--- title: Tenjiku Shogi slug: tenjiku-shogi board: "16×16" players: "2" parent: shogi win: Capture all opponent royal pieces special: "Medieval Japanese 16×16 Shogi variant derived from Chu Shogi. Introduces Fire Demons (burn all adjacent enemies after moving; passively burn enemies that move adjacent to them), hierarchical jumping generals, and Lion Hawk / Free Eagle double-movers. No drops. Extinction royalty." engine: topology: type: grid rows: 16 cols: 16 players: [sente, gote] setup: "[ln][kn][fl][ig][cg][sg][gg][de][ki][gg][sg][cg][ig][fl][kn][ln]/[rc]1[cs][cs]1[bt][ph][fk][li][kr][bt]1[cs][cs]1[rc]/[ss][vt][bi][dh][dk][wb][fd][fe][lw][fd][wb][dk][dh][bi][vt][ss]/[sm][vm][rk][hf][se][bg][rg][vg][gr][rg][bg][se][hf][rk][vm][sm]/[pw][pw][pw][pw][pw][pw][pw][pw][pw][pw][pw][pw][pw][pw][pw][pw]/4[dg]6[dg]4/16/16/16/16/4[DG]6[DG]4/[PW][PW][PW][PW][PW][PW][PW][PW][PW][PW][PW][PW][PW][PW][PW][PW]/[SM][VM][RK][HF][SE][BG][RG][GR][VG][RG][BG][SE][HF][RK][VM][SM]/[SS][VT][BI][DH][DK][WB][FD][LW][FE][FD][WB][DK][DH][BI][VT][SS]/[RC]1[CS][CS]1[BT][KR][LI][FK][PH][BT]1[CS][CS]1[RC]/[LN][KN][FL][IG][CG][SG][GG][KI][DE][GG][SG][CG][IG][FL][KN][LN]" render: cellSize: 20 pieces: set: mce-shogi-fairy --- ## Tenjiku Shogi {{svg:tenjiku-shogi-board.svg "Tenjiku Shogi — starting position"}} Tenjiku Shogi (天竺将棋) is a medieval Japanese chess variant played on a 16×16 board. It is derived from Chu Shogi, expanding the board from 12×12 to 16×16 to accommodate powerful new pieces — most critically the Fire Demon. Despite the larger board, games tend to be shorter than Chu Shogi due to the Fire Demon's destructive reach. ### Starting Position Pieces occupy ranks 1–6 (Sente) and ranks 11–16 (Gote), mirrored. Files run a–p (16 files). **Rank 1 (back rank, files a–p):** Lance · Knight · Ferocious Leopard · Iron General · Copper General · Silver General · Gold General · King · Drunk Elephant · Gold General · Silver General · Copper General · Iron General · Ferocious Leopard · Knight · Lance **Rank 2:** Reverse Chariot (a2, p2) · Chariot Soldiers (c2, d2, m2, n2) · Blind Tiger (f2, k2) · Kirin (g2) · Lion (h2) · Free King (i2) · Phoenix (j2) **Rank 3:** Side Soldier (a3, p3) · Vertical Soldier (b3, o3) · Bishop (c3, n3) · Dragon Horse (d3, m3) · Dragon King (e3, l3) · Water Buffalo (f3, k3) · Fire Demon (g3, j3) · Lion Hawk (h3) · Free Eagle (i3) **Rank 4:** Side Mover (a4, p4) · Vertical Mover (b4, o4) · Rook (c4, n4) · Horned Falcon (d4, m4) · Soaring Eagle (e4, l4) · Bishop General (f4, k4) · Rook General (g4, j4) · Great General (h4) · Vice General (i4) **Rank 5:** Pawns on all 16 files. **Rank 6:** Dog at e6 and l6. ### Key Pieces **Fire Demon (g3, j3):** The most powerful piece. After moving, burns (removes) all enemy pieces on any of the 8 squares adjacent to its destination. Additionally, any enemy piece that moves adjacent to a stationary Fire Demon is immediately burned by the Demon passively — the moving piece is destroyed before it can attack. A Fire Demon moving adjacent to another Fire Demon is burned (the moving Demon loses). Fire Demons can also make an area move of up to 3 King steps in freely chosen directions, stopping after capturing; burning only occurs after the final step. When a Water Buffalo promotes to a Fire Demon, all adjacent enemy pieces are immediately burned. **Jumping Generals — Great General (h4), Vice General (i4), Rook General (g4/j4), Bishop General (f4/k4):** All slide as Queen, Bishop/Rook respectively, but may also jump over any number of pieces when capturing. Jump-capture is restricted by a hierarchy: - Rank 3 (highest among generals): Great General - Rank 2: Vice General - Rank 1: Rook General and Bishop General - Rank 0: all other pieces - Rank 4 (highest of all): King and Crown Prince — cannot be jump-captured A general may jump over only those with rank lower than itself, but may capture any piece regardless of rank (except royals). The Vice General may also make up to 3 King steps as an area move (no jumping; stops after capture). **Lion (h2):** Double-mover as in Chu Shogi — up to 2 King steps per turn, freely changing direction, including returning to start, annihilating adjacent enemies, or making double captures. No Lion-trading restrictions apply in Tenjiku (unlike Chu Shogi). **Lion Hawk (h3):** Lion double-move combined with Bishop slide. **Free Eagle (i3):** Queen slide combined with diagonal double-move (Lion-style restricted to diagonal directions). Can annihilate diagonally adjacent enemies without moving. **Soaring Eagle / Horned Falcon:** Slide as Queen, but in certain directions have a stinging move: can move to or jump to the second square, jump to the second while annihilating the first, or annihilate the first without moving. Soaring Eagle does this diagonally forward; Horned Falcon straight forward. ### Promotion The last 5 ranks form the promotion zone. Pieces promote optionally when entering the zone or moving within it to make a capture. Each piece promotes at most once: Water Buffalo → Fire Demon · Vertical Soldier → Water Buffalo · Iron General → Vertical Soldier · Lion → Lion Hawk · Kirin → Lion · Free King → Free Eagle · Phoenix → Free King · Rook General → Great General · Soaring Eagle → Rook General · Dragon King → Soaring Eagle · Rook → Dragon King · Gold General → Rook · Pawn → Gold General · Dog → Multi-General (fRbB) · Reverse Chariot → Whale (vRbB) · Bishop General → Vice General · Horned Falcon → Bishop General · Dragon Horse → Horned Falcon · Bishop → Dragon Horse · Ferocious Leopard → Bishop · Chariot Soldier → Heavenly Tetrarchs · Side Soldier → Chariot Soldier · Knight → Side Soldier · Vertical Mover → Flying Ox (BvR) · Silver General → Vertical Mover · Lance → White Horse (vRfB) · Blind Tiger → Flying Stag (vRFsW) · Drunk Elephant → Crown Prince · Side Mover → Free Boar (BsR) · Copper General → Side Mover King, Fire Demon, Great General, Vice General, Lion Hawk, and Free Eagle do not promote. ### Rules **Win:** Capture all opponent royal pieces. Royals are the King and Crown Prince (Drunk Elephant's promoted form). A player with both survives losing one; they lose only when the last royal is captured or burned. **No Drops:** Captured pieces are permanently removed. **No Check Rule:** No prohibition against moving into or remaining in check. Stalemate cannot occur in practical play. **Repetition:** Perpetual check is forbidden — the checker must deviate. Perpetual chasing also requires the chaser to deviate. Pure positional repetitions (neither side attacking) are draws. ### Attribution Medieval Japanese game. Rules documented from chessvariants.com/rules/tenjiku-shogi (H. G. Muller; revised A. M. DeWitt, 2026).