Chu Shogi Western

This is a rules file for Zillions of Games, a Windows program that will let you play any puzzle or strategy board game you can feed it the rules to. With Zillions-of-Games installed, this rules file will let you play this game against your computer.

Chu Shogi with Alfaerie Graphics. updated to add 4 extra non-checkered boards.

Chu Shogi ('mid (sized) chess') is a board game native to Japan. It is similar to modern shogi (sometimes called Japanese chess) in its rules and game play. Its name means "mid-sized shogi", from a time when there were three sizes of shogi variants in regular use.Chu shogi seems to have been developed in the early 14th century as a derivative of dai shogi ("large shogi").

There are earlier references*, but it is not clear that they refer to the game as we now know it. With fewer pieces than dai shogi, the game was considered more exciting. It was still commonly played in Japan in the early 20th century, especially in Kyoto, but now has largely died out. It has, however, gained some adherents in the West. The main reference work in English is the Middle Shogi Manual by George Hodges.

• It was mentioned in diaries as long ago as the twelfth century.

Download Instructions

Instructions on downloading this Zillions file:

• Download the .zip file
• Extract the contents of the .zip file to your Zillions of Games folder
• Be sure you have the "Use folder names" checkbox checked when you extract the files.

Last revised by Christine Bagley-Jones.