king can promote; indeed, when an alliance is formed, the non-allied king is automatically promoted. (However, a king cannot kill by illumination when it promotes. That requires an additional turn, as promotion does not take effect until the end of the promoting move.) When using standard game pieces, promotion entails turning the king blank side up. Checkmate and winning the game A player may not move into check or remain in check, even check by an ally. Likewise, a player may not check or checkmate an ally, and each player regardless of alliance must defend against check or threat of checkmate on the next move. (That is, if Middle and Last are allies, and First places Middle in check, Middle must answer the threat, even if he knows or thinks Last will come to the rescue.) A player loses the game upon checkmate, and is not given the opportunity to resign on his next turn. (That is, if Middle and Last are allied, and First checkmates Middle, the game is over, regardless of whether Middle or Last recognize this and resign.) When mated, all the player's pieces are removed from the board and from the game. They are not captured by the mating player. Play then shifts to the mating player, regardless of whose turn it would otherwise have been. There are three ways to win sannin shogi: If each player plays independently, the player remaining after the other two have been mated is the winner. If there is an alliance, then the non-allied player wins by mating either opposing player, and the game ends. That is, a player whose ally loses, loses as well. However, if the non-allied player is mated, the alliance is dissolved, and the two erstwhile allies continue the game between them. If any player not in an alliance (whether there is one or not) moves the king or promoted king (that is, the Public Opinion or the Sunlight) to the Pleasure Garden, that player wins and the game ends. (Note that the prohibition against moving into check holds for this move as for any other. This is similar to the King of the Hill chess variant.) Other rules Repetition of board positions is not allowed. Unlike standard shogi, it is the player who starts the repetitive sequence who must vary the move. There are no rules for various rare eventualities in sannin shogi, such as