Shogi

In Shogi, when you capture an opponent's piece, it switches sides and becomes yours to hold in reserve. On any subsequent turn, instead of moving a piece on the board, you can 'drop' a captured piece onto nearly any empty square as your own unit, which means the board never truly empties out during endgame play.

Each player begins with 20 pieces on a 9×9 grid, including pawns (9), lances (2), knights (2), silver generals (2), gold generals (2), a bishop, a rook, and a king. Most pieces can be promoted upon entering the opponent's promotion zone—the farthest three ranks—gaining enhanced movement abilities.

Professional Shogi in Japan is governed by the Japan Shogi Association (JSA), with the most prestigious title being the Meijin, which dates back centuries. Other major title matches include Ryū-ō, Kisei, Ōi, Ōza, Kio, and Eisei Meijin, each contested in annual tournament cycles.

Sota Fujii became the youngest professional Shogi player in history when he debuted at age 14 in 2016. He subsequently became the youngest player to win a major title and has since broken numerous records, including achieving all seven major titles simultaneously, an unprecedented feat in the modern era.