Drops Shogi

traditional piece stands pieces in hand



piece stands next shogi board

captured pieces retained in hand , can brought play under capturing player s control. japanese term piece(s) in hand either 持ち駒 mochigoma or 手駒 tegoma. on turn, instead of moving piece on board, player may select piece in hand , place – unpromoted side , facing opposing side – on empty square. piece 1 of player s active pieces on board , can moved accordingly. called dropping piece, or simply, drop. drop counts complete move.

a drop cannot capture piece, nor dropping within promotion zone result in immediate promotion. capture and/or promotion may occur normally, however, on subsequent moves of piece.

a pawn, knight, or lance may not dropped on furthest rank, since pieces have no legal moves on subsequent turns. same reason, knight may not dropped on penultimate (player s 8th) rank.

there 2 additional restrictions when dropping pawns:

it common keep captured pieces on wooden stand (駒台 komadai) traditionally placed bottom left corner aligns bottom right corner of board perspective of each player. not permissible hide pieces full view.

it common players swap bishops, oppose each other across board, in game. leaves each player bishop in hand dropped later. ability drops in shogi give game tactical richness , complexity. fact no piece ever goes entirely out of play accounts rarity of draws.