Palace Shogi

Pawns (+P) move like pawns in Chess. The pawn is one of only two pieces that captures differently than it ordinarily moves. Pawns move by stepping forward one space at a time, but capture by stepping one space diagonally-forward (forward-right or forward-left). A pawn cannot capture by stepping directly forward. Pawns can never move backwards.

A pawn can step forward two spaces as its initial move, as in Chess. Pawns cannot capture with this move, or jump over intervening pieces. En passant rules related to this are applied exactly as in Chess.

Unlike most pieces, pawns begin the game in promoted state, or are considered the promoted state of the footsoldier. Each player begins with 9 pawns in a line across the third rank nearest them.

Footsoldiers (P) move generally like the Xiangqi footsoldier. A footsoldier steps one space forward. Footsoldiers additionally gain a sidestep move or ability to step one space either left or right, after crossing from the fifth to sixth rank (corresponding to a similar rule in Xiangqi). In all cases, footsoldiers capture exactly as they move. Footsoldiers can never move backwards. If a footsoldier reaches the final rank, it can only step sideways.

Enemy palace moves:
Footsoldiers can also step one space diagonally-forward within the enemy palace corridors, stepping diagonally-forward from one corridor space to another, in this case as others capturing exactly as they move.

Footsoldiers can only enter the game as drops, after enemy pawns are captured and held, then dropped in unpromoted state. No player can have more than five footsoldiers on the gameboard at a time.

Lances (L) move like the lance or kyosha (incense chariot) in Shogi. A lance can slide any number of spaces vertically forward, and cannot move backwards. Each player begins with two lances.

Cannons (+L) have resemblance to the cannons in Xiangqi and Janggi.

Cannons capture differently than they ordinarily move. Cannons ordinarily move by sliding any distance horizontally or vertically in any direction, like the rook. Cannons however can only capture by hopping a single piece, friendly or enemy, along the path of attack. The cannon then moves to the space of the captured piece and displaces it. The piece over which the cannon hops is called the screen. The hop can be performed over any distance, provided there is exactly one piece between the cannon's original position and its target. Any number of unoccupied spaces, including none, may exist between the cannon, screen, and piece to be captured.

The screen piece over which the cannon hops cannot be another cannon. A cannon also cannot capture another cannon.

Cannons enter the game through promotion of lances.

Enemy palace moves:
Cannons can move by sliding diagonally within the palace corridors, in a straight line during the move, like the bishop except without capturing.

Cannons can capture by diagonally hopping from one outer corner corridor of the palace to the opposite corner corridor, if there is a suitable screen piece in the middle corridor space of the palace.

Horses (N) move like the keima (laurel horse) in Shogi. Horses jump forward in L-shaped moves, two spaces forward and one space left or right. Horses cannot move backwards. Each player begins with two horses.

Knights (+N) move like the knight in Chess. Knights jump in L-shaped moves like the horse, but in any direction. Knights move two spaces vertically and one space horizontally, or two spaces horizontally and one space vertically, giving knights ability to move to any of the closest board spaces that are not on the same file, rank, or diagonal. Knights enter the game if horses are promoted.

Bishops (B) move like the bishop in Chess or kakugyo (angle-mover) in Shogi. Bishops slide any number of spaces in a diagonal direction. A player's initial bishop while unpromoted can only access half of the spaces on the board, or the dark spaces it can reach diagonally. A bishop dropped onto a light space can in unpromoted state reach only light spaces. Each player begins with one bishop.

Elephants (+B) wield the combined move sets of the ryuma (dragon-horse) in Shogi and the alfil (elephant) in Shatranj. Elephants can slide any number of spaces in a diagonal direction like a bishop, and can step one space in any orthogonal direction. Additionally, elephants can jump two spaces in any of the four diagonal directions over intermediate pieces -- this move is called the alfil jump. Elephants enter the game upon promotion of bishops.

Rooks (R) move like the rook in chess, hisha (flying chariot) in Shogi, or similar pieces in other related games. Rooks can slide any number of spaces horizontally or vertically. Each player begins with one rook.

Dragons (+R) wield the combined movesets of the ryuo (dragon king) in Shogi and the dabbaba (war engine) in Shatranj Al-Kabir. Dragons can slide any number of spaces in an orthogonal direction like a rook, and can step one space in any diagonal direction. Additionally, dragons can jump two spaces in any of the four orthogonal directions over intermediate pieces -- this move is called the dabbaba jump. Dragons enter the game upon promotion of rooks.

Enemy palace moves:
Dragons can move and capture by sliding diagonally, like bishops, along the corridors within the enemy palace.

Silver generals (S) move like the corresponding piece in Shogi. A silver general steps one space diagonally in any direction, or one space straight forward, giving it five possible destinations. Each player begins with two silver generals.

Gold generals (+S) move ordinarily like the corresponding piece in Shogi. A gold general steps one space orthogonally in any direction, or one space diagonally forward, giving it six possible destinations.

Gold generals also have a special moveset within the home palace that corresponds to the ordinary movement of the hia in Hiashatar, or stepping 1 to 2 spaces any direction in a straight line. This moveset is called the senior adviser. The senior adviser move can capture on the first or second step, but cannot continue stepping after a first step that involves a capture, and cannot jump over intermediate pieces. The senior adviser moveset applies to movement within the home palace, or movement from within the home palace stepping outside the home palace. Any move by the gold general beginning within the home palace entails senior adviser power.

Any move beginning outside the home palace entails the ordinary moveset of the gold general, and the enemy palace does not impact the movement of the gold general in any way.

The senior adviser moveset of the gold general does not have the power to check the opposing king. The gold general in its ordinary moveset can check the king, but the senior adviser move cannot. The gold general however always potentially wields its ordinary moveset even when inside the home palace, with ability to check the opposing king (technically, the gold general wields both its ordinary moveset and the senior adviser moveset when within the home palace, which has relevance toward checking the opposing king). The gold general also may move as senior adviser to a space where it then immediately delivers check or checkmate through its ordinary moveset.

(The senior adviser moveset does not entail the specific "bodyguard power", or ability to force a sliding piece's movement to halt within its vicinity, as in Hiashatar.)

Each player begins with two gold generals, and additional gold generals can enter the game through promotion of silver generals.

Queens (Q) have two separate and distinct movesets depending on gameboard position.

In most board positions, queens move like the queen in Chess, or the honno in Chu Shogi. This moveset is called the free queen. The free queen can slide any number of spaces along any of the eight orthogonal or diagonal directions.

The queen moves differently inside the home palace. Inside the home palace, the queen can only move like the fers in Shatranj, or one space diagonally in any direction forward or backward.

This means the queen cannot move in the beginning arrangement, and once able to move needs to make at least two moves to exit the palace. A move made by the queen exiting the palace counts as a move that was made from inside the palace, and thus can only amount to one diagonal space, or in other words the queen steps out of her palace. (Notice that unlike the gold general, the queen has no ability to wield its ordinary moveset when inside the home palace.)

If the queen exits then re-enters the home palace, the same restrictions on movement still apply. The queen upon re-entering the palace can however be limited to a different range of spaces inside the palace than at the game beginning, or in other words while at the beginning of the game the queen can only move diagonally along the corridors, depending on the point of re-entry the queen can be instead restricted to moving on dark gameboard spaces inside the palace. There is no limit to the number of times a queen can exit and re-enter the home palace.

The free queen's movements are not restricted by the opposing player's palace.

Outside the home palace, the free queen generally moves like in Chess, however she is still affected by the home palace's "walls". The free queen cannot move through the home palace as if it weren't there. Any move by the free queen from outside her palace into her palace always ends at the first space of entry. The queen can never enter and exit her own palace within a single move.

This can have impact regarding whether a queen has the opposing king in check -- a "clear line of sight" between a queen and opposing king does not put the king in check in a situation in which the queen could not actually move to that space without entering and leaving her own palace.

Lions (+Q) move and capture generally like the lion in Chu Shogi. The lion can take one step in any direction up to twice per turn; taking only one step is also allowed. It can continue after a capture on the first step, and can potentially capture two pieces in one turn. It can change directions after the first step, so that it can reach the same spaces as a knight.

Capturing a piece and returning to the original space is allowed: returning to its starting space with the second step, the lion can effectively capture a piece on an adjacent space as if it had not moved. This move is called stationary feeding.

The lion can also step to an adjacent empty space and back without capturing anything, leaving the board unchanged or effectively passing a turn, but this is only possible if at least one adjacent space is vacant. This move is called staring.

The lion can jump to any space that it could step to on an empty board, or anywhere within a distance of two spaces except for the space it started on. (This means the lion can jump in any of the eight diagonal or orthogonal directions, as well as perform any of the eight jumps of the knight.)

"Lion trading" rules are not the same as in Chu Shogi. These rules apply: One lion cannot capture another lion. Each player can only have one lion at a time.

Lions enter the game through promotion of queens. Other rules concerning this are explained below.

Kings (K) have the same basic move set and piece principles as the king in Chess or correlative piece in Shogi. A king steps one space in any direction, orthogonal or diagonal.

Kings cannot face each other along the same file unobstructed with no intervening pieces, as in Xiangqi. Any move that would result in kings facing each other across an unobstructed file is illegal. (For purposes of understanding, it can be posited that as in Xiangqi the king has a special move, which is called the flying king -- in and only in circumstances in which the opposing king is left unobstructed along the same file, the king can attack the opposing king across the file by sliding like a rook, and therefore any move that reveals one king to another results in placing the king in check. The flying king attack can never actually be executed in the game, as no move that captures the king ever actually occurs, and additionally any move that would give circumstance in which the flying king attack could then happen would be illegal as would any other move exposing the king to check.)

This rule applies to kings facing one other along a file, including if the kings are facing one another "backwards" (or their wedges are pointing opposite directions) along the file, but does not apply to horizontal or diagonal lines.

Enemy palace moves:
A king that enters the enemy palace automatically delivers checkmate. This move is called the entering king. Any legal move by the king into the enemy palace delivers checkmate. A king cannot move into check entering the palace, but the king can legally move out of check into the enemy palace and deliver checkmate if that would otherwise be a legal move.