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From: lb2e+@andrew.cmu.edu (Louis Blair)
Newsgroups: rec.games.board,soc.culture.japan,comp.sources.wanted,rec.games.chess
Subject: Re: Shogi (Japanese Chess)
Message-ID: 
Date: 17 Aug 89 21:58:04 GMT
References: <131@castle.ed.ac.uk>,
	<34077@apple.Apple.COM>
Organization: Mathematics, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
Lines: 34
In-Reply-To: <34077@apple.Apple.COM>

Bruce Lowerre writes:
>Is [Shogi] a REAL game or just another
>Fairy Chess game?

Shogi sets can be purchased from Ishi Pres
International, 1400 N. Shoreline Blvd., Bldg. A7,
Mountain View, CA 94043.  According to the
rules that came with my set:  "Shogi, the
Japanese cousin of chess, is descended from
the Indian game Chatur-anga.  From India the
game spread to Persia and then to China and
Korea.  The Chinese and Koreans created many
variations of the original game, and some of these
came to Japan in the 8th century.  Early Japanese
Shogi scarcely resembled the modern game; some
versions had different types of pieces and boards
ranging in size from 9 x 9 to 25 x 25 grids, with
as many as 97 pieces to a side.  The modern 9 x 9 
board was formalized in the 16th century by the
emperor Go-Nora.  Shogi became very popular
with some of the greatest generals of the 16th
and 17th centuries.  During this time the first Shogi
championship tournaments were held.  The second
champion, Ohashi, set the modern rules for Shogi. 
Shogi has a ranking system similar to that used in
GO.  The lowest Shogi rank is 15 KYU and counts
backwards to 1 KYU.  After 1 KYU the next rank
is 1 dan, the dan ranks increase up to 9 dan.  In
Japan only professional players have reached the
highest dan levels.  Shogi enjoys great popularity
in Japan and has spread to over 30 countries
worldwide."

Ishi now also sells subsciptions to a Shogi magazine.