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Xiangqi (Chinese: 象棋; pinyin: xiàngqí, Wade-Giles: Hsiang-ch'i),
also called Chinese chess (as opposed to Western chess) or elephant chess, is a game that is played on a board that is 9 lines wide by 10
lines long.
XiangQi
Introduction
Xiangqi plays faster than Western chess, because the barrier of pawns is reduced dramatically, and also because the Cannons
(see below) jump to capture, which makes them a threat early in the game. Also, while in Western chess battle is concentrated in
the middle few rows for the bulk of the game, in Xiangqi the battle seems to be happening simultaneously all over the board. The
give-and-take between offensive and defensive play are thus more obvious in Xiangqi.
The game-tree complexity of Xiangqi is approximately
10150.
History
Xiangqi is similar to shogi and chess and
shares a common ancestor with those two games. It is worth noting that in the past (pre-1000 CE) that the name Xiangqi has been
applied to board games other than Chinese chess.
Korea has developed a variation of Xiangqi called Janggi (also written Changgi, Jangki, Tjyang Keui or Korean
Chess). For each piece, the Korean rules match the Chinese rules unless otherwise noted.
Rules
The pieces, disks marked with an identifying character, are placed on the intersections of the lines (as in Go). The sides are red, which moves first, and blue or black (green in
Korea). The central row of squares is called the river. Each side also has a palace that is 3 lines by 3 lines (i.e., 9
positions) in the center of that side against the back edge of the board.
The Pieces
The General
The pieces are labelled with the Chinese character shuài (帥) on the red side and jiàng (將) on the blue side.
These are actually military generals, though they are equivalent to the kings in the Western chess. Legend has it that an emperor
executed two players for "killing" or "capturing" the emperor piece. Future players called them generals instead.
The General starts the game at the center intersection of the back edge (within the palace). The General may move 1 either
vertically or horizontally only, never diagonally as in international chess. When the General is lost, the game is lost. The
General cannot leave the palace under any circumstances, but he has the theoretical power of capturing the enemy General by
moving along a file like a Rook. Since it is illegal to move into check, a player cannot make any move that would leave the two
Generals facing one another on the same file with no other piece intervening. This is a very important feature of the game, as
the General often plays a role in enforcing checkmate, especially when many of the other pieces have been exchanged.
The Guards
The pieces are labelled 仕 for red and 士 for blue (both pronounced shì). They are civilian government officials,
i.e. the council members serving the commander in chief. One can call them guards too since they stay close to the general. They
are also called assistants or mandarins.
To both the left and right of the king are the guards. The guards are the weakest pieces because they can only move one spot
diagonally and may not leave the palace. They are invaluable for protecting the king, though.
In the Korean variation, the King and Guards may each move to any of the 9 positions within the palace, following the lines
marked on the board. There are 4 diagonal lines in the palace connecting the center position to the corners.
The Ministers or Elephants
Actually called ministers (相 xiàng) for red and elephants (象 xiàng) for blue, these pieces are located to both
the left and the right of the guards. These pieces move exactly 2 points diagonally, and may not jump over intervening pieces.
Their purpose is strictly defensive, however, because they can not cross the river.
In the Korean variation, the Elephant moves 2 points diagonally plus an additional move horizontally or vertically away from
its initial position, ending up on the opposite end of a 2 x 3 rectangle. They may cross the river.
The characters for "minister" and "elephant" are homonyms and both have alternate meaning as "appearance" or "image".
The Horse
Called the horse mǎ (馬 or 马) for both red and blue, this piece is very similar to the Knight in
international chess. It is important to distinguish that the knight moves one point vertically or horizontally and then one point
diagonally away from its starting position because the knight can not jump over pieces like the international chess knight
can.
The move of the Horse is like that of the Elephant (in Korean chess), ending its move at the opposite corner of a 1 x 2
rectangle.
The Chariot
These are labelled jū (車 or 车) for both red and blue. Like the Rook (or Castle) in international chess, the
chariot (or car) moves and kills in a straight line either horizontally or vertically. The two chariots begin the game in the
corners.
The Cannons
They are labelled pào (炮) for red and bào (砲) for blue. Each player has two cannons. The cannons are placed on
the row behind the pawns, directly in front of the knights. Cannons move exactly like the chariots, but capturing with cannons is
more tricky. In order to capture a piece, there must be exactly one piece (friendly or otherwise) between the cannon and the
piece to be captured. The cannon then moves to that point and captures the piece. They are powerful at the beginning of the game
when "hurdles" are plentiful, but lose value rapidly with attrition.
In the Korean variation, the other piece over which the cannon jumps may not be another cannon. In addition, Korean Cannons
are required to jump in order to move, as well as capture.
The Soldiers
They are labelled bīng (兵) (soldiers) for red and zú (卒) (bandits) for blue respectively. Each side has 5
soldiers (or bandits). They are placed on alternating points, one row back from the edge of the river. They move, and unlike
Pawns in international chess also capture, straight ahead. Once they have crossed the river, they can also move (and capture) one
space horizontally. Unlike international chess, when they reach the enemy's edge of the board they are not promoted but can move
from side to side.
In the Korean variation, the Soldiers may move and capture horizontally from their first move; they needn't cross the river
first.
Ending the Game
Stalemate is achieved when no legal moves are possible. Unlike international chess, however, the person who has no legal moves
loses. (In the Korean variation, a stalemate is a draw.)
In the Korean rules, check is announced by declaring janggun. Getting out of janggun is caled munggun, and one may declare
munggun while escaping from janggun.
Miscellaneous Rules
Unlike in western chess, there is no draw by perpetual check or repetition of position. If such situations were declared
draws, there would hardly be a decisive game of xiangqi in expert play. If a position is being repeated, a referee is called to
determine who is at fault. Usually the referee orders the player who is losing to make a different move, so the player who is
winning can press for an advantage, but sometimes it is not technically clear who is to blame, and different referees may differ
as to which player must deviate, or whether repetition is mutually forced.
In the Korean and Chinese rules, it is illegal to make a move that results in an unobstructed line between the opposing
generals. This is called a General Face-off Position. If such a move is made, it results in a bitjang; bitjang is declared, and
the move is taken back.
see also List of Chinese proverbs
(事急馬行田).
External links
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