Sannin shōgi (三人将棋 three-person chess), or in full kokusai sannin shōgi (国際三人将棋 international three-person chess), is a three-person shogi variant invented circa 1930 by Tanigasaki Jisuke and recently revived. It is played on a hexagonal grid of border length 7 with 127 cells. Standard shogi pieces may be used, and the rules for capture, promotion, drops, etc. are mostly similar to standard shogi. (See that article for an explanation of these terms.) While piece movement differs somewhat from standard shogi, especially in the case of the powerful promoted king, the main difference in play is due to the rules for voluntary and mandatory alliance between two of the three players. Board and setup The board is thought to have originally been in the shape of an equilateral triangle bordered by three rectangles which contained the players' home territories and promotion zones. However, in terms of movement this was equivalent to a hexagon, and the modern form of sannin shogi is played on a hexagonal board, rather like the central portion of a Chinese checkers board. The three players occupy non-adjacent sides of the board; the three ranks nearest to them are their territories and their opponents' promotion zones. The 'international' arena inside the three territories remains triangular. The board is presented here with substitutions by standard shogi pieces; for the names actually used, see below. The central cell is called the Pleasure Garden and is an additional promotion zone, except for the king. It is drawn with a heavy or double border or otherwise made visually distinct. In the modern game, standard shogi pieces are used. Each player wields 18 pieces, the standard shogi set of 20 less one knight and one pawn. The pieces face away from the players: That is, they point toward the gap between the opposing players' territories. The three players represent three countries, and are called First, Middle, and Last. If two players start the game as allies, the remaining player is automatically First. Otherwise any random method may be used to determine the order of play. Play then precedes clockwise from First to Middle to Last. Board notation Standard shogi notation is used, with allowance made for the shape of the board. Numbering the ranks poses no problem: They are the rows that are horizontal from the viewpoint of Middle, and are given the letters a through m from top to bottom, with g