Hello! I'm a chess player trying shogi, and the main barrier for me are the pieces- trying to keep track of the pieces strangles my ability to pay attention to the actual dynamics of the position. This is actually my second time trying shogi the first being a few years ago, where I just gave up trying to keep up with the kanji(?) while using a different site. In that regard the western piece set has been a massive help, with the new generals being immediately visually palatable and even the knights though I just have to keep in mind that they only go forward (still haven't found a use for them lol). Which takes me to my issue-
Promotion ruins most of the good bits of the piece set. It just turns the piece red and I have no idea how it moves. I think something like where pieces take the form of what they promote to or with practical symbolism such as the ones for generals would be ideal. And with maybe the original piece only being marked as a tiny symbol in a corner? or if that's too much, then just solely represent the new piece- I think that's better for beginners who would be the ones mainly using the set anyways.
Google translate to japanese-
Googleで日本語に翻訳
こんにちは!チェスプレイヤーで将棋に挑戦しているのですが、一番の難関は駒です。駒の動きを把握しようとすると、局面の実際の展開に集中できなくなってしまうんです。実は将棋に挑戦するのは今回が2回目で、1回目は数年前に別のサイトを使っていたのですが、漢字を覚えるのに苦労して諦めてしまいました。その点、西洋式の駒セットはとても助かっています。新しい将はすぐに視覚的に理解しやすく、ナイトも前進しかできないことを覚えておけば大丈夫です(まだ使い道が見つかっていませんが…笑)。さて、ここからが問題なのですが、
昇格すると駒セットの良いところがほとんど台無しになってしまうんです。ただ赤くなるだけで、どうやって動くのか全く分かりません。昇格後の駒の形になるとか、将のように実用的なシンボルが使われるとか、そういう仕組みが理想的だと思います。元の駒は隅に小さなシンボルで表示されるだけでもいいかもしれませんね。あるいは、それが多すぎる場合は、新しいピースだけを表示するだけでも良いでしょう。どうせそのセットを主に使うのは初心者なので、その方が良いと思います。
well that really wont be necessary because everything minus bishops and rooks promote to golds (bishops and rooks promote to pieces equivalent to chess queen's)
@wr4th0fsh4dow All the promoted pieces move like golds. Except bishop and rook, which gain a king's mobility. They don't move like chess queens.
Honestly, the best option is to just learn the standard pieces.
It's MUCH more convenient if you ever want to buy a physical shogi set, play with anybody in real life, play online on a different website, or read literally any available resource.
They don't take as long to learn as you might think. Maybe a couple dozen games and you won't even be thinking about them anymore.
You can't post in the forums yet. Play some games!