Judkins’ Shogi
Modern miniature Shogi variant on a 6×6 board. Named after its inventor.
Overview
Judkins' Shogi — starting position
https://engine.moddable.games/play/?game=shogi&variant=judkins-shogi
Judkins’ Shogi compresses modern Shogi onto a 6×6 board with 7 pieces per side, retaining drops. It plays very similarly to standard Shogi but in a much faster format.
Setup
Each player has 7 pieces: King, Gold, Silver, Knight, Bishop, Rook, and one Pawn.
FEN: rbsgkn/5p/6/6/P5/NKGSBR w - - 0 1
(Approximate; pawn is on the square directly in front of the King)
White (rank 1, left to right): Rook(a1), Bishop(b1), Silver(c1), Gold(d1), King(e1), Knight(f1) White (rank 2): Pawn at e2 (directly in front of the King)
Black mirrors White on the opposite side of the board.
Pieces
All pieces move exactly as in standard Shogi:
| Piece | Movement | Promotes To |
|---|---|---|
| King | One step any direction | Does not promote |
| Gold General | One step ortho. or diagonally forward | Does not promote |
| Rook | Slides ortho. any distance | Dragon (Rook + diagonal step) |
| Bishop | Slides diagonally any distance | Horse (Bishop + ortho. step) |
| Silver General | One step diagonally or straight forward | Gold General |
| Knight | Forward L-shape only (1+2 forward, jumps over) | Gold General |
| Pawn | One step straight forward | Gold General |
Promotion
The promotion zone is the last 2 ranks (ranks 5–6 for White). Promotion is optional at the end of a turn when the move enters, moves within, or leaves the promotion zone, except:
- A Pawn must promote upon reaching rank 6 (the last rank), as it could not otherwise move.
- A Knight must promote upon reaching rank 5, as it could not otherwise move forward.
Drops
Captured pieces are held in hand and may be dropped on any empty square on the player’s turn, with these restrictions:
- A piece may not be dropped on a square from which it has no legal moves (Pawns cannot be dropped on the last rank).
- A Pawn may not be dropped into a file already containing an unpromoted friendly Pawn.
- A Pawn may not be dropped to give immediate checkmate.
- A piece dropped inside the promotion zone does not promote immediately; it may promote on a subsequent move.
All promoted pieces revert to their unpromoted form when captured and returned to hand.
Source: chessvariants.com/shogivariants.dir/judkin.html