Maka-Dai-Dai Shogi

Maka-Dai-Dai Shogi

Maka-Dai-Dai Shogi (摩訶大大将棋, Great Dai-Dai Chess) is a historical Japanese Shogi variant played on a 19×19 board — the same dimensions as a Go board. Each side starts with 96 pieces of 50 different types (192 pieces total), making it double the size of Chu Shogi. No drops; captured pieces are permanently removed.

The Board

19×19 grid. Standard Shogi orientation (sente at bottom). Files are labelled a–s (19 files); ranks 1–19. Pieces start on ranks 1–7 (Sente) and 13–19 (Gote); ranks 8–12 are empty at the start.

Royals

Three piece types are royal (their capture wins or advances the win condition):

• King (j1) — standard King; promotes to Emperor (universal leaper)
• Drunk Elephant (j2) — promotes to Crown Prince (royal King) on capture
• Emperor (promoted King) — cannot be captured if protected

Win: capture the opponent’s last royal. If the opponent has both a King and a Crown Prince (promoted Drunk Elephant), both must be captured.

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Starting Setup

Only Sente’s side is given; Gote’s setup is Sente’s rotated 180°.

Rank 1 (back rank):

Rank 2:

Rank 3:

Rank 4:

Rank 5:

Ranks 6–7:

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Key Piece Descriptions

Lion: Moves up to twice per turn in independent directions. The second move may be a capture, pass, or hop. Can capture two pieces in one turn or pass its turn by moving to an adjacent empty square and back. The strongest piece in Chu Shogi; in Maka-Dai-Dai there are no restrictions on capturing Lions.

Lion Dog: Takes up to three steps along any ray through its position. Each step may be a move, capture, or hop. Can return to the starting square but cannot overshoot it. Effectively attacks up to 3 squares in any direction with line-of-sight modification.

Teaching King (promoted Deva): Moves as Lion Dog or Queen. Contagious: any piece that captures the Teaching King promotes to Teaching King (except royals, which promote to their own promoted form).

Buddhist Spirit (promoted Dark Spirit): Moves as Lion or Queen. Same contagious promotion rule as Teaching King.

Furious Fiend (promoted Lion): Moves as Lion Dog or Lion.

Emperor (promoted King): Universal Leaper — can move to any square on the board. Cannot capture a protected piece (any piece the opponent could recapture if play continued). Both Emperors can only capture each other if unprotected.

Hook Mover: A Rook that may make one 90° turn anywhere in its path (but is not required to turn). Like a Rook, it stops at the point of capture.

Capricorn: A Bishop that may make one 90° turn anywhere in its path.

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Promotion

• Promotion may occur anywhere on the board, triggered by making a capture (not by entering a zone)
• Each piece has a fixed promoted form — there is no choice
• Promoted condition is contagious for Teaching King and Buddhist Spirit: any piece that captures TK or BS promotes to that piece (royals are immune, promoting to their own form instead)
• When capturing a promoted piece, you must promote
• When capturing an unpromoted piece, promotion is optional
• Promotion is irreversible
• The Deva and Dark Spirit (unpromoted) also trigger contagious promotion on capture

Repetition

Repetition is forbidden. The convention (following Asian chess traditions) is that the player giving perpetual check or perpetually chasing must be the one to deviate.

Attribution

Maka-Dai-Dai Shogi is a historical Japanese chess variant of unknown precise origin. Rules documented from chessvariants.com/rules/maka-dai-dai-shogi, authored by H. G. Muller.