Presented here are the piece movements that are somewhat standard among modern players of wa shogi, among which the game is played with drops.
Two players, Black and White (or 先手 sente and 後手 gote), play on a board ruled into a grid of 11 ranks (rows) by 11 files (columns).
From largest to smallest (most to least powerful) they are: Each piece has its name in the form of two kanji marked on its face.
On the reverse side of each piece (other than crane kings, cloud eagles and treacherous foxes) are two other characters, often in a different color (e.g., red instead of black); 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 crane king, violent wolf, violent stag, blind dog, climbing monkey, flying goose, flying cock, strutting crow, swooping owl and the 9 sparrow pawns on each side.
The liberated horse and cloud eagle can move along a limited number (2 or 3) of free (empty) squares along a straight line in a certain directions.
The treacherous fox can jump, that is, it can pass over any intervening piece, whether friend or foe, with no effect on either.
Many pieces 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.
The ranging pieces are the cloud eagle, flying falcon, running rabbit, swallow's wings, liberated horse and oxcart.
A player's promotion zone consists of the three farthest ranks, at the original line of the opponent's treacherous fox, running rabbit and beyond.
Ranging: The cloud eagle can move any number of free squares directly forward or backward.
Range: The flying falcon can move any number of free squares along any of the four diagonal directions.
Range: The tenacious falcon can move any number of free squares in all four diagonal directions; or, it can move any number of free squares directly forward or backward.
Range: The running rabbit can move any number of free squares straight forward.
Range: The swallow's wings can move any number of free squares orthogonally sideways.
Range: The raiding falcon can move any number of free squares orthogonally forward or backward.
Range: The swallow's wings can move any number of free squares orthogonally sideways.
Range: The gliding swallow can move any number of free squares along any of the four orthogonal directions.
Range: The flying falcon can move any number of free squares along any of the four diagonal directions.
Ranging: The cloud eagle can move any number of free squares directly forward or backward.
Range: The liberated horse can move any number of free squares along the forward orthogonal.
Range: The oxcart can move any number of free squares straight forward.
There are two other possible (but fairly uncommon) ways for a game to end: repetition (千日手 sennichite) and impasse (持将棋 jishōgi).
The game reaches an impasse if both crane kings stand well fortified in their respective promotion zones (when played with drops) or when players run out of material (without drops), so that neither player can hope to mate the other or to gain any further material.
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: SP = sparrow pawn, OC = oxcart, LH = liberated horse, CM = climbing monkey, BD = blind dog, SO = swooping owl, SC = strutting crow, FC = flying cock, FG = flying goose, VS = violent stag, VW = violent wolf, RR = running rabbit, TF = treacherous fox, SW = swallow's wings, FF = flying falcon, CE = cloud eagle and, CK = crane king.
In 1994, the American poet and variant chess player Victor Contoski organised a first World Wa Shogi Championship by correspondence, which brought together 12 players from France, the USA, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy and Belgium.
Title could have been disputed between Francis Fahys and the game inventor Wayne Schmittberger in the early 2000s.