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Great whale shogi is a modern variant of shogi (Japanese chess). It is not, however, Japanese: it was invented by R. Wayne Schmittberger of the United States in 1981. The game is envisioned as a "complicated 11×11 big brother"[1] to Schmittberger's other shogi variant, whale shogi. In both games, the pieces are named after types of whales. As in that game, each player starts with only one copy of most piece types; however, in great whale shogi, each pawn is a calf that promotes to the piece type of its file, and identically named pieces in whale shogi and great whale shogi do not share the same movements between the two games.
Game rules
editObjective
editThe objective of the game is to capture your opponent's white whale.
Game equipment
editTwo players, Black and White, play on a board ruled into a grid of 11 ranks (rows) by 11 files (columns). The squares are undifferentiated by marking or color.
Each player starts the game with a set of 28 wedge-shaped pieces, of slightly different sizes. They are (not listed in order of power):
- 1 white whale (W)
- 1 bowhead whale (Bw)
- 1 bottlenose dolphin (BD)
- 1 rough-toothed dolphin (RT)
- 1 sei whale (Se)
- 1 minke whale (M)
- 1 fin whale (F)
- 1 Bryde's whale (B)
- 1 harbor porpoise (HP)
- 1 Dall's porpoise (DP)
- 1 black right whale (BR)
- 1 sperm whale (S)
- 2 northern bottlenose whales (NB) (this is the only piece of which there are two starting copies per side)
- 1 humpback whale (H)
- 1 pilot whale (P)
- 1 killer whale (K)
- 11 calves (one corresponding to each piece except for the white whale, sperm whale, humpback whale. These are abbreviated by suffixing a C onto the corresponding piece type. For example, the bowhead whale calf takes the abbreviation of the bowhead whale Bw and suffixes a C: BwC)
Each piece has its abbreviation written on its face. On the reverse side of the pieces which can promote is another letter, possibly in a different color (red instead of black); this reverse side is turned up to indicate that the piece has been promoted during play. The pieces of the two sides do not differ in color, but instead each piece is shaped like a wedge, and faces forward, toward the opposing side. This shows who controls the piece during play.
Listed below are the pieces of the game and, if they promote, the pieces they promote to.
The promotions apply only to pieces that start out with the ranks in the left-most column. That is, pieces with these ranks written in black; promoted pieces with those same ranks written in red may not be promoted further. Pieces that only appear upon promotion, that is, names that only occur written in red, are marked with an asterisk. The white whale and killer whale do not promote.
Piece name | Abbreviation | Promotion | Betza notation |
---|---|---|---|
white whale | W | - | K |
bowhead whale | Bw | dwarf minke whale | fRbWbD |
*dwarf minke whale | DM | (promoted bowhead whale) | bBK |
bottlenose dolphin | BD | killer whale | FD |
rough-toothed dolphin | RT | sperm whale | bWfDfA |
sei whale | Se | pygmy killer whale | fFbA |
*pygmy killer whale | PK | (promoted sei whale) | FA |
minke whale | M | giant bottlenose whale | FfbW |
*giant bottlenose whale | GB | (promoted minke whale) | FfbWAfbD |
fin whale | F | Cuvier's beaked whale | FlrW |
*Cuvier's beaked whale | CB | (promoted fin whale) | FlrWAlrD |
Bryde's whale | B | pygmy sperm whale | fWbFfD |
*pygmy sperm whale | PS | (promoted Bryde's whale) | WD |
harbor porpoise | HP | sperm whale | fbWffZ |
Dall's porpoise | DP | narwhal | WA |
*narwhal | N | (promoted Dall's porpoise) | FfH |
black right whale | BR | false killer whale | fRlrHbW |
*false killer whale | FK | (promoted black right whale) | KfDfmcavWfmpcafmpcafW |
sperm whale | S | blue whale | fBbsR |
*blue whale | Bl | (promoted sperm whale) | FyafsFyavFyabsFyasF |
humpback whale | H | gray whale | bBfsR |
*gray whale | G | (promoted humpback whale) | NN |
pilot whale | P | pacific northern right whale | W |
*pacific northern right whale | PN | (promoted pilot whale) | DA |
northern bottlenose whale | NB | beluga whale | F |
*beluga whale | Bg | (promoted northern bottlenose whale) | KcabK [a] |
killer whale | K | (promoted bottlenose dolphin and independent piece. As an independent piece, does not promote) | FfsWfmpcafFfcabF [b] |
calves | XC | (promotion to corresponding adult type of calf) | fW |
Setup
editBelow is a diagram showing the setup of the players' pieces. The board setup is symmetrical: the way one player sees their own pieces is the same way that the opposing player sees their pieces.
11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
BR | DP | HP | B | F | W | M | Se | RT | BD | Bw | k |
H | NB | S | b | ||||||||
BRC | DPC | NB | BC | FC | K | MC | SeC | P | BDC | BwC | c |
NBC | KC | PC | d | ||||||||
e | |||||||||||
f | |||||||||||
g | |||||||||||
PC | KC | NBC | h | ||||||||
BwC | BDC | P | SeC | MC | K | FC | BC | NB | DPC | BRC | i |
S | NB | H | l | ||||||||
Bw | BD | RT | Se | M | W | F | B | HP | DP | BR | k |
Gameplay
editPlayers alternate moving their pieces, with movements as defined below. Black plays first. A move consists of moving a piece to either an empty square or to a square occupied by an opposing piece, thus capturing that piece, optionally promoting the piece; or dropping a captured piece anywhere on the board.
Promotion
editAn unpromoted piece may be promoted (flipped over) if it moves into or from the promotion zone, consisting of the 3 farthest ranks from the starting area of the player who controls the piece. Calves are mandatorily promoted upon reaching the last rank. Once captured, pieces are demoted.
Piece Movement
editIndividual pieces
editFollowing are diagrams that indicate the movement of each piece. Pieces are listed roughly in order, from front to back rows, with pieces that only occur in promoted form appearing next to their unpromoted counterparts. Pieces with a grey heading start out in the game; those with a blue heading only appear on the board as a promoted piece. Betza's funny notation has been included in brackets for easier reference, with XBetza extension for lion-type or multistep moves.
Notation | |
○ | Steps to an adjacent square |
☆ | Jumps to a non-adjacent square, bypassing any intervening piece |
│ | Ranges along a straight line, crossing any number of empty squares |
─ | |
╲ | |
╱ | |
✳ | May move as a queen from this square |
♘ | May move as a nightrider in this direction |
! | igui (capture without moving) or step to an adjacent square |
☆ | May jump directly to this square, or reach it through a multiple-step move |
White whale W (royal piece) | Calves XC (promotes to corresponding adult piece) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This is the royal piece of great whale shogi. The white whale can move into check at any time, although this is almost always a blunder. |
The calves promote to their corresponding adult pieces, which they start in the same column as. There are thus 11 different types of calf. There are no white whale, sperm whale, or humpback whale calves.The X listed in the piece abbreviation here is a placeholder which is replaced by the adult piece's abbreviation. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bowhead whale Bw (promotes to dwarf minke whale) | Dwarf minke whale DM | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Bottlenose dolphin BD (promotes to killer whale) | Killer whale K | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This is the move of the kirin in Chu shogi and other traditional large-board variants. Because of its movement, the bottlenose dolphin can only reach half of the squares on the board. |
The killer whale occurs both as an independent piece and as a promoted bottlenose dolphin. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rough-toothed dolphin RT (promotes to sperm whale) | Harbor porpoise HP (promotes to sperm whale) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Because of its movement, the rough-toothed dolphin can only reach half of the squares on the board. |
Because of its movement, the harbor porpoise can only reach half of the squares on the board. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sperm whale S (promotes to blue whale) | Blue whale Bl | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The sperm whale occurs both as an independent piece and as a promoted rought-toothed dolphin or harbor porpoise. |
There are up to 4 paths to reach a particular square with the blue whale. Based on this description of its movement, the blue whale can effectively pass a turn when a diagonal square is free by stepping there and making a queen move directly back to the starting square. Unlike the pieces with lion powers, the blue whale cannot capture multiple pieces in one turn. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sei whale Se (promotes to pygmy killer whale) | Pygmy killer whale PK | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Because of its movement, the pygmy killer whale can only reach half of the squares on the board. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Minke whale M (promotes to giant bottlenose whale) | Giant bottlenose whale GB | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This is the move of the ferocious leopard in Chu shogi and the crane in Tori shogi. |
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Fin whale F (promotes to Cuvier's beaked whale) | Cuvier's beaked whale CB | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Bryde's whale B (promotes to pygmy sperm whale) | Pygmy sperm whale PS | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Dall's porpoise DP (promotes to narwhal) | Narwhal N | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Black right whale BR (promotes to false killer whale) | False killer whale FK | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Because of its movement, the black right whale can only reach a third of the squares on the board. |
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Humpback whale H (promotes to gray whale) | Gray whale G | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Pilot whale P (promotes to Pacific northern right whale) | Pacific northern right whale PN | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Because of its movement, the Pacific northern right whale can only reach a quarter of the squares on the board. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Northern bottlenose whale NB (promotes to beluga whale) | Beluga whale Bg | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This is the move of the silver general in most shogi variants. |
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Drops
editCaptured pieces are truly captured in great whale shogi. They are retained "in hand", and can be brought back into play under the capturing player's control. On any turn, instead of moving a piece across the board, a player can take a piece they have previously captured and place it on any empty square, facing the opponent. The piece is now part of the forces controlled by that player. This is termed dropping the piece, or just a drop.
A drop cannot capture a piece; that requires an additional move.
As in Shogi, there are restrictions on the dropping of calves (analogous to pawns in shogi). Calves may not be dropped on the last rank, may not be dropped for checkmate (though they may be dropped for mate), and may not be dropped into files that already contain a calf of that player.[1] The last restriction applies even when two calves are of different types.
Game end
editA player who captures the opponent's white whale wins the game.
See also
edit- Whale shogi
- Shogi variant
- Wa shogi, another 11×11 shogi variant with pieces named after animals
Notes
edit- ^ a b The igui-type capture is described in the original source as "it can make an Igui! move by moving to one square in any direction, capturing a piece there, and returning to the original space it came from". This description prohibits lion-type passes, in which no captures are made. If such passes are possible, this piece is KmcabK
- ^ a b The igui-type capture is described as "It can also capture a piece on the 1st square and then move back to its square of origin (Igui type capture). This last type of capture is almost as if it didn't move.".[1] The literal interpretation of this is that it cannot do an lion-type pass. If such passes are possible, this piece is FfsWfmpcavF.
References
edit- ^ a b c "Great Whale Shogi". The Chess Variant Pages. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
External links
edit- Great Whale Shogi , The Chess Variant Pages