Game Complexity
Shogi has the distinctive feature of reusing captured pieces. Therefore shogi has a higher branching factor than other chess variants. The computer has more positions to examine because each piece in hand can be dropped on many squares. This gives shogi the highest number of legal positions and the highest number of possible games of all the popular chess variants. The higher numbers for shogi mean it is harder to reach the highest levels of play. The number of legal positions and the number of possible games are 2 measures of shogi’s Game complexity.
| Game | Board Size | Number of Pieces | Number of Different Pieces | Legal Positions | Possible Games | Average Game Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chess | 64 | 32 | 6 | 1047 | 10123 | 80 |
| Xiangqi | 90 | 32 | 7 | 1048 | 10150 | 95 |
| Shogi | 81 | 40 | 8 | 1071 | 10226 | 110 |
| Wei-qi | 361 | Up to 360 | 1 | 10171 | 10360 | 150 |
Read more about this topic: Computer Shogi
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—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–1895)
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