Two players, Black and White (or 先手 sente and 後手 gote), play on a board ruled into a grid of 7 ranks (rows) by 7 files (columns).

Each player has a set of 16 wedge-shaped pieces, of slightly different sizes.

On the reverse side of some pieces is another character, often in a different color (commonly red instead of black) and are usually cursive; this reverse side is turned up to indicate that the piece has been promoted during play.

(The traditional terms 'black' and 'white' are used to differentiate the sides during discussion of the game, but are no longer literally descriptive.)

The step movers are the phoenix, falcon, crane, and the 8 swallows on each side.

The eagle can move along a limited number (2) of free (empty) squares along a straight line in certain directions.

The pheasant and goose can jump, that is, they can pass over any intervening piece, whether friend or foe, with no effect on either.

The quail and eagle can move any number of empty squares along a straight line, limited only by the edge of the board.

If an opposing piece intervenes, it may be captured by moving to that square and removing it from the board.

A player's promotion zone consists of the two farthest ranks, at the original line of the opponent's falcon and beyond.

If a piece crosses the board within the promotion zone, including moves into, out of, or wholly within the zone, but not including drops (see below), then that player must promote the piece at the end of the turn.

Betza's funny notation has been included in brackets for easier reference.

(FfbW) That is, it can move to any of the six adjacent squares ahead or behind it, but not directly to the side.

(fDbF) Step: It can move one square diagonally backward to the left.

(fRblBbrF) Because of its unusual movement, a goose can only reach about a quarter of the squares on the board.

They are retained "in hand", and can be brought back into play under the capturing player's control.

The rule for repetition (千日手 sennichite) in tori shogi is that if the same position occurs three times with the same player to play by repetition of moves, the player starting the sequence must vary the move.

In practice this rarely happens, as a player will resign when checkmated, as otherwise when loss is inevitable.

The method used in English-language texts to express shogi moves was established by George Hodges in 1976.

The first letter represents the piece moved: Sw = swallow, Q = quail, Pt = pheasant, Cr = crane, Fa = falcon, Ph = phoenix.