early 16th-century 9x9 shogi (sho shogi), and other simple variations on standard shogi (no drops, e

In brief:
I think it would be nice that some lichess-style platform allowed playing early 16th-century shō shōgi (that is normal 9x9 shogi, but without drops and with the drunken elephant) -- with the westernized symbols too.

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My proposal is certainly not new. For example, I find this Reddit question (2021): "Is there anywhere I can play shogi without drops?". But the answer is "no", if I am not wrong.
(And see my postscript, in the comments below.)

I think many users would enjoy playing such a variant, perhaps with some subvariants:
- proper early 16th-century 9x9 shogi (no drops; drunken elephant, promoting to a second king -- maybe some more minor rules: bare king?);
- standard 9x9 shogi, but no drops (maybe bare king rule);
[- standard 9x9 shogi with drops, and with the drunken elephant (decide on or customize the exact rules -- maybe some limitations on dropping and/or promoting the elephant, or on drops in general)]

[Further ideas for customized 9x9 shogi variants:
- customize the rules regarding dropping pawns;
- some modified pieces: 8-directional or 4-directional knights (not only for handicap games), etc.;
- ...]

Among the most important platforms for shogi players (allowing the choice of friendly internationalized symbols, which is crucial for many people) are
- LiShogi,
- PyChess,
- PyChessAlternates.

They do include some shogi variants, but the 9x9 variants based on the standard game are only very few:

PyChess has
- Cannon shogi.

PyChessAlternates has
- Coffee shogi (with compulsory captures).

LiShogi has
- Annan shogi,
- Check shogi.

Besides, LiShogi includes
- Chu shogi (chū shōgi),
which is an interesting historical variant, with some important features in common with early 16th-century 9x9 shogi: no drops, and the drunken elephant. But chu shogi has a LARGER BOARD and several complicated pieces.

If early 16th-century 9x9 shogi (sho shogi) were available on the platforms, it would certainly attract many more players than chu shogi, which is so difficult to master.

Thank you for reading.

Emanuele, Italy
sites.google.com/site/emanuelesaiu/chess-jappics

emanuelesaiu

Postscript.

Many other people had or discussed the idea of introducing early 16th-century 9x9 shogi (sho shogi) as a playable variant...

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In the LISHOGI forum:
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zhangsean
2 years ago
I want lishogi to make a new ancient shogi variant--Shoshogi.
[etc. Only few people reacted -- little interest?]

Tepin
4 years ago
What about Sho Shogi? It should be much easier to implement

Eventlesstew
1 year ago
Yeah, without drops many of the pieces don't have as much potential for use, especially Lances and Knights with their restricted movement, though the Generals do suffer when it comes to offensive strategies. Many games would just use Bishops and Rooks for attack, which can get boring.

There is Sho Shogi tho, a variant that's pretty much just Shogi but without drops AND there's a drunk elephant on top of the King that can promote to a second king. Maybe we can add that variant to Lishogi for people who want a "Shogi without drops."

Nihongo-sansan
4 years ago
Adding to my first comment, sho-shogi might be a very nice variant as well. Only the drop rule needs to be relaxed and one piece, a drunk elephant, has to be implemented.

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On DISCORD, LISHOGI, #shogi-variants
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wetsseltnevE
— 02/12/2023 11:08
Out of the historical variants, would you add Sho Shogi or Heian Shogi?

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On DISCORD, PYCHESS, #shogi-variants
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Couch Tomato — 28/12/2023 00:07
sho shogi is raw like sushi
b3ar — 28/12/2023 00:04
interesting how drop changes a whole experience about a game... just took a look at Sho Shogi... is raw.

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On GITHUB
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M-DinhHoangViet
opened on Jul 17, 2023
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sho_shogi
Eventlesstew commented on Sep 30, 2024
This would be good for people to try some kind of "Shogi without drops"