金桂舞将棋 (Kinkei Mai Shogi) — Where Minimalism Meets Infinite Depth

Three Revelations That Led Me to the Invention
For over a decade, I played Kyoto Shogi—until one evening, under the glow of a paper lantern, a truth struck me: there are too many types of pieces in this game to reach enlightenment.

Instead of drowning in complexity, I realized: excess must be stripped away. For it is not the one who digs longest who finds depth, but the one who discovers an ocean in a well.

Watching beginners mindlessly push pieces across the board in Kyoto Shogi, I resolved to leave only Gold on the battlefield. Now, every move would be a sacred choice—never routine.

Then, in the haze of half-sleep, an old monk in tattered robes appeared, whispering: "Dance is war suspended in a single moment." And so, the pieces no longer clashed—they performed a ritual duel.

The birth of Kinkei Mai Shogi was not invention—it was discovery.
I did not create this game. I listened to its whisper in the rustling leaves of Gozan.

P.S. Though if we're being perfectly honest, the real reason might've been this:
I grew tired of explaining Kyoto Shogi's rules to beginners. I wanted to create a game a child could grasp in two minutes—but would take a master twenty years to unravel.

A Game of Elegant Paradoxes

Imagine a battlefield so compact it fits in the palm of your hand—yet every move carries the weight of grand strategy.

Kinkei Mai Shogi distills the essence of Japanese chess into a 5×5 masterpiece, where gold and knight whirl in an endless dance of metamorphosis.

This game defies conventions—utterly.

"Less is more" perfected. With just two piece types (one shape-shifting), each match becomes a living puzzle—every turn forces you to think not for one piece, but two at once.

On this tiny board, a dropped piece isn’t just a move—it’s a calculated explosion that rewrites the entire game. Drops are high art here.

If Kyoto Shogi gifted us transformations, Kinkei Mai Shogi elevates them into a dance on a razor’s edge. The cramped space turns every misstep into catastrophe—and every sacrifice into poetry.

This isn’t merely a Kyoto Shogi variant. It’s a meditation on constraints—how limits breed creativity, and how simplicity reveals bottomless depth.

Play it to:
Hone razor-sharp tactics (one wrong move, and victory slips away).
Master "drop economy" (where every captured piece becomes a future weapon).
Feel the thrill of a game that seems predictable—until you’re suddenly on the cliff’s edge.

Will you conduct this dance—or become its victim? The choice is yours.

Game Rules

Rules follow standard Kyoto Shogi (invented over 50 years ago by Tamiya Katsuya), with one revolutionary change—each player starts with only two types of pieces:
King (玉将)
Gold/Knight hybrid (金桂) (transforms after every move)

Gold/Knight hybrid defines Kinkei Mai Shogi. 

This synthesis creates an extraordinarily potent combat unit—a piece whose dual nature makes it the beating heart of our 5×5 battlefield.

What emerges is a fascinating paradox:
The knight's vulnerability on a small board (with its predictable movement and limited escape squares) 
Contrasts sharply with its devastating potential when dropped, where it becomes a tactical nuclear option capable of rewriting the game state instantly.

This creates a perfect high-risk, high-reward dynamic that elevates every decision.

The King's Surprising Role

Blocked pieces become hunting grounds for the kings.
The monarch transforms from passive spectator to active predator.
Every move carries tremendous weight in this minimalist ecosystem.

Game Balance

Like all perfect-information games, Kinkei Mai Shogi likely trends toward draws at perfect play—and this is its strength:
Checkers and Othello were "solved" as draws.
Even standard chess is probably drawn with perfect play.

This inherent balance means victory depends solely on intellectual superiority, not inherent advantages.

A Testament to Depth

Consider this 120-move engine duel on a tiny 5×5 board:

https://lishogi.org/study/IBo2aluq/XQg1bKHR#0

The game's complexity becomes evident when we realize that this may not represent the maximum possible move count.Introducing Xiangqi-style repetition rules could unlock even deeper strategic layers.

In Essence

Kinkei Mai Shogi achieves what all good abstract games should:

Immediate intuitive grasp (a child can learn in minutes)
Nearly infinite strategic depth (a lifetime to master)
Perfect equilibrium (where only skill determines victory)

The game doesn't just play with pieces—it plays with fundamental notions of space, tempo, and transformation. That's why it transcends being merely a Kyoto Shogi variant to become something entirely new and remarkable.

Play now on:
Shogitter.com

vs AI on Lishogi.org (SFEN ggkgg/5/5/5/GGKGG b - 1)
Pychess.org (SFEN +n+nk+n+n/5/5/5/+N+NK+N+N[] w 0 1)