first: Gameplay The players alternate making a move, with Black moving first. (The traditional terms 'black' and 'white' are used to differentiate the sides during discussion of the game, but are no longer literally descriptive.) A move consists of moving a single piece on the board and potentially promoting that piece, displacing (capturing) an opposing piece or dropping a captured piece onto an empty square of the board. Each of these options is detailed below. Movement and capture An opposing piece is captured by displacement: That is, if a piece moves to a square occupied by an opposing piece, the opposing piece is displaced and removed from the board. A piece cannot move to a square occupied by a friendly piece (meaning another piece controlled by the moving player). Each piece on the game moves in a characteristic pattern. Pieces move either orthogonally (that is, forward, backward, left, or right, in the direction of one of the arms of a plus sign, +), or diagonally (in the direction of one of the arms of a multiplication sign, ×). Many pieces are capable of several kinds of movement, with the type of movement most often depending on the direction in which they move. The movement categories are: Step movers Some pieces move only one square at a time. (If a friendly piece occupies an adjacent square, the moving piece may not move in that direction; if an opposing piece is there, it may be displaced and captured.) The step movers are the phoenix, falcon, crane, and the 8 swallows on each side. Limited ranging piece The eagle can move along a limited number (2) of free (empty) squares along a straight line in certain directions. Other than the limited distance, it moves like ranging pieces (see below). Jumping pieces The pheasant and goose can jump, that is, they can pass over any intervening piece, whether friend or foe, with no effect on either. Ranging pieces The quail and eagle can move any number of empty squares along a straight line, limited only by the edge of the board. If an opposing piece intervenes, it may be captured by moving to that square and removing it from the board. A ranging piece must stop where it captures, and cannot bypass a piece that is in its way. If a friendly piece intervenes, the moving piece is limited to a distance that stops