Xiangqi
Xiangqi (象棋 pinyin xiang4 qi2), also called Chinese chess, is a game that is similar to shogi and chess and goes back to the same origins: the Indian game Shatranj, from about 1400 years ago.
Xiangqi is played on a board that is 9 lines wide by 10 lines long. The pieces, disks marked with an identifying character, are placed on the 90 intersections of the lines (as in go). The sides are red which moves first and blue (or 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.
Xiangqi plays faster then 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 Pieces
The King
The pieces are labelled with the Chinese character shuai4 (帥) on the red side and jiang4 (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 king starts the game at the center intersection of the back edge (within the palace). The king may move 1 either vertically or horizontally only. Unlike international chess, however, the king cannot move diagonally. When the king is lost, the game is lost. If there are no pieces between the enemy kings while they are on the same column, then the player may move to take the opponent's king. Under no other circumstances may the king leave the palace, though. (I believe it is more common to play as in western chess; check must be announced, the goal is to checkmate, and therefor no player may cause the kings to face each other directly. The way I heard it is "They will laugh at each other" and presumably lose face, a fate worse than death.)
The Guards
The pieces are labelled shi4 仕 for red and 士 for blue. 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 "Bishops"
Actually called ministers (相 xiang1) for red and elephants (象 xiang4) 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.
The Rook
These are labelled che1 or ju1 (車) for both red and blue, also called the chariot. The rook moves and behaves exactly like the rook in international chess. It moves and kills in a straight line either horizontally or vertically. The two rooks begin the game in the corners.
The Knight
Also called the horse (馬 ma3) for both red and blue, this piece is very similar to its international chess counterpart. 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, except that it ends its move at the opposite corner of a 2 x 3 rectangle.
The Cannons
They are labelled pao4 (炮) for red and (包 bao1) 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 rooks, 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 pieco over which the cannon jumps may not be another cannon.
The Pawns
They are labelled bing1 (兵) (soldiers) for red and zu2 (卒) (bandits) for blue respectively. Each side has 5 pawns. The pawns are placed on alternating points, one row back from the edge of the river. Pawns move, and unlike international chess also capture, straight ahead. Once the pawns have crossed the river, they can also move (and capture) one space horizontally. Unlike international chess, when pawns reach the enemy's edge of the board they can just move from side to side, they are not promoted.
In the Korean variation, the Soldiers may move and capture horizontally from their first move; they needn't cross the river first.
Stalemate is achieved when no legal moves are possible. Unlike international chess, however, the person who has no legal moves loses.
I'm not sure on this, but the way I learned the game, it was legal to move one's king into danger, and if the opponent saw it, you lost. (No, I believe it is typically played as in western chess. In any event, it is better to do so in any chess-like game, because the game loses interest when you expect to lose at any moment due to a blunder. In fact, some use similar rules for any capture; a player can retract a move if it could lead to an immediate capture of a piece. This will allow beginning players to learn much faster and have more fun.)
Some sites on Chinese Chess (to learn more and meet other players):
- XiangQi Chinese Chess hompepage, http://txa.ipoline.com/
- Zillions of Games has Chinese Chess in their free version.