Legged or Tabletop Shogi Board? Posture, Sound, Space and Care — Decide by Where It Will Live

Start looking at shogi boards and you will soon meet the legged board: a thick block of wood on four short legs, the kind two players sit facing each other across, on the floor. In Japanese it is called an ashitsuki-ban (足付き盤, “board with legs”).

Most people then get stuck on the same question: what is actually different about it, compared with a tabletop board?

The obvious difference is the look. The real differences are elsewhere: how you sit, how the pieces sound, where the board lives, and how you look after it. A legged board changes your room and your routine more than it changes the game.

This page sets out those four differences and a simple order for deciding, so that you do not end up with a fine board you have nowhere to put.

The four differences at a glance

Of these four, the one people take most lightly, and regret most often, is where the board will live.

1. Posture: will you sit on the floor to play?

A legged board is built to the eye level and hand height of someone sitting on the floor.

• The two players face each other across the board, kneeling or cross-legged.
• The legs raise the playing surface so you can reach it while sitting upright.
• At a chair and table, the height simply does not fit.

This is the first fork in the road. If you have a tatami room, or any floor space where you are happy to sit and play, a legged board comes into its own. If you will actually play at the dining table or a kotatsu, a tabletop board will get you more games.

Choose by how often you will play, not by how grand the board is. A handsome legged board that comes out a few times a year, because nobody in the house sits on the floor, is a common story.

2. Sound: the real reason for the legs

For many players the strongest reason to choose a legged board is the sound of the pieces (koma-oto, 駒音).

With open space beneath the board, the sound of a piece being placed carries and rings. Put a tabletop board straight onto a table and the table soaks up much of it. Same wood, same thickness: whether there is space underneath changes what you hear.

The legs are not the only thing that shapes the sound:

• Thickness of the board (measured in sun, 寸): a thicker board is said to have more room to resonate.
• The wood: its quality and how the grain runs change the character of the sound.
• Height and shape of the legs: how much space they leave under the board.

Some boards also have a hollow carved into the centre of the underside, which is said to be connected with the sound; it is one of the long-standing conventions of board making. How thickness is described in listings is covered in Shogi Board Sizes.

Sound cannot be compared on paper. This is the one point where the fastest way to decide is to see boards side by side and ask to place a few pieces on each.

3. Space and weight: decide this first

A legged board is not something you get out and put away.

• A thick block of wood on legs is heavy. It is not designed to be carried around in one hand.
• Because it stays out, the real question is whether you can give up that floor space.
• You also need room for two players sitting opposite each other. The board’s own footprint is not enough.
• On tatami, the legs can leave marks. Decide whether you will put something underneath.
• The same goes for wooden floors: decide what goes under the legs before the board arrives.

Check these points first and the choice narrows by itself. Do it the other way round, choosing the board and then looking for a place, and you can end up with a board that fits neither the cupboard nor the room.

The order to decide in

1. Floor or table? Decide whether you will sit on the floor or at a table to play. This settles legged versus tabletop.
2. Measure a permanent spot. The board plus the space for two people sitting across from each other.
3. Check the floor. Tatami or wood, and what will go under the legs.
4. Then choose the thickness and the wood.
5. If you can, see the board in person and ask to place some pieces on it.

The most common mistake is jumping to step 4 before steps 1 to 3 are settled.

4. Care: look at the legs too

A board is wood. It dislikes very dry air and damp, direct sunlight and sudden changes in temperature. A board that stays out all the time depends on its spot more than one that is put away.

• Keep it out of direct sunlight. Sun can discolour the wood and lead to cracks.
• Keep it out of moving air: a spot where wind blows straight through the room, or the direct airflow of an air conditioner or heater. Uneven drying is what makes wood move.
• Do not let damp collect around it. If you store it for a while, do not seal it away at the back of a damp cupboard.
• Do not use the board as a shelf. A board that is always out tends to collect things.
• Check the legs now and then for any wobble in how they sit.
• If it will not be used for a long time, cover the playing surface.

Much of this is shared with go boards, so a specialist shop’s care advice for a go board applies here too.

Common questions

My child has started shogi. Should I buy a legged board? There is no hurry. Children usually play at a desk or a kotatsu. Playing many games on a tabletop board suits learning better. A legged board can wait until you know where and how you will play. What a beginner actually needs is in The Equipment You Need to Start Shogi.

Can I add legs to a tabletop board? Shogi board legs are made to suit a particular board’s thickness and weight, so adding them to a tabletop board afterwards is not a simple job. If you want the sound, ask a specialist go and shogi shop or a board maker (banshi, 盤師) about ways of raising the board with space underneath, such as a stand.

What about a second-hand legged board? It is a perfectly good option, but there is more to check: warping, cracks and the state of the grain on the playing surface; wobbly legs; any smell; uneven sun-fading. Because of the weight, settle collection or delivery before you agree to buy. The points to check are much the same as for a used go board.

How much more does a legged board cost? It varies widely with the wood, the thickness and the finish, so there is no single answer. Even among legged boards, a different wood puts the board in a different price range. Tell a specialist shop the wood, thickness (sun) and leg style you have in mind and ask; with those three settled, the conversation gets specific quickly.

Summary

• A legged board differs from a tabletop board in posture, sound, space and care, not in rank.
• Whether you will sit on the floor to play decides legged or tabletop.
• A legged board stays out. Measure the spot before choosing the board.
• Sound is the main reason to choose one, and it can only be judged in person.
• On tatami or wood, decide what goes under the legs from the start.
• Settle wood, thickness and leg style, then look at real boards at a specialist shop or a shogi club.

A shogi board stays where you put it. That is why the order works best this way round: choose the place first, then the board.