Teen shogi star wins new fans for Japan's 'game of generals'

It's a well-written piece introducing the world of shogi. I've been playing it since my high school days just for fun, never expect it to become popular among ordinary, non-player audiences. Diversity involving more women and international players may be the key for further success.

I object to Shogi (and chess) being called a sport.

It’s a board game. I enjoy it myself. But come on it’s not a sport.

I play chess a lot. I tried to learn Shogi. Very similar, but a few moves/rules differ and it was difficult at that time to remember the pieces only marked with a Kanji. Will try again some days.

By the way, the previous prodigy Habu used to play chess and was number 1 in Japan. Should Fujii play chess, he would surely be a world top player. No doubt you need to have a computer brain to be at the top.

Check how Bobby Fischer could solve this puzzle. Starts at 11:30

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxvnEwvgfeI

By the way, the previous prodigy Habu used to play chess and was number 1 in Japan. 

Interesting!

Congrats to Fujii-san and what he's bringing to the game bringing a new spark and also to all the fans old and new, fun to be witness it.

Are there Shogi groupies?

didou

I play chess a lot. I tried to learn Shogi. Very similar, but a few moves/rules differ and it was difficult at that time to remember the pieces only marked with a Kanji. Will try again some days.

The Kanji are easy to remember after a playing a few games. If they really bother you, there are also Shogi sets with pictograms.

What is much harder is to forget chess. The strategy in Shogis is completely different, so your chess instincts will get in the way.

There are free online sites if you want to try again from the comfort of your chair.

@WilliB

Thanks for your input.

At that time, remembering characters was one thing, but I also remember that some pieces get upgraded, I forgot actually which one, and compared to chess, that's bothered me in a way so I did not pursue. It was more a question of not having the will to pursue into it rather than the difficulty.

Anyway, in this era where kids might go away from traditional board games, it is good Fujii creates a Shogi boom. The Covid pandemic has also indirectly triggered a revival of chess after the Queen's Gambit series on Netflix.

Lets see him challenge the AI at shogi then

didou

At that time, remembering characters was one thing, but I also remember that some pieces get upgraded,

That is what I said. They all get upgraded, not just peasants. Plus Shogi pieces do not die; they are captured and converted. Which makes for completely different game strategies from chess.

Anyway, in this era where kids might go away from traditional board games, it is good Fujii creates a Shogi boom.

I doubt that this geekish looking guy has a a great impact. However on online game sites like PlayOK you will find a lot of kids who play shogi because a character in a popular anime does so.

What is much harder is to forget chess. The strategy in Shogis is completely different, so your chess instincts will get in the way.

I agree, I sense so in the other way when I started to learn and play chess (after having experienced shogi). It seems to me that chess games become simpler at the ending phase with many pieces taken off the board, thus a draw is common. Meanwhile some chess pieces are relatively strong, and I often suffer surprise assaults to a sudden death :)

Shogi is more than a board game as it has given rise to unique cultural byproducts over time. I'm personally drawn to beauty of wooden shogi pieces, a board and other equipment. Some set of pieces made by top artisans are worth 1 million Japanese yen. They are usually used for professional matches including Fujii's

The characters on the pieces are not Chinese. They are Japanese Kanji and hiragana. Calling Japanese Kanji Chinese is like calling English letters Latin or anything originated from.

Shogi, aka chess with Chinese writing on the pieces and. Interesting how the Japanese style of incremental Innovation of western ideas has been around for over 500 years.

Chabbawanga

Shogi, aka chess with Chinese writing on the pieces and. Interesting how the Japanese style of incremental Innovation of western ideas has been around for over 500 years.

Nope, Shogi is not just "chess with Chinese writing on the pieces". There are fundamental difference in the power of the pieces and the rules of the game. There is also a Chinese version (shiang-shi) and a Thai version (makruk) of the game, all different. I would not be surprised if other countries in Asia have more versions. I do not know what the original chess is, but I dont think it is the Western one.