Hasami shogi possesses simple rules while offering complex strategy.
[2] Play is on a traditional shogi board, with each player having nine men.
At the start of the game each player's pieces fill their first rank, with Black's men on the lower side of the board.
In this variant each player starts the game with 18 pieces occupying their two nearest ranks.
Since most shogi sets have only 9 pawns for each side, this game is usually played using black and white Go stones.
In variations where pieces move one step only, gameplay develops slower.
The moves are the same, but captures are by intervention in addition to the custodian method.