From: Hunter Johnson <hunter <at> hunterandlori <dot> com>
Date: 13 aug 2004
Subject: Re: Kanji-Less Shogi Sets = International Sets ? Where Available ?

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--- E R <nkaidou <at> webtv <dot> net> wrote:

> I read about "international" shogi sets sometime back. What do they
> look like?

Pieces of both types are pictured on this page:

http://www.chessvariants.com/shogi.html

I don't know where you can get them, but perhaps you can print them out
on sticky-back paper and stick them to the pieces you have.

> The "kanji" is a problem for me. I once played a game against a young
> man who had lived in Japan and was slaughtered--without knowing what
> the pieces were. That is my only game to date.

If your opponent was playing without helping you learn the pieces, part
of the problem was your opponent, IMO.

> I bought a set from Tuttle Co. and showed it to a former US Marine
> who had been over in Japan. He did not recognize the kanji.

> Are there sets without kanji? Maybe with arrows and colors?
=20
> I don't see why I should need to read kanji to play.

You only have to distinguish between squiggle-squiggle and
squoggle-squoggle; you don't have to be able to read them.  :-)

Some hints, if you want to keep using the pieces you have (I'd
recommend it; you're far more likely to encounter the kanji on sets you
play elsewhere):

The king (jeweled general) should be the biggest piece.
The top symbol on the gold general looks like a pot of gold under a
mountain, if you squint at it right.
The silver has a squished (smaller) pot of gold off to the side.
The knight has four legs (like a horse)
The lance has a pointy "arrowhead".
The bishop is sort of leaning to point along the diagonal.
The bottom symbol on the rook has no diagonal lines.
The pawn is the one that there are lots of.

Anything that's promoted should have "softer" lines.  They all move
like golds except for the rook and bishop, which add the king's
movement abilities to their own.

I can email you a one-page Word doc (suitable for laminating) I did up
so that my son could play, if you like.

Hunter


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--
J. Hunter Johnson    <><
http://www.hunterandlori.com

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