Shogi, xiangqi, janggi, makruk and related games should be treated as independent chess-family traditions, not as defective or exotic versions of FIDE chess.
Historical research explains origins and transmission; this guide focuses on playable rules and strategic consequences.
Chess Family
The chess family is a comparative historical/game-design grouping of related board games. Family membership does not imply that one current game is the normative standard for the others.
Predecessor vs Sibling vs Modern Variant
A predecessor participates in historical ancestry; a sibling/relative shares ancestry; a modern variant is deliberately derived from an existing ruleset. These relationships should not be used interchangeably.
Cultural Respect Principle
Describe regional games by their own rules, names, institutions and communities before comparing them with orthodox chess.
Do Not Treat Orthodox Chess as Cultural Default
Comparative tables can use FIDE chess as one reference column for readers, but wording must not imply that shogi, xiangqi, janggi or makruk are incomplete versions of it.
Chaturanga
Chaturanga is an important South Asian historical term/game family in chess ancestry. Exact early playable reconstructions are source-dependent; Historical claims should be checked against dedicated chess-history sources; playable reconstructions must state their chosen source model.
Chatrang
Chatrang is the Middle Persian historical form associated with Sasanian Persia; any playable reconstruction must declare the scholarly/source model being used.
Shatranj
Shatranj is the medieval Islamic chess form with piece powers and rules differing from modern orthodox chess; playable teaching must use a declared historical reconstruction.
Ruleset Reconstruction
Historical play requires reconstructing rules from texts/artifacts/later scholarship. Mark which rules are directly attested, inferred or chosen for playability.
Source Uncertainty
Do not smooth gaps in historical sources into confident modern rules. Record uncertainty and alternative reconstructions.
Historical Evidence vs Playable Reconstruction
Historical evidence and playable reconstruction are different tasks: document what sources establish, then state any conventions chosen to make a historical ruleset playable.
Shogi
Shogi is Japan's independent chess-family game on a 9×9 board, notable for promotion zones and the reuse of captured pieces through drops. Exact modern rules should be sourced from shogi authorities.
Board / Piece Differences
Shogi uses a 9×9 board and a distinct piece set/movement system, including directional pieces whose orientation conveys ownership.
Promotion Zones
Many shogi pieces can promote after moving into, within or out of the opponent-side promotion zone, with compulsory promotion in cases where the unpromoted piece would otherwise have no legal future move.
Drops
Captured shogi pieces change sides and can usually be dropped back into play, subject to detailed restrictions such as pawn-file and pawn-drop-mate rules.
Crazyhouse Comparison Without Equating
Crazyhouse and shogi both reuse captured pieces, but ownership, promotion identity, pawn-drop restrictions, board, pieces and centuries of independent tradition differ. Similar mechanism ≠ same game.
Xiangqi
Xiangqi is China's major chess-family game on a 9×10 line-intersection board, with palaces, a river and piece rules such as the cannon's screened capture.
Palace
Xiangqi generals/advisors are constrained by palace geometry, making the palace a first-class rule region.
River
The river divides the board and affects the movement/power of specific pieces such as elephants and soldiers.
Cannon
The xiangqi cannon moves like a rook when not capturing but requires exactly one intervening screen to capture.
General-Facing Rule
The two generals may not be left facing one another on the same file with no intervening piece; this creates long-range king-like constraint geometry.
Distinct Geometry
Xiangqi pieces occupy intersections, not squares, and several pieces obey palace/river restrictions. Reusing FIDE board notation without adaptation is misleading.
Janggi
Janggi is Korea's independent chess-family game related historically to xiangqi but with distinct setup, palace movement, elephant/cannon rules and strategic character.
Makruk
Makruk is Thailand's major chess-family game with an 8×8 board but distinct piece powers, pawn setup/promotion and endgame-counting traditions.
Other South / Southeast Asian Chess-Family Games
Games such as sittuyin, ouk chatrang and other regional traditions deserve independent Ruleset Profiles with local-source terminology instead of being compressed into one Asian chess category.
Independent Competitive Traditions
Shogi, xiangqi, janggi, makruk and related games have their own federations, titles, tournaments, literature and expert communities. Their legitimacy does not depend on FIDE recognition.
Comparative Rules Table
Compare board, pieces, promotion, drops, royal rules, objective and special regions/mechanics without ranking games by closeness to orthodox chess.
Chess-Family Practice Set
A strong understanding includes identifying historical relationship separately from playable rules and explaining at least one major strategic consequence of each regional system without orthodox-centric language.
Compare Traditions Without Flattening Them
A useful comparison can highlight common design questions—royal piece, board geometry, promotion, drops, special regions—while preserving each game's own concepts. Shogi drops are not “Crazyhouse but Japanese”; xiangqi cannons are not “rooks that jump”; the Makruk endgame tradition is not merely an orthodox-chess exception list.
Begin with the local ruleset and terminology, then explain analogies for readers who know FIDE chess.
Historical Reconstruction Needs Confidence Labels
For chaturanga, chatrang and shatranj reconstructions, distinguish direct evidence from later descriptions and modern playable conventions. If two scholarly reconstructions differ, document the branch rather than silently choosing one and calling it the original rules.
Strategic Signatures Come From Rule Systems
Examples of defining consequences include:
- shogi: captured-piece drops keep material dynamically in circulation and make mating nets highly sensitive to reserve pieces;
- xiangqi: palace/river regions and cannon screens produce geometry that has no direct orthodox equivalent;
- janggi: palace and cannon/elephant rules create its own long-range tactical structures;
- makruk: piece powers and pawn arrangement generate a distinct strategic and endgame landscape.
These games are best learned as complete systems, not as lists of differences from FIDE chess.
Notation and Board Representation Are Part of Respectful Comparison
Regional games can use different coordinate systems, board orientations, piece scripts and notation traditions. A reader-facing guide may provide a transliteration or FIDE-style analogy, but the underlying local names and geometry should remain recoverable. This matters especially for xiangqi's intersection board and shogi's directional ownership/promotion notation.
Learn One Game Through Its Own Strategic Questions
A practical study method is to avoid translating every decision into orthodox vocabulary. Instead ask a native question for each system:
- shogi: what is in hand and where can it be dropped?
- xiangqi: which palace/river constraints and cannon screens shape the attack?
- janggi: how do palace lines and its distinct cannon/elephant rules change coordination?
- makruk: how do its piece powers and pawn structure determine maneuvering and endgame technique?
Only after understanding those questions should you map similarities back to FIDE chess.
Living Rules and Historical Rules Need Different Sources
For modern shogi, xiangqi, janggi or makruk competition, prefer current federation/community rule sources. For reconstructed shatranj or earlier games, prefer historical scholarship and state uncertainty. A single generic “chess variants” website should not be the sole authority for both tasks.