Dai-Dai Shogi (1500)

Dai-Dai shōgi (大大将棋 'huge chess') is a large board variant of shogi (Japanese chess). The game dates back to the 15th century and is based on the earlier Dai shogi. Apart from its size, the major difference is in the range of the pieces and the “promotion by capture” rule. It is the smallest board variant to use this rule. Dai Dai Shogi is played on a 17x17 un-checkered board. Dai Dai Shogi offers no less than 64 different types of piece, plus 4 more gotten after promotion, where Dai Shogi has only 36 types in total. Dai Dai Shogi has an asymmetrical starting set-up. The promotion by capture rules and the presence of the very powerful Hook Movers make Dai Dai Shogi a very different game from the smaller variants.