In shogi, instead of notating every pair of moves as 1. (white move) (black move); 2. (white move) (black move); etc., they simply give each player a number for themselves, e.g. 1. (black move [remember, in spite of the lack of color, the first player is called black]); 2. (white move); 3. (black move); 4. (white move), etc.
So I shall be showing every other move for the current game, and I'll try to keep the pictures current. These are the first ten moves.
NOTE: The following is not part of my original comment. Now that the game is finished, I am adding commentary on this second game. Hopefully it will be interesting and useful.
Black (the player at the bottom of the board): Ric
White: (at the top): darth_ender
After 1 and 2
3 and 4
After a successful first game, I could tell that Ric was learning quickly and reading up on strategy. Two common openings are being employed here. One is to advance your rook pawn and begin an attack that way, the strategy I employed in the first game and that Ric is employing in this game. I seldom have tried the bishop strategy, as it results usually in a more dynamic game, and truthfully I am still a novice as well. However I thought I'd give it a shot. The idea is that the opposing player might open the diagonal with his bishop, I take his, he retakes mine, and now we both have bishops in hand to place elsewhere.
5 and 6
7, 8
As you can see, Ric is not taking my bait. He advanced his rook, I presume to provide some protection and make any attempts to advance into his territory more difficult. At this point I decided I would move my king to safety. There is no castling move like in Western chess, and with the danger of drops later in the game, it is imperative that you move your king to safety during the slower moments early in the game, prior to the exchange of pieces and the danger of paratrooping behind enemy lines.
9, 10
