Two players, Black and White (or 先手 sente and 後手 gote), play on a board ruled into a grid of 6 ranks (rows) by 6 files (columns).
On the reverse side of the porpoise is another letter (K for 'killer whale'), often in a different color (commonly red instead of black); this reverse side is turned up to indicate that the piece has been promoted during play.
This is the starting setup of a game of whale shogi, from the perspective of Black.
(The traditional terms 'Black' and 'White' are used to differentiate the sides during discussion of the game, but are not literally descriptive.)
The narwhal can jump, that is, it can pass over any intervening piece, whether friend or foe, with no effect on either, but only directly forward.
If an opposing piece intervenes, it may be captured by moving to that square and removing it from the board.
Betza's funny notation has been included in brackets for easier reference.
They are retained "in hand", and can be brought back into play under the capturing player's control.
In practice this rarely happens, as a player will resign when checkmated, as otherwise when loss is inevitable.
Another possible (but fairly uncommon) way for a game to end is repetition (千日手 sennichite).
[citation needed] If the same position occurs four times with the same player to play, then the game is no contest.
[citation needed] Games which are no contest are usually counted as draws in amateur tournaments, but if a professional-style tournament is to be played the rules may require the game to be replayed with colors reversed (possibly with reduced time limits).
[citation needed] Games between players of disparate strength are often played with handicaps.
The method used in English-language texts to express shogi moves was established by George Hodges in 1976.
This variant invented by David Paulowich in 2005 uses a 7x7 board and includes a new extra piece, the Pacific Northern Right Whale (A).