQ
NES 1991

Version: 1.0


Introduction (this section is courtesy of Devin Morgan)
===============================================================================

Shogi (将棋) is a game very similar to what we call Chess. There are many
similarities, but there are some noticeable differences as well. While chess
is played on a 8x8 board, Shogi is played on a 9x9 board. In chess, there are
16 pieces for each player; Shogi gives you 20. Gameplay is on a turn by turn
basis; that is, after one player makes a move, the other one goes, and so on.
There are two colors, white and black, with black always going first.


Controls:
===============================================================================
Use the A button to select a piece, the D-pad to move it and then A again to
finalize your move. Pressing B cancels anything in mid-turn.

If you press SELECT you get to mute the BGM (background music), or turn it back
off if you did so earlier.


Display:
===============================================================================
When you play the game, the main feature to notice is the game board in the
middle. Getting used to that is another matter, read the board basics section
for that. What is more important for you to adapt to the game is the rest of
the layout.

On the left side is a small number and a character (手) which tells you how
many moves have been made. The number of moves is more important to
professional players. Underneath is the last move given by the piece and its
movement. On the right hand side are two five-digit displays telling you how
long you have spent thinking. Games are often timed and only allow a certain
limit on your overall move speed.

Should you want to forfeit the game, use the 投了 button in the bottom left
corner.


Modes:
===============================================================================
At the main menu you have three choices, cycle through them by pressing A on
the remote control button. Use the START button to make your selection.

The first mode, 竜王戦 is the actual Dragon King tournament the game is named
after. You can input a passcode to continue an earlier game, or just leave
everything at 0 to start a new match. Your next choice is to shuffle the
players around. You are アマ, the amateur. It does not matter where you sit
yourself, but the match-ups of the competition will change. After this you have
to choose where to start the game. The green arrow will point at one of the
matches. It does not matter which order you play/watch the games. If you are
not playing the game will go to 観戦 - watch mode. If you are participating
then you can only play the game - 対局. If or when you lose a game you can
choose to continue watching the rest of the competition or return to the main
menu.

Another mode is Endgame Shogi. There are three levels of difficulty as the
individuals underneath the character will give away. Pick the left one for easy
puzzles, the right one for the tough ones. Use the pieces available to capture
the opponents King.

The third mode is 将棋 実験室, the Shogi Simulation Chamber. First you get
asked several questions to modify your practice game. The first one is who will
be playing, either Human vs Human, Human vs CPU, CPU vs Human or CPU vs CPU. If
have two human players then that ends the questions, but if you have a CPU
player present then you will be asked regarding the skill next. You can select
1. Strong (強気), 2. Normal (普通) or 3. Timid (弱気). The next question is
regarding the Shogi rules, choose of the three available options whatever you
prefer. Finally, pick the time allowed for each player to plan their moves
(思考時間). This is measured in minutes, from as low as 5 to as long as 540
minutes.


Gameplay: (this section is courtesy of Devin Morgan)
===============================================================================

Board Setup
-----------

The typical Shogi board is set up as follows, with each side's pieces facing
towards the opponent to signify which pieces belong to which side:

 ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
| L | KN| SG| GG| K | GG| SG| KN| L |    K = King (王将)
|___|___|___|___|___|___|___|___|___|    R = Rook (飛車)
|   | R |   |   |   |   |   | B |   |    B = Bishop (角行)
|___|___|___|___|___|___|___|___|___|   GG = Gold General (金将)
| P | P | P | P | P | P | P | P | P |   SG = Silver General (銀将)
|___|___|___|___|___|___|___|___|___|   KN = Knight (桂馬)
|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |    L = Lance (香車)
|___|___|___|___|___|___|___|___|___|    P = Pawn (歩兵)
|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
|___|___|___|___|___|___|___|___|___|
|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
|___|___|___|___|___|___|___|___|___|
| P | P | P | P | P | P | P | P | P |
|___|___|___|___|___|___|___|___|___|
|   | B |   |   |   |   |   | R |   |
|___|___|___|___|___|___|___|___|___|
| L | KN| SG| GG| K | GG| SG| KN| L |
|___|___|___|___|___|___|___|___|___|


Game Pieces/Movement
--------------------

NOTE: The "@" symbol in the diagrams below is meant to signify where the
      piece in question can make a valid movement in a turn. It should also
      be noted that in the diagrams below, "up" means forward, down is "back"
      and so on.


King: This piece is the most important one in the game. You must protect it
      since if it gets trapped by enemy pieces, you lose. It can move one
      square in any direction per turn.
       ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
      |   |   |   |   |   |
      |___|___|___|___|___|
      |   | @ | @ | @ |   |
      |___|___|___|___|___|
      |   | @ | K | @ |   |
      |___|___|___|___|___|
      |   | @ | @ | @ |   |
      |___|___|___|___|___|
      |   |   |   |   |   |
      |___|___|___|___|___|


Rook: You only get one of this piece, which is on the right side of the
      second row. It can move as far as it wants in the four directions (up,
      down, left, right).
       ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
      |   |   | @ |   |   |
      |___|___|___|___|___|
      |   |   | @ |   |   |
      |___|___|___|___|___|
      | @ | @ | R | @ | @ |
      |___|___|___|___|___|
      |   |   | @ |   |   |
      |___|___|___|___|___|
      |   |   | @ |   |   |
      |___|___|___|___|___|


Bishop: Like the Rook, you only get one of these pieces as well, and it is on
        the left side of the second row. It can move as far as it wants in
        the four diagonal directions.
       ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
      | @ |   |   |   | @ |
      |___|___|___|___|___|
      |   | @ |   | @ |   |
      |___|___|___|___|___|
      |   |   | B |   |   |
      |___|___|___|___|___|
      |   | @ |   | @ |   |
      |___|___|___|___|___|
      | @ |   |   |   | @ |
      |___|___|___|___|___|


Gold General: There are two of these pieces, starting on either side of the
              King. Its movement is interesting, in that it can move one
              square in each of the four directions, plus it can move in the
              two forward diagonal directions, but it can NOT move diagonally
              backwards.
       ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
      |   |   |   |   |   |
      |___|___|___|___|___|
      |   | @ | @ | @ |   |
      |___|___|___|___|___|
      |   | @ | GG| @ |   |
      |___|___|___|___|___|
      |   |   | @ |   |   |
      |___|___|___|___|___|
      |   |   |   |   |   |
      |___|___|___|___|___|


Silver General: Like the Gold General, you get two of these as well, and they
                start next to each Gold General. The Silver General has even
                more limited movement and a unique pattern, in that it can
                move one square diagonally in four directions or directly
                forward, but not directly to the sides or backwards.
       ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
      |   |   |   |   |   |
      |___|___|___|___|___|
      |   | @ | @ | @ |   |
      |___|___|___|___|___|
      |   |   | SG|   |   |
      |___|___|___|___|___|
      |   | @ |   | @ |   |
      |___|___|___|___|___|
      |   |   |   |   |   |
      |___|___|___|___|___|


Knight: This piece is just like the piece of the same name in regular chess.
        You have two of them, starting next to each Silver General. It is the
        only piece that can pass over other pieces without capturing them. As
        for its movement, it can go forward two squares, then one square to
        either the left or right. It cannot move to the sides or backwards.
       ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
      |   | @ |   | @ |   |
      |___|___|___|___|___|
      |   |   |   |   |   |
      |___|___|___|___|___|
      |   |   | KN|   |   |
      |___|___|___|___|___|
      |   |   |   |   |   |
      |___|___|___|___|___|
      |   |   |   |   |   |
      |___|___|___|___|___|


Lance: These are the final two pieces, which occupy the corner positions in
       the back row. The Lances are very limited, in that they can only move
       directly forward and that's it.
       ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
      |   |   | @ |   |   |
      |___|___|___|___|___|
      |   |   | @ |   |   |
      |___|___|___|___|___|
      |   |   | L |   |   |
      |___|___|___|___|___|
      |   |   |   |   |   |
      |___|___|___|___|___|
      |   |   |   |   |   |
      |___|___|___|___|___|


Pawn: You will get nine of these bottom-rank pieces, which occupy the entire
      third row. Pawns can only move forward one square per turn, that's it.
      Unlike regular Chess, Pawns can capture enemy pieces by moving forward;
      diagonal movement by this piece is not allowed.
       ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
      |   |   |   |   |   |
      |___|___|___|___|___|
      |   |   | @ |   |   |
      |___|___|___|___|___|
      |   |   | P |   |   |
      |___|___|___|___|___|
      |   |   |   |   |   |
      |___|___|___|___|___|
      |   |   |   |   |   |
      |___|___|___|___|___|


Promoting Pieces
----------------

As in Chess, if you move any of your pieces to the opposite end of the board,
they can be promoted. In Shogi, this does not only apply to Pawns; it can
apply to every piece (except the King and Gold General). A piece is valid for
promotion if you move it into the back three rows of the board (the three
rows that the enemy pieces initially occupy). When you promote a piece, it
gains more movement options, depending on the piece. Also, when you get to
the opposing side's three rows and choose to promote the piece, you flip the
piece over to reveal its new "name". These names will be listed below. Keep
in mind though, that you don't have to promote a piece because you are in the
three back rows.

If the promoted piece is a Silver General, Knight, Lance, or Pawn, its
upgraded movement will be that of a Gold General. If the piece you are
promoting is a Rook or Bishop, it will retain its original range of movement,
but it will be able to move like a King would as well.

Original Name     Kanji     Promoted Name     Kanji
-------------     -----     -------------     -----
Rook              飛車      Dragon            龍王
Bishop            角行      Horse             龍馬
Silver General    銀将      Promoted Silver   成銀
Knight            桂馬      Promoted Knight   成桂
Lance             香車      Promoted Lance    成香
Pawn              歩兵      Tokin             と金


Capturing/Dropping Pieces
-------------------------

As in Chess, the objective in Shogi is ultimately to 'capture' the opposing
player's King. Along the way, as you move your own pieces across the board,
you can capture the opposing player's pieces by making a legal move onto the
same square that an enemy piece is currently occupying. When you capture the
enemy's piece, you put it on a side table known as a komadai (こまだい). You
can 'drop' a captured piece onto the board, putting it under your control and
thus increasing your active forces. This kind of gameplay can work in your
favor (or against you, if the enemy does it) if done at the right times.


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