The national epicenter of “Shogi”, “xiangqi” and “go” or better known as Japanese chess, is in Barcelona. These versions of Chinese and Japanese chess will really make you sweat and thrill from the chair.
In this type of chess the pieces are called the same as in traditional chess. There is the pawn, the rook, the king, etc. The game has the same approach, but has marked differences according to the current “shogi” champion of Spain and coordinator of the Shogi Dojo association, Jona Ruiz.
He also claims that this game is better than meditation, as it requires so much concentration that it takes you away from all external thought and activity.
Some rules of Japanese chess
Better known as the game of generals, its objective is to capture the opponent’s king or make the opponent surrender. This with the particularity that both players can use again the pieces captured by the adversary. The game board is giant and has 19 rows by 19 rows (twice the size of traditional chess).
The activity can be practiced from the age of 8, is for two players and lasts about 45 minutes. It is a much shorter time compared to regular chess whose games can be complex to infinitely long.
The name of the game comes from the word shogun, a person chosen by the emperor himself to whom he gave the military rank of army commander. It is said to have been born in China more than 2,500 years ago and was the one that the Chinese thinker Confucius liked the most because it was truly intellectually challenging.
Where you can play Japanese chess in Barcelona
Shogi associations in Spain
Espai Jove Garcilaso: located at Garcilaso, 103. Meetings are held every Thursday.
Shogi no Kokoro: located at Rambla Badal, 46-50. You can go and play on weekends.
These two are the only shogi associations in the country, with Barcelona being the national epicenter. As an association they organize the Spanish tournaments that are endorsed by the Spanish Chess Federation, FESA.
At the present time, the associations have their doors open to incorporate more members. The majority of its members are people who are interested in and attracted to Asian culture.
Shogi players are superstars in Japan
If you are very interested in this game and want to start a career, the best thing to do is to go to Japan. The point is that in Europe it is not possible to make a living from it. In Japan, Japanese chess players are considered superstars and are even compared to world-class soccer players.
This assessment is not exaggerated. Two years ago, for example, the live broadcast of a shogi tournament final broke records. It was followed on their screens by some 7.5 million people.
