A Method for Illustrating Shogi Postmortems Using Results of Statistical Analysis of Kifu Data

Overview & Synopsis

Kifu, which is a Japanese term for a game record for a shogi games, is considered as a special type of multi-dimensional time series data, because it consists of items indicating who moved a piece and where it was moved on a grid diagram. Because of its complexity, however, it is not easy for amateur or non-players of shogi to grasp or understand overall shogi games from it. In this study we suggest averages, variances, skewness of row numbers where pawns are put, numbers of times gold and silver generals and nights are moved, which are easily calculated and understandable without comprehensive knowledge of shogi game, as features of position of shogi games. And the usability of those features is shown by a result of discriminant analysis for winner of game based on those features. Further, a software for illustrating shogi postmortems using discriminant scores obtained from discriminant analysis of Kifu data are shown.