CHENNAI: Japanese and Indian cultures have a lot in common like Buddhism, Sanskrit...and shogi, a strategy-based two-player board game with elements borrowed from the Indian strategy game, chaturanga or chess. The word ‘shogi’ translates to ‘general’s game’ in Japanese, and is widely known as Japanese chess. To promote Japanese cultural heritage, Hayakawa Japanese Language School and Cultural Center will be conducting a shogi playing session in the city.
Like chess, in shogi too, the one who can capture the other player’s king wins the game, but with a twist – unlike in chess where the pieces are killed, in shogi, the pieces are captured and not killed so it can be used any time the player wants to. “It is a game where we can reuse the captured pieces, which shows the switching loyalties of the assassins or mercenaries,” explains Bhaskar Bharatwaj, intern and ex-student at Hayakawa School.
The pieces include a king, gold general, silver general,lance, knight, bishop, rook and pawn. The king is always placed at the centre of the board, with the two gold general pieces on either side. The two silver generals are placed on either side of the gold generals, followed by the two knights and lances on either side.
Shogi also differs from chess in terms of squares and pieces on the board. “The shogi board has 81 squares while the chessboard has 64 squares. Also, the number of pieces which can be used is also higher in shogi — 20 while in chess it is 16,” notes Yuko Shimizu, GM at Hayakawa School.
Daisuke Hosoda, Japanese language teacher at the school, says the way each piece moves is different when compared to chess. He further explains, “Chess has a piece, the knight, which can move 3 steps in ‘L’ shape in any direction. But in shogi, there is a piece, ‘keima’ which can move 3 steps in ‘L’ shape but only in forward direction. Also, in chess the pawns get promoted, but in shogi all the pieces except the king and the gold general get promoted.”
Although the school has previously conducted similar events to boost popularity for Japanese culture and the game, Bhaskar says that it is not quite popular in the city yet. “We did get good response in 2014; though we had allotted 20 seats, 28 participants attended the event. However, we feel that the game is underappreciated. In India itself, maybe less than 1% of the student population knows about shogi,” he adds.
‘Lets Play Shogi’ will be conducted on July 29 at Hayakawa Japanese Language School & Cultural Center, from 11 am to 1 pm. For details call: 9381055855