Tenjiku Shogi - Notes On Disputed Moves

Notes On Disputed Moves

• Lion hawk

The Shogi Association (TSA) rules interpreted "like a lion" to mean that the lion hawk did not have the full lion powers of jump and double capture, but only a two-step area move. This interpretation was never made on Japanese sites, and has largely been abandoned in the West as well. Giving the lion hawk full lion powers brings the piece more into line with the rest of the game, though both versions are playable.

• Free eagle

Western sources give the free eagle the move of a free king plus the ability to jump to the second square along an orthogonal.

Japanese Wikipedia states 斜めの場合は飛び越えては行けないが、縦横の場合は駒を飛び越えて行ける "it cannot jump on the diagonals, but can jump pieces on the orthogonals." The diagram shows an orthogonal range jump, but the free eagle does not appear in the ranking list of range-jumping pieces.

However, the Edo-era Sho Shōgi Zushiki states that it moves 如奔王亦猫刄再度歩兼二行 "as a free king or two times as a cat sword in two directions", which could be taken as requiring the piece to finish on one of the orthogonals, if not exactly a jump; while elsewhere in the Sho Shōgi Zushiki and in the Shōgi Zushiki it says that 奔王の動きに加えて、猫刄の動き（斜め四方向に1マス動く）を2度できる "in addition to moving as a free king, it can make a cat-sword move (one square in one of the four diagonals) twice", which has no such implication, but which Japanese Wikipedia says is thought to mean a jump.

• Fire demon

TSA rules state that if you move your fire demon next to an opposing fire demon, only your fire demon is immolated; all other adjacent pieces survive. A few computer programs and books stipulate that other adjacent pieces are immolated as well, with only the opposing fire demon surviving, but this interpretation is not widely followed. Both variants are playable.

Japanese Wikipedia states only that 火鬼が火鬼の隣に移動したときは、動いた方が焼かれる "When a fire demon moves next to a fire demon, the moving piece is burnt," without mentioning the fate of surrounding pieces.

Edo-era sources differ in whether the orthogonal ranging move is along the rank or the file of the board. Western sources have it move along the file, but moving along the rank would be more in keeping with the fire demon being a promoted water buffalo.

• Heavenly tetrarch

Western sources do not have the ranging move along the orthogonal. However, the Sho Shōgi Zushiki states it moves 如車兵亦近八方不行其外周二三要用歩 "as a chariot soldier, also the eight neighboring squares without moving and taking two or three steps outside the periphery", and this is consistent with it being a promoted chariot soldier.

• Range-jumping generals

TSA rules state that the range-jumping generals cannot capture an equal or higher-ranking piece, not just that they cannot jump over them. This gives a huge advantage to Black, so that Black can win every game if played right, but is not supported by Japanese sites and has been largely abandoned in the West as unplayable.