Dobutsu Chess on Chess.com

Dobutsu Chess is a theme I created for chess. It is based on Dobutsu Shogi (どうぶつしょうぎ, Animal Shogi), a modern small variant of shogi, the Japanese cousin of chess.

Kumuschiwa everyone!

Just a little bit of background, Dobutsu Shogi was invented by professional shogi player Madoka Kitao with the goal of encouraging and teaching young children play shogi. It has been marketed overseas as “Let’s Catch the Lion!”

So without further ado here is my Dobutsu Chess!

Details

• Pieces are based on the 9×9 version which is called Dobutsu Shogi in the Greenwood.
• The Lion (King) and the Giraffe (Rook) are the same Dobutsu Shogi pieces including the same background color and move guides printed on each of them.

• The Rhino (Queen) is a new piece that I created as there is no queen in Dobutsu Shogi. The background color, which kind of looks like orange or peach is taken from the background color of the Dogs (Gold General) and Cats (Silver General) in Dobutsu Shogi in the Greenwood.

• The Elephants (Bishops) are the same pieces except for the background color. As bishops and knights are both minor pieces in chess, I decided for both of them to have the same light blue background color taken from the rabbit (in shogi, both the rook and the bishop are major pieces instead).

• The Rabbits (Knights) are the same pieces except for the move guides. I matched the move guides printed on them as chess knights can jump in all directions compared to the forward only jump of shogi knights.

• The Chicks (Pawns) are the same pieces except for the move guides as well. I also matched the move guides printed on them as chess pawns can only capture diagonally and can move two squares forward on its first move compared to the one space only movement and capture of shogi pawns.
  • The stars indicate capture and the number 1 inside the circle means that you can move two spaces forward only on its 1st move.

• The pieces are not differentiated by color for each player but instead by their orientation.

• As the board is asymmetrical, the white and black players are determined by on which part of the board they will start.
  • The first player (white) starts in the green forest
  • While the second player (black) starts in the blue sky
• I also decided to keep the same western chess coordinates as chess is written in standard chess Algebraic notation.

Dobutsu Chess on Chess.com

I also created a style using Stylus browser extension (a user style manager that can change the appearance of web pages) for Dobutsu Chess to be used on Chess.com.

For steps on how to install it, kindly view the detailed instructions.

Chess.com Screenshot
Here is a screenshot of how it looks on Chess.com.

• Board and pieces included
  
• Works with matches, puzzles, analysis and board editor
  
• Available in 2d

Other Styles

I also made the JI Shogi-Themed Chess userstyle for Chess.com. You can also check other userstyles that I have created at UserStyles.

Dobutsu Shogi Trivia

• As stated earlier, Dobutsu Shogi was invented by women’s professional shogi player Madoka Kitao with the goal of encouraging and teaching young children play shogi.
• It was designed by fellow women’s professional shogi player Maiko Fujita.
• It has been marketed overseas as “Let’s Catch the Lion!”
• Dobutsu is the Japanese word for animal.
• There are three versions of Dobutsu Shogi:
  • The original and standard 3×4 Dobutsu Shogi.
    • Each player has a Lion (king), Giraffe (rook), Elephant (bishop) and a Chick (pawn).
    • The Giraffe and Elephant can only move one space at a time. While the Chick can promote to a Hen (tokin) after reaching the promotion zone (last rank).
    • You can win the game by either: capturing or catching the opponent’s Lion, or by advancing your own Lion into the promotion zone, as long as doing so does not place the Lion in check.
  • The 5×6 Goro Goro Dobutsu Shogi (ごろごろどうぶつしょうぎ) which is just the same as Goro Goro Shogi.
    • Each player uses 3 Chicks (pawns), 2 Cats (silver generals), 2 dogs (gold generals), and 1 lion (king). The Chick and Cat can promote to a Hen and an Empowered Cat (promoted silver) respectively which can then move just like the dog. The promotion zone consists of the two farthest rank from each player.
    • Goro is a contraction of go roku which means five six in Japanese, a reference to its 5×6 board. Gorogoro is also an onomatopoeia for purring.
  • The 9×9 Dobutsu Shogi in the Greenwood (おおきな森のどうぶつしょうぎ ōkina mori no dōbutsu shōgi, lit. Animal Shogi in big forest) mentioned earlier which is just the same as the standard shogi.
    • The game features new pieces and as the board is large, the movements of the Elephant and Giraffe are unlimited just like in standard shogi.
    • The new pieces are the 2 Boars (lances) and the 2 Rabbits (knights). Just like in standard shogi, the boar and the rabbit can promote to an Empowered Boar (promoted lance) and the Empowered Rabbit (promoted knight) respectively which can move like the dog. While the Elephant and the Giraffe can promote to an Empowered Elephant (dragon horse) and Empowered Giraffe (dragon king) respectively.

I think that is it for this post. I hope you enjoyed it.

You can also view this post on my website and blog at Dobutsu Chess.

If you have any questions, feel free to comment it down below. Thank you, have a great day and do not forget that you are loved! God Bless =>

*Dobutsu Chess is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International.
*Dobutsu Shogi created by Madoka Kitao and Maiko Fujita.
*Modified vector images of Dobutsu Shogi board and pieces are originally by Kadagaden licensed under CC-BY-4.0.
*Userstyle created using the Stylus browser extension for Chess.com.
*Photo used for main image by Karolina Kaboompics on Pexels.