How about a game of Japanese Chess, i.e. Shogi? Now playing Shogi4 — Page 6

G-3i

S-8c

L-1h

S-8d

I may have figured something out that will make putting pictures up far easier. for these games!  I'll be checking it out between moves :)

darth_ender said:

I may have figured something out that will make putting pictures up far easier. for these games!  I'll be checking it out between moves :)

 Oh? Share it with me once you get it figured out.

K-1i

play.chessvariants.org

I've tried it before, but I didn't get it to work.  Now it's working fine.  I can enter a move or two, then ask it to generate an independent page with pictures.  I'm about to post the first ten moves of this game.  I will try to get caught up with this game (it still takes a few minutes to get this together, though it's far easier than the print screen method I was using before).  Once I get caught up, I'll try to put together our last game with some commentary for those interested.

S-9e

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

Click here for the next set of moves.

G-2i

P-8f

I'm not going to change the previous set of pictures, but I like this background better.  Hopefully the symbols on this set of pieces makes it easier for any non-Japanese-reading fans to follow along.  Here are moves 11-20.

NOTE: I have added commentary now that the game is over.

11, 12

Now that I feel I have my king pretty secure, I begin with the strategy that worked well last time: advancing my rook pawn.  Meanwhile, Ric is moving his king to a more secure location.

13, 14

15, 16

While Ric continues to move his pieces for a more secure king, I begin what I believe is called climbing the pole.  Since my rook is protecting the 8 file, and since I cannot advance my pawn further, as it will simply be set back (this you will see when you read the commentary on the first game), I send the silver general (the moon piece) on a mission of infiltration.  Though Ric's king is being safely nestled into one corner, I know I cannot break through until I obtain more pieces from my opponent that I can begin dropping behind enemy lines.  Thus, I attack his weaker flank with hopes for a breakthrough and a gain in material.

17, 18

19, 20

Click here for next set of moves.

P-9f

Now here is move 21 through to where we currently are.

NOTE: The following has commentary added, now that the game is over.

21, 22

23, 24

25, 26

END COMMENTARY, ORIGINAL TEXT: This is presently what the board looks like.  While I immediately want to provide commentary, it's probably best to save it for after the game.  I will point out to all readers that, as you can see, except for the lone rook and bishop per side, most pieces are extremely slow in movement.  In Western chess, we are used to pieces sliding around the board, creating an intricate web of threats.  This is honestly something I love about chess!  It's beautiful in the combinations you can make.  Shogi is much slower and takes a while to get going, as most pieces may only make a single step at a time.  However, once a few exchanges take place, the drops begin to expand the possibilities dramatically.  Obviously, while shogi doesn't have nearly so much available in the way of long distant attacks, the paratrooping of your pieces is an extremely enjoyable aspect of this game, and it gets super exciting.  It's a great game!

CONTINUING COMMENTARY AFTER GAME COMPLETED:

27, 28

29, 30

At this point I think Ric made his first serious error.  We had played the game a few moves with mistakes on both parts, and both agreed to go back to this point, but I still think he could have played it better.  I think he had hoped to counter my attack as best as possible by removing silver general, but truthfully I think he would have had better success just attacking my pawn on the rank that his rook was defending.  He should have brought his left silver or gold general forward to defend the 8g square.  With the pawn in hand, he could have fairly easily countered my attack by dropping that new pawn on the defended 8g square.  It would require more work on my part to break through his defenses.  As is, I now have gained a bishop and lost a silver, clearly the exchange in my favor.

Sx9f

What do you think of the pictures?  Are they helpful for you?

The pictures are nice to have, but I think they are less helpful for me than they would be for outside viewers since I'm following along with my own program. If anyone else appreciates the pictures, then speak up, because otherwise I'm fine with them only being occasional.

Well, I misjudged you somewhere, so hopefully I make the right choices (for me, not for you ;)) in the next few moves. I don't want a rook running rampage behind my ranks again.

Px8f

I hope I make good moves at this point, because I wasn't paying attention and was thinking we were on the 8th file.  Sorry for my errors.

S-8g+

Ah well, no worries. Your error saved my neck, so I'm happy enough about it. :)

B-9g

I'm afraid in this case it did not, though it could have been prevented.  My silver was promoted, so now it moves like a gold general, meaning that square is no longer safe.  So you don't waste your turn, do you want to take that back?  I'll find out in the morning.  It was nice advancing the game so much further tonight.  Goodnight :)

Hmmm... I think I'll keep it as it is.

If I haven't changed my mind by the time you come back, then go ahead with your move.

Alright.  Sx9g.  This wasn't exactly how I meant things to go, but 'tis okay.

I must be missing something... Either that, or you are. Well, I'll see how it goes and hope that I'm not overlooking something obvious.

Nx9g

Maybe you know something I don't.  I feel the exchange of bishop for silver is worth it, though.  In any case, we'll see how it plays out.  Bx7g+

Oops. I should have used my lance last turn...

I offer two options: 1) go back to where I made my first error in position, and play from there; 2) continue as is.  I'm okay with either way.  You might come out better going back.  But it's up to you.

I'll go back to where you made your error since that gives me a better chance then I have now (I think). Which turn was that? 27?