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Chinese Chess
"Xiang Qi"
Background:
Xiang Qi or Chinese chess is "one of the three major versions of
chess." The other two are Western chess and Shogi. The movement and
number of attacking pieces is more limited than Western chess making
it perhaps harder or easier.
Setup:
The pieces in Chinese chess are placed and played on the lines instead
of the squares as in Western chess.
J T--H--E--A--G--A--E--H--T
| | | | \|/ | | | |
I -------------------------
| | | | /|\ | | | |
H ---C-----------------C---
| | | | | | | | |
G S-----S-----S-----S-----S
| | | | | | | | |
F -------------------------
| River |
E -------------------------
| | | | | | | | |
D s-----s-----s-----s-----s
| | | | | | | | |
C ---c-----------------c---
| | | | \|/ | | | |
B -------------------------
| | | | /|\ | | | |
A t--h--e--a--g--a--e--h--t
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
The square defined by A4, C4, C6, and A6 is as the "General's square"
Similarly, J4 H4, H6, and J6 also define another General's square.
Assume that the uppercase is "Team two" and the lowercase is "Team one"
Pieces:
The pieces are represented on the above board are as follows:
S = Soldier (P) C = Cannon
T = Tank (R) H = Horse (N)
E = Elephant (B) A = Adviser
G = General or King (K)
These initials come from the literal translation of the Chinese
character into English (Except for tank). The letters in parentheses
represent the Western equivalent of the piece; thus, pieces and their
movement may be more easily remembered.
Movement:
Tank : Moves and attacks just like a rook. This piece can cross the
river. The actual translation is car or the ancient
equivalent of one.
Elephant : Moves and attacks like a bishop except that it can only and
must move across two squares at a time. It cannot cross the
river. Therefore, the elephants on team one will only be
able to occupy A3, E3, A7, C1, C5, C9, and E7.
Soldier : This piece can only move forward when it is on the side of
its own color. After it crosses the river, though, it can
also move left and right. The soldier can never move
backwards.
Horse : This piece moves like a knight in Western chess except it
can be blocked. For example:
1-----------2 ------8------
| | | | | | | | | |
---C--H------ ---7---------
| | | | | | River |
3-----------4 ---------H---
| | | | | | | | | |
---5-----6--- -------------
A horse must move one space down a line and then diagonally
across a square. Therefore, the above horse can reach the
numbers 2, 4, 5, and 6. The numbers 1 and 3 are blocked by
the cannon. The horse cannot move over a piece and
consequently, cannot reach 1 and 3. This piece can cross the
river which also counts as one space and is shown above.
If the horse was to cross the river, it would land at 7 or
8.
Cannon : This piece moves like a rook but attacks differently.
instead of "running into a piece" as the rook does, the
cannon jumps over one piece and captures the one
behind it. For example:
---t-----h-----C---
| | | | | | |
-------------------
The cannon can jump over the horse and take the opponent's
tank. The cannon, though, cannot take the horse unless there
is something between it and the horse. The cannon can cross
the river.
Advisor : This piece is limited to moving one space only on the
diagonals in the General's square. Therefore,
o-----o
| \|/ |
---o--- <-- General's square
| /|\ |
o-----o
the o's mark the possible positions of the advisor. This
piece cannot leave the square.
General : Like the Advisor, the general can only stay within the
General's square. Instead of moving on the diagonals,
the general moves only orthagonally. In other words, it can
move like the Western king minus diagonals.
Rules:
Exactly like Western chess. Players take turns moving their pieces
with the intent of capturing the opponent's general.
If a "loop" occurs in the game, the attacking piece must end the loop
after the loop has occurred three times in a row. If both sides do not
have any attacking pieces ( tank, horse, cannon, soldier) or it is
utterly impossible to break the loop, then a stalemate occurs.
A stalemate is very uncommon.
"Check" is said whenever the general is in check.
Finally, the two generals cannot face each other. In other words, there
cannot be a clear line between the two generals. A move that makes
them face each other is illegal.
If anyone has any questions or would like to play a game, send some E-mail
to Kevin Wang [73047,1651].