/usr/share/games/shogivar/Whale.rul is in shogivar-data 1.55b-1.
This file is owned by root:root, with mode 0o644.
The actual contents of the file can be viewed below.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 | " INTRODUCTION
===============
Whale Shogi was invented in 1981 by R. Wayne Schmittberger of the USA,
who is arguably the West's leading player and exponent of the Shogi
variants.
As in several other variants, the pieces are named after animals - in this
case the whales and their close relatives. Whale Shogi is played with drops
(returning captured pieces into play) and is comparable in many ways to
Tori (Bird) Shogi.
THE GAME
=========
Whale Shogi is played on a board of 6 x 6 squares and each player has 12
pieces (plus a further piece that is not in the initial array).
As in all Shogi variants the pieces are flat and wedge-shaped and are not
distinguished by colour. Although the pieces are of uniform colour the
first player is still conventionally referred to as 'Black' and the second
player as 'White'. Ownership of the pieces is indicated by the direction
in which they face, with a player's pieces always pointing towards the
opponent.
The players make alternate moves, with the object being to capture the
opposing 'White Whale'. When a 'White Whale' is about to be captured next
move and no legal move can be made to prevent the capture, the piece is
said to be 'Checkmated'.
On each turn a player can either:
a) move one piece according to its power of movement to a vacant square
on the board, or to a square occupied by an enemy piece (in which
case the enemy piece is captured and removed);
or,
b) 'Drop' (re-enter) a previously captured piece on almost any vacant
square.
THE PIECES
===========
The Piece Help screen provides the names, notation symbols, promotion
details, and powers of movement for all of the pieces in the game.
[The Piece Help screen can be reached by clicking on the 'Pieces' button]
JUMPING PIECES
===============
The 'Narwhal' is the only piece in Whale Shogi that has the power to
jump over occupied squares. The 'Narwhal' can jump to the second square in
the forwards direction only as indicated with a red circle on the Piece
Help diagram.
THE DOLPHIN
============
The 'Dolphin' may only move one square directly forwards unless it is on
the last rank (that furthest from the player). In which case it may make
a single move diagonally backwards (like a 'Bishop' in Shogi or Chess).
PROMOTION
==========
There is no promotion of pieces in Whale Shogi, with the exception
of the 'Porpoise' (see 'Captures').
CAPTURES
=========
A captured piece is removed from the board and is held by the capturing
player. The held piece (which is said to be 'in-hand') may subsequently
be 'dropped' back into play on the side of the player who made the
capture.
A 'Porpoise' when captured is permanently removed from play and is
replaced in the capturing players hand by the far more powerful 'Killer
Whale', a piece not in the initial array.
DROPS
======
In place of a move a player may elect to 'drop' a piece held in-hand back
into play. Pieces other than 'Dolphins' may be returned to play on any
vacant square.
The following restrictions apply to drops involving 'Dolphins'. A Dolphin
may not be dropped:
a) on the last rank (that furthest from the player),
b) in any file (column of squares) already containing two Dolphins, 'Swallows' of the same side,
c) directly in front of the opposing 'White Whale' so as to give instant
'Checkmate'.
HANDICAP PLAY
==============
As in Shogi, a player of Whale Shogi may offer a handicap of one or more
pieces to an opponent of less strength.
The player giving the handicap plays 'White' and his opponent (as 'Black')
removes the handicap pieces as the first move of the game. In handicap
play 'White' therefore makes the first move on the board.
Pieces removed as a handicap are totally removed from play and are not
held in-hand by 'Black'.
NOTATION
==========
The following notation system is used for recording Whale Shogi games in
this program.
The files are designated by numbers (1 to 6), and the ranks by letters
(a to f). The files are numbered from right to left (in the Japanese
fashion), and the ranks from top to bottom (from Black's point of view).
The top right square is therefore 1a.
A move is described by giving:
a) the designation of the piece (eg: D for Dolphin),
b) followed by the method of moving;
'-' for a simple move on the board,
'x' for a capture,
'*' for a drop,
c) and finally, the destination square is recorded.
If more than one piece of the same type can reach the destination square
then the starting square is also given after the piece designation to
avoid confusion.
A 'Dolphin' moving from 5c to 5b is therefore recorded as D-5b.
NOTE: This system is the official notation system of 'The Shogi
Association' for Shogi variants.
DISPLAYING LEGAL MOVES
=========================
If the 'Show Move' option is selected from the Moves Menu, clicking the left
mouse button on a piece on the board or 'in hand' during play will show all
the legal moves of that piece:
- All legal moves (including 'drops') to vacant squares are represented
as White Circles,
- Legal captures are shown as Red Circles. "
|