They play shogi, go, and riichi mahjong
riichi is tnot the oritinal name, the japs use doupble (ii) in words to make them sound more western or latin
Just in case you don't know this, I'm fairly sure that "japs" is considered an offensive term.
Why isn't chess popular in Japan?
101–110 of 119 posts
Re: Why isn't chess popular in Japan?
#102Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm not even convinced Go is all that popular in Japan compared to Shogi or Mahjong. Even Gomoku (five in a row, no capture rule) seems more popular. I can't really say anything about the popularity of go salons since I have yet to visit one but I can't help but notice that the game is never included as a minigame in Japanese titles like the Yakuza series (which has all sorts of other board minigames) or even Clubhou…
I suspect the lack of Go in Yakuza or Clubhouse has more to do with the computational complexity of providing a decent computer opponent to play against.
Decent relative to what? These games include various card games too which in theory are even harder for AIs to beat pros at. I'd be surprised if the other minigame engines are actually decent to a skilled amateur on their hardest difficulty. The AI complexity is also irrelevant to many of these games being playable with a friend in person or online.
The length of the game is also something easily tweaked, just default the board size to 9x9 and offer 13x13 and 19x19.
Re: Why isn't chess popular in Japan?
#103For those interested in playing and learning Shogi, take a look over at the great site https://lishogi.org -- a fork of LiChess for Shogi that includes real-time and correspondence play, AI opponents, analysis, puzzles and more. One of my favorite variants, Kyoto Shogi, is also available. The website https://pychess.org also has a ton of interesting and unique variants both traditional (Makruk) and modern (Chennis!).
This is neat! Does anyone know if there's much of a community of total-noob level Shogi players, as there is for chess these days?
Absolutely! And I'm one of them :) Check out the Shogi Harbor community[1] and their Discord[2]. There's a lot of discussion there and they're very friendly.
[1] http://shogi.pl/ [2] https://disboard.org/server/653255438904590372
Re: Why isn't chess popular in Japan?
#104For those interested in playing and learning Shogi, take a look over at the great site https://lishogi.org -- a fork of LiChess for Shogi that includes real-time and correspondence play, AI opponents, analysis, puzzles and more. One of my favorite variants, Kyoto Shogi, is also available. The website https://pychess.org also has a ton of interesting and unique variants both traditional (Makruk) and modern (Chennis!).
Thanks for the site. I was able to learn a bit about Shogi, although I don't think I have the capacity to memorize it all at once up front.
The kanji on the pieces adds a significant potential barrier. I started with the piece set that had little directional pips on them and different colors to help (it's the twelfth set in the piece set list when you go to the settings gear on Lishogi).
Re: Why isn't chess popular in Japan?
#105For those interested in playing and learning Shogi, take a look over at the great site https://lishogi.org -- a fork of LiChess for Shogi that includes real-time and correspondence play, AI opponents, analysis, puzzles and more. One of my favorite variants, Kyoto Shogi, is also available. The website https://pychess.org also has a ton of interesting and unique variants both traditional (Makruk) and modern (Chennis!).
My god its so complicated
Re: Why isn't chess popular in Japan?
#106Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's why my dad never got into chess. He said the openings were all really routine/reactive, and the endgame was way too much chasing. To him, it was fairly obvious who was going to win after the midgame if it isn't evenly matched, but you're still spending most of the time repeating the same moves to advance pawns and pretty much waiting for mistakes in the endgame. Xiangqi has a much more tactical opening, longer…
>He said the openings were all really routine/reactive, and the endgame was way too much chasing. Openings in normal chess are indeed pointless memorization. I would never have gotten into chess as well, if i had to memorize openings. However Chess960 nowadays exists, and it is thriving. Granted 15 years ago, no one played that variant. Chess 960 expands the surface area of opening move possibilities by a factor of a…
"Chess960" ?
googles
Oh, Fischer Random Chess. Except Bobby Fischer made some Nazi-level antisemitic comments, so new name. 960 because of 960 possible starting layouts. So, Chess960 it is, then.
Re: Why isn't chess popular in Japan?
#107Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's why my dad never got into chess. He said the openings were all really routine/reactive, and the endgame was way too much chasing. To him, it was fairly obvious who was going to win after the midgame if it isn't evenly matched, but you're still spending most of the time repeating the same moves to advance pawns and pretty much waiting for mistakes in the endgame. Xiangqi has a much more tactical opening, longer…
Most anyone just resigns if they know they're in a losing position, there's no rule forcing you to play it out.
Still, that it can get stuck in a moribund state and depends on the losing player to fold for it to be "fun" is a flaw.
Re: Why isn't chess popular in Japan?
#108Probably because they have Shogi, which is also fun to play. They also like Go, which I hate. Absolutely love Mahjong, though. (Thanks Yakuza series!)
> They also like Go, which I hate. To each their own... :-) What I like about Go, is its combination of simple rules, contrasted with the rich set of ever-more advanced tactics. And (using handicaps) players of different skill can still enjoy a somewhat-balanced game. There are just a few basic rules (board sizes, placement of stones, groups, freedoms, atari, capture) that are easily explained. Beginners may think it…
My dislike of Go comes from the fact I've never been able to win it.
So because of that, I refuse to play it. :P
Re: Why isn't chess popular in Japan?
#109Earlier quoted context omitted.
Most anyone just resigns if they know they're in a losing position, there's no rule forcing you to play it out.
Still, that it can get stuck in a moribund state and depends on the losing player to fold for it to be "fun" is a flaw.
No, not really. Compared to just about any game I’ve played it rarely gets stuck, and when you are up decisively it usually ends quickly.
Also most everyone plays time controls that completely avoid this.
Feels like people are reaching for reasons to dislike it here. It’s the most balanced and fun game I’ve found, and these issues ring totally hollow I think to anyone who plays it regularly.
There are some other issues you could point out, but they mostly exist entirely in classical time controls, or perhaps if you enjoy a less rigid and punishing game.
Re: Why isn't chess popular in Japan?
#110Earlier quoted context omitted.
Still, that it can get stuck in a moribund state and depends on the losing player to fold for it to be "fun" is a flaw.
No, not really. Compared to just about any game I’ve played it rarely gets stuck, and when you are up decisively it usually ends quickly. Also most everyone plays time controls that completely avoid this. Feels like people are reaching for reasons to dislike it here. It’s the most balanced and fun game I’ve found, and these issues ring totally hollow I think to anyone who plays it regularly. There are some other issu…
> ring totally hollow I think to anyone who plays it regularly
Obviously for a hobbyist player the experience is very different from people learning the ropes. Think the "kid playing against his dad at the cottage" experience. The kind of people who don't know any named openings other than the scholar's mate. The kind of players that don't know their own ELO.
This is the onboarding experience.