CLAIR 1/128 wins the 5x5-Shogi Tournament

Abstract

1. What is 5x5 shogi In 1970, Mr. Shigenobu Kusumoto proposed 5x5-Shogi. This game is also called “mini-shogi”. The game is one of the many Japanese chess-like games. The initial position of 5x5-Shogi is shown in Figure 1. Most of the main rules have been maintained such as reusing captured pieces. There are some kinds of local rules in 5x5-Shogi. One of the important rules is “if the same game position occurs four times with the same player to play, the game is required to end in a loss for the black player”. From 2008 onwards, this rule has been used in the UEC-cup as a standard rule. Since 2008, three years have passed and according to my information there has not been elsewhere any deviation of the winning rate between white and black. So, the rule will certainly be applied for another while. If you want to know the rules of 5x5-Shogi in detail, please check at the official site of the UEC-cup (see reference website).