Setup and gameplay Shogi

shogi starting setup; black (at bottom) moves first.

each player sets friendly pieces facing forward (toward opponent).

in rank nearest player:

the king placed in center file;
the 2 gold generals placed in files adjacent king;
the 2 silver generals placed adjacent each gold general;
the 2 knights placed adjacent each silver general;
the 2 lances placed in corners, adjacent each knight.




that is, first rank is







or







in second rank, each player places:

the bishop in same file left knight;
the rook in same file right knight.


in third rank, 9 pawns placed 1 per file.

traditionally, order of placing pieces on board determined. there 2 commonly used orders, Ōhashi order 大橋流 , itō order 伊藤流. placement sets pieces multiples (generals, knights, lances) left right in cases, , follows order:

in ito, player places:

5.  pawns (left right starting leftmost file)
6.  lances
7.  bishop
8.  rook


in ohashi, player places:

5.  lances
6.  bishop
7.  rook
8.  pawns (starting center file, alternating left right 1 file @ time)




deciding goes first: furigoma

a furigoma 振り駒 piece toss used decide moves first. 1 of players tosses 5 pawns. if number of tokins (promoted pawns, と) facing higher unpromoted pawns (歩), player tossed pawns plays gote 後手 white (that is, getting second move). among amateur tournaments, higher-ranked player or defending champion performs piece toss. in professional games, furigoma done on behalf of higher-ranked player/champion timekeeper kneels side of higher-ranked player , tosses pawn pieces onto silk cloth. in friendly amateur games, player ask opponent toss pawns out of politeness. otherwise, person tosses pawns can determined rock–paper–scissors.

after piece toss furigoma, game proceeds. if multiple games played, players alternate turns goes first in subsequent games. (the terms black , white used differentiate sides although there no difference in color of pieces.) each turn, player may either move piece on board (and potentially promote it, capture opposing piece, or both) or else drop piece has been captured onto square of board. these options explained below.

professional games timed in international chess, professional shogi players never expected keep time in games. instead timekeeper assigned, typically apprentice professional. time limits longer in international chess (9 hours side plus time in prestigious meijin title match), , in addition byōyomi (literally second counting ) employed. means when ordinary time has run out, player point on have amount of time complete every move (a byōyomi period), typically upwards of 1 minute. final ten seconds counted down, , if time expires player move loses game immediately. amateurs play electronic clocks beep out final ten seconds of byōyomi period, prolonged beep last five.