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Checkmate! White has won!


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Chu Seireigi

Black:

White:

169... I*12l // - Checkmate! White has won! -

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Rules of Chu Seireigi

OUTDATED PRESET

Except where contradicted below, all rules are the same as in standard Shogi.

Pieces

Piece		Promoted Piece
King	The King moves one space in any direction, but not into check. The object is to checkmate the King.	The King does not promote.
Lion	The Lion jumps anywhere within a distance of two spaces, or makes a stinging move in any direction. The stinging move lets it step to an adjacent space and, if this move captures something, optionally make a second, non-capturing step in any direction, orthogonal or diagonal.	The Lion does not promote.
Queen	The Queen moves any number of spaces in any direction, orthogonal or diagonal. It may not leap over pieces.	The Queen does not promote.
Great Elephant	The Great Elephant moves any number of spaces diagonally forward. It may not leap over pieces. In addition, it can move one space diagonally backward, sideways, or directly forward.	The Great Elephant does not promote.
Dragon King	The Dragon King moves as the Rook or one space diagonally. When entering, exiting, or moving within the promotion zone, it may promote to a Soaring Eagle.	Soaring Eagle	The Soaring Eagle moves any number of spaces orthogonally, or diagonally backward. In addition, it can jump two spaces in a straight line, or make a stinging move, along either forward diagonal. The stinging move lets it step to an adjacent space and, if this move captures something, optionally make a second, non-capturing step in any direction, orthogonal or diagonal. When captured, it demotes to a Dragon King.
Dragon Horse	The Dragon Horse moves as the Bishop or one space orthogonally. When entering, exiting, or moving within the promotion zone, it may promote to a Horned Falcon.	Horned Falcon	The Horned Falcon moves any number of spaces diagonally, or orthogonally sideways or backward. In addition, it can jump two spaces in a straight line, or make a stinging move, along the forward orthogonal. The stinging move lets it step to an adjacent space and, if this move captures something, optionally make a second, non-capturing step in any direction, orthogonal or diagonal. When captured, it demotes to a Dragon Horse.
Rook	The Rook moves any number of spaces horizontally or vertically. It may not leap over pieces. When entering, exiting, or moving within the promotion zone, it may promote to a Dragon King.	Dragon King	The Dragon King moves as the Rook or one space diagonally. When captured, it demotes to a Rook.
Bishop	The Bishop moves any number of spaces diagonally. It may not leap over pieces. When entering, exiting, or moving within the promotion zone, it may promote to a Dragon Horse.	Dragon Horse	The Dragon Horse moves as the Bishop or one space orthogonally. When captured, it demotes to a Bishop.
Phoenix	The Phoenix moves one space orthogonally, or jumps to any space it can reach by moving two spaces sideways and then one space vertically or two spaces vertically and one space sideways. When entering, exiting, or moving within the promotion zone, it may promote to a Queen.	Queen	The Queen moves any number of spaces in any direction, orthogonal or diagonal. It may not leap over pieces. When captured, it demotes to a Phoenix.
Lion	The Kirin moves one space diagonally, or jumps two spaces in a straight line along any orthogonal or diagonal direction. When entering, exiting, or moving within the promotion zone, it may promote to a Lion.	Lion	The Lion jumps anywhere within a distance of two spaces, or makes a stinging move in any direction. The stinging move lets it step to an adjacent space and, if this move captures something, optionally make a second, non-capturing step in any direction, orthogonal or diagonal. When captured, it demotes to a Kirin.
Running Wolf	The Running Wolf moves any number of spaces directly forward or backward. It may not leap over pieces. In addition, it can move one square sideways or diagonally forward. When entering, exiting, or moving within the promotion zone, it may promote to a Free Boar.	Free Boar	The Free Boar moves any number of spaces directly sideways or diagonally forward. In addition, it can move one square, or jump two squares in a straight line, diagonally backward. When captured, it demotes to a Running Wolf.
Running Leopard	The Running Leopard moves any number of spaces directly sideways. It may not leap over pieces. In addition, it can move one space directly backward, or diagonally forward. When it enters, exits, or moves within the promotion zone, it may promote to a Flying Ox.	Flying Ox	The Flying Ox moves any number of spaces directly forward or backward, or diagonally forward. In addition, it can move one square, or jump two squares in a straight line, diagonally backward. When captured, it demotes to a Running Leopard.
Ram's-Head Soldier	The Ram's-Head Soldier moves any number of spaces diagonally forward. It may not leap over pieces. When it moves into or within the promotion zone, it may promote to a Great Stag. When it reaches the last rank, it must promote.	Great Stag	The Great Stag moves any number of spaces vertically. In addition, it may move one space horizontally or jump to any space it could reach by moving two spaces vertically, followed by one space horizontally. When captured, it demotes to a Ram's-Head Soldier.
Lance	The Lance moves any number of spaces vertically forward. It may not leap over pieces. When it moves into or within the promotion zone, it may promote to a Free Tiger. When it reaches the last rank, it must promote.	Free Tiger	The Free Tiger moves any number of spaces horizontally. In addition, it may move one space vertically or jump to any space it could reach by moving two spaces horizontally, followed by one space vertically. When captured, it demotes to a Lance.
Strong Bear	The Strong Bear jumps to either space it could reach by moving two spaces left or right, followed by one space forward. In addition, it can move one space diagonally, sideways, or backward. When it enters, exits, or moves within the promotion zone, it may promote to a Treacherous Fox.	Treacherous Fox	The Treacherous Fox jumps two spaces in a straight line directly backward, or jumps to either space it could reach by moving two spaces left or right, followed by one space forward. in addition, it can move any number of spaces in any forward direction, or move one space in any backward direction. When captured, it demotes to a Strong Bear.
Flying Swallow	The Flying Swallow jumps two spaces in a straight line in any forward direction. When it enters the promotion zone, it may promote to a Golden Bird. When it reaches either of the last two ranks, it must promote.	Golden Bird	The Golden Bird jumps to the second space in any sideways or backward direction, or to any of the four spaces it could reach by moving two spaces forward, followed by one more space left or right, or two spaces left or right, followed by one space forward. In addition, it may move one space in any vertical or forward direction. When captured, it demotes to a Flying Swallow.
Knight	The Knight jumps to either of the two spaces it could reach by moving two spaces forward, followed by one more space left or right. When it enters the promotion zone, it may promote to a Heavenly Horse. When it reaches either of the last two ranks, it must promote.	Heavenly Horse	The Heavenly Horse jumps to the second space in any forward direction, or to either of the two spaces it could reach by moving two spaces backward, followed by one more space left or right. In addition, it may move one space in any diagonal or forward direction. When captured, it demotes to a Knight.
Gold General	The Gold General moves one space in any forward or orthogonal direction. When it enters, exits, or moves within the promotion zone, it may promote to a Great Elephant.	Great Elephant	The Great Elephant moves any number of spaces diagonally forward. It may not leap over pieces. In addition, it can move one space diagonally backward, sideways, or directly forward. When captured, it demotes back to a Gold General.
Silver General	The Silver General moves one space in any forward or diagonal direction. When it enters, exits, or moves within the promotion zone, it may promote to a Running Wolf.	Running Wolf	The Running Wolf moves any number of spaces directly forward or backward. It may not leap over pieces. In addition, it can move one square sideways or diagonally forward. When captured, it demotes to a Silver General.
Copper General	The Copper General moves one space in any forward or vertical direction. When it enters, exits, or moves within the promotion zone, it may promote to a Running Leopard.	Running Leopard	The Running Leopard moves any number of spaces directly sideways. It may not leap over pieces. In addition, it can move one space directly backward, or diagonally forward. When captured, it demotes to a Copper General.
Pawn	The Pawn moves one space vertically forward. When it moves into or within the promotion zone, it may promote to a Tokin. When it reaches the last rank, it must promote.	Tokin	The Tokin moves one space in any forward or orthogonal direction. It may not move diagonally backwards. When captured, it demotes to a Pawn.

Promotion Zone

The promotion zone is the farthest four ranks of the board.

Promotion and Drop Restrictions

These rules are the same as in standard Shogi. However, the ones that do not specifically apply to Pawns apply to a different set of pieces, specifically to the Pawn, Lance, and Ram's-Head Soldier on the last rank, and to the Knight and Flying Swallow on the last two ranks.

Check

It is illegal to make a move that places or leaves a King in check during any part of the move, even if said King does not end up in check after the move. Some special cases regarding stinging moves are worth noting:

If a stinging piece (Lion, Soaring Eagle, Horned Falcons), is used to remove a check from an enemy ranging piece, it must do so immediately, without moving to an intermediate square in the process. If the stinging piece is able to move again afterward, it must stay between its King and the attacking piece.
A stinging piece standing between its King and an enemy ranging piece cannot capture anything outside the latter's line of attack, even if it can step back into the line of attack afterward.

Impasse

This rule is the same as in standard Shogi, except that the minimum number of points needed to not lose is 64. Each Lion, Queen, Dragon King, Dragon Horse, Rook, Bishop, Phoenix, or Kirin, promoted or not, scores 5 points for the owning player, and all other pieces except Kings score 1 point each.

How to Move Pieces

To enable moving by mouse or touch, you should enable JavaScript. Even without JavaScript enabled, you can still move pieces by entering your moves in the Moves field, using full algebraic notation.

Full Algebraic Notation

Algebraic notation identifies each space by a coordinate that begins with its file label and ends with its rank label. On the Chess board, files go up and down from one player to the other, and ranks go from left to right. In most games, files are represented by letters, and ranks are represented by numbers, but there is no fixed rule requiring this for all games, and some games, such as Shogi, reverse this convention. If you look at the diagram, you will usually see the file labels going from left to right and the file labels going up and down. And if you hover your mouse over a space, you will normally see the name of the coordinate appear in a tooltip.

It is not uncommon to see algebraic notation being used for Chess, but it is often in an abbreviated format that requires you to know both the rules of the game and the current position to know exactly which piece moves where. For example, the notation "Ne6" indicates that a Knight is moving to e6, but it doesn't indicate which Knight, and it doesn't specify where the Knight is coming from. To figure this out, you need to know how a Knight moves and which Knight on the board can make a legal move to e6.

Although rules may be programmed for individual games, Game Courier itself does not know the rules of any game, and it is unable to parse abbreviated algebraic notation. Therefore, it relies on full algebraic notation, which completely specifies the move without requiring any knowledge of the game's rules or the current position. The most usual type of full algebraic notation indicates the piece that is moving by its label, the space it is moving from, and the space it moving to. In Chess, a typical first move might be written as "P e2-e4". When you hover your mouse over a piece, you will normally see the piece label followed by the coordinate for the space, and when you hover it over an empty space, you will normally see the coordinate label. Including the piece label in your notation allows Game Courier to check that the piece you're moving is the right one, and it makes game notation easier to follow, but it is not mandatory.

You may promote a piece by including a promotion move after your regular move. A promotion move has a piece go directly to a coordinate. Here is an example: "p e7-e8; q-e8".

You may remove a piece from a space by adding an @ to the space or by omitting the destination coordinate. For example, both "@-e4" and "e4-" would remove the piece on "e4". This is useful for en passant when you are playing a game that does not handle this automatically. For example, "P d5-e6; e5-" removes the Pawn on e5 after a Pawn moves from d5 to e6.

You will not need to remove spaces for most games, but if you should need to, you can do this by omitting the first coordinate in a move. For example, "-e4" would remove e4 from the board. To add or return a space to the board, you may add an @ or any other piece to it.

Available Pieces

Pieces are represented by labels, usually using uppercase letters for White and lowercase letter for Black. When you enter a move or specify the starting position for a game, you should remember that piece labels are case-sensitive. Many piece sets are available for use with Game Courier, and this table shows you which pieces belong to the piece set you are currently using.

The inclusion of a piece does not indicate that it is used in the game you are playing. But if your game uses pieces not included here, you should choose a different piece set.

Credits

This preset uses the chuseireigi settings file for Chu Seireigi, which was made by A. M. DeWitt.

Game Courier was created, programmed and written by Fergus Duniho.

WWW Page Created: 15 August 2001

Kibbitzing Etiquette

Kibbitzing is the practice of commenting on a game you are not playing. In commenting on a game, please follow these rules of etiquette.

(1) If you notice that someone has made an illegal move, please mention it. Some Game Courier presets cannot enforce rules, but Game Courier does enable players to take back any previous move. Details on how to take back a move are provided in the User's Guide, linked to above the board.

(2) Unless otherwise specifically asked to, do not offer hints or suggestions to players on what moves they should make. In general, avoid coaching comments.

(3) Once a game is over, it should be alright to offer your analysis of the game and your specific comments on what moves players should have made. If some players don't want this, they may mention it in the Kibbitzing section, and you should honor this request by not commenting on the game.

(4) Be polite. At the appropriate time, offer any criticism you have in a constructive manner. Avoid heckling players for bad moves.

(5) Don't spam this space with irrelevant comments. If you have a comment about Game Courier, rather than about the specific game you're viewing, please post it on Game Courier's Index page to give it.