Shatranjian Dragon Shogi

(c) by Gary K. Gifford, August 2006

This game is very much like Shatranjian Shogi; however, there is a key difference. Pawns promote to 1 of 2 Dragon Types; but when captured revert to pawn status.

Creation of this game was inspired by comments from Andy [last name not known] and Daniel Roth. More on this in the notes.

Setup

As in the above figure. It is also the same setup used in Shatranjian Shogi.

Note: In the pre-set you will see the 2 Dragons in each capture zone. These are not to drop. They are so players can easily see the letter designations needed when promoting a pawn. As soon as a dragon is captured it changes back to a pawn... so you can never have a dragon to drop.

Pieces

As in Shatranjian Shogi except:

Pawn promotes to 1 of two Dragon Types only (no other promotions are allowed. The Dragons are:

Gryphon Head - Moves Like Bishop or King.

Dragon Head - Moves like Knight or King.

Players can substitute Dragon Horse and King Horse images if desired. These images were used to create a little atmosphere for the Dragon concept. Since the standard Dragon looks a bit like a Horse head and the Gryphon has a Bishop-like point, it should be easy to remember which is which.

Rules

As in Shatranjian Shogi, with exception of what the pawns promote to. Also, these dragon promoting pawns revert back into pawns when captured.

It is important to note, as stated in Shatranjian Shogi rules, that pawns can only be dropped on a file that is completely pawnless, i.e. the file has no pawns, regardless of color.

Notes

If unfamiliar with this game, or with Shatranjian Shogi, please read the brief rules of Shatranjian Shogi, then simply go by the Dragon promotion/pawn-reverting rules of this game.

In a comment to the original Shatranjian Shogi, Andy suggested having the promoted pawns revert back (lose their promotion status) when captured. I did not want that in the original, so I put it in this variant. On a different note, Daniel wanted to see pawns have an added promotion possibility (promote to a Bishop). He stated this would get a long range piece into the game. But, instead of Bishops I added two Dragon types to give the game in a more distant past feel.