Xiangqi: Chinese Chess

Xiangqi, or Chinese Chess, is an extremely popular game in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is currently played by millions (or tens of millions) in China, Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Hong Kong and other Asian countries. Xiangqi has remained in its present form for centuries. It is believed that both Xiangqi and Orthodox Chess derive from the original Indian game of Chanturanga.

(xiáng)

(qí ) translates to Elephant Game. In Mandarin it is written as either Xiangqi, Xiang Qi or Hsiang-Ch`i and pronounced "Shiang-Chi". In Cantonese it is written as Jeuhng Keih and pronounced "Junk Kay".

The name Xiangqi has an interesting origin. Of China's four traditional arts -- qin (music), hua (brush painting), shu (calligraphy) and qí (strategy games) -- the latter term, qi, provides the final syllable of Xiangqi. There is much literature on Xiangqi, most of it in Chinese. There are, however, a few books available in English and other languages.

Xiangqi sets can be procured from a number of sources. The most obvious of these are shops in the Chinese districts of large cities. Often, such sets are quite cheap, consisting of a paper board and flat wooden counters inscribed with red and black pictograms. These traditional Chinese symbols may appear strange to the western eye, but can easily be recognized with a minimum of practice. (For more sophisticated sets, see below.)

Rules

The board

The above board shows various L-shaped markings in order to distinguish the setup points of Pawns and Cannons. These markings are not present on all commercial boards.

Pieces

Other rules

Shop

Variants on Chinese Chess

The above was authored by: Hans L. Bodlaender. .
The above was edited/posted by: John William Brown
Created on: July 01, 1996. Last modified on: November 01, 2001.

Comments

Date	Name	Rating	Comment
2006-06-18	Christine Bagley-Jones	Excellent	hey here is another 'good' rating for an 'excellent' game :)
2006-05-26	Fire_Dancer	Excellent	very good for me to know. Now i can play chinese chess. :)
2006-05-26	Beauty_fire	Excellent	Very interesting
2006-05-14	KID	Good	a lot of good info good for my chess report
2006-05-10	The_Beast	Excellent	Thanks for the page! One small suggestion would be a mention of Gabriel's totally different offering as Chinese Chess. As someone might pick it up in a thrift store, and find they'd made a mistake based on your excellent description, a warning seems considerate. Mind you, Gabriel's version fascinates me as no one 'owns' pieces.

This item has a total of 103 comment(s), 82 rating(s), and an average rating of Good. View all comments for this item.

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2 Rooks	(R)	(or chariots)
2 Knights	(N)	(or horses)
2 Elephants	(M)	(or bishops or ministers)
2 Mandarins	(G)	(or advisors or assistants or guards)
1 King	(K)	(or generals)
2 Cannons	(C)
5 Pawns	(P)	(or soldiers)

Chinese Pieces	Movement	Westernized Pieces
	Rooks The Rook moves as an orthodox Rook. (See Rook for more information.)
	Knights (Mao) The Knight moves one point orthogonally followed by one point outward-diagonally. It may not leap over occupied points. (See Mao for more information.)
	Elephants The Elephant moves exactly two points diagonally. It may not leap over occupied points. Also, Elephants are confined to their home side of the river. Due to these limitations, the Elephant can see only seven points of the board. (See Elephant for more information.) [The symbols on red and black Elephants differ, but their moves are the same.]
	Mandarins The Mandarin (or Guard) moves one point diagonally. It may never leave the palace. [The symbols on red and black Mandrians differ, but their moves are the same.]
	King or General The King moves as an orthodox King, but cannot move diagonally. It may never leave the palace. (See King for more information.) [The symbols on red and black Kings differ, but their moves are the same.] The two Kings cannot face each other on an open file. For example, a red King on e1 and a black King on e9, with no piece on the e-file between them, is an illegal position. If either King sits exposed on an open file, the other King may not move to occupy that file.
	Cannons (Pao) The Cannon moves differently when it moves to capture than when it moves passively. The Cannon moves passively as an orthodox Rook The Cannon moves to capture as an orthodox Rook which is required to hop over a single screen. In other words, Cannons capture by hoping over a second piece in order to capture a third piece. For example, a Cannon on a1 can take a piece on f1 when exactly one of the points b1, c1, d1, or e1 is occupied by a piece of either color. Cannons only capture when hoping and only hop when capturing. They may never hop over more than one piece in a given move. (See Cannon for more information.)
	Pawns Unlike orthodox Pawns, the Xiangqi Pawn's passive move and capture move are always the same. A starting Pawn moves one point straight-forward. A Pawn crossing the river promotes, keeping its old move and gaining a new move -- a one-point step to either horizontal. Pawns do not promote on the last rank, where they can move only left or right. (See Xiangqi Pawn for more information.) [The symbols on red and black Pawns differ, but their moves are the same.]

Traditional Pieces	Westernized Pieces
From left to right on the bottom and top rows, you see: a Rook, a Knight, a Minister, a Guard, a King, a Guard, a Minister, a Knight, and a Rook. On the third rows, you see the Cannons, and on the fourth row you see the Pawns. Pieces at the bottom half are red.

Xiangqi

Chinese Chess

Rules

The board

Pieces

Rooks

Knights (Mao)

Elephants

Mandarins

King or General

Cannons (Pao)

Pawns

Other rules

Shop

Variants on Chinese Chess

See also:

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