Xiangqi

Xiangqi board with pieces in their starting positions

Xiangqi is a form of chess that started in China. In English it is called Chinese chess.

Though derived from the original Indian Chaturanga, Chinese chess is quite different from modern international chess. The board is different, there are different pieces, and they have different moves. The general and his mandarin may not leave the nine-pointed fortress; they have only limited movement. Clearly, this is more similar to the old Indo-Arabic game than to modern chess.

Xiangqi is a chess game for two people to play. Each player's palaces are located at the back row with an X shaped. Each player has 16 pieces to move on the board. One player's set is red, and one is black. The way to win is to capture the other player's King. Each kind of piece has different ways to move. Xiangqi is one of the most popular chess games in China.^[1]^[2]^p78

Pieces

General (King)
Advisor (Guard)
Elephant (Bishop)
Horse (Knight)
Chariot (Rook)
Cannon
Soldier (Pawn)

Movement

General: Moves 1 point orthogonally and it only stays inside the palace

Advisor: Moves 1 point diagonally and it only stays inside the palace

Elephant: Moves 2 points diagonally and it cannot jump over a piece or cross the river

Horse: Moves 1 point orthogonally and then 1 point diagonally unlike the chess knight, the horse cannot jump over a piece

Chariot: Moves any number of points orthogonally and it cannot jump over a piece

Cannon: Moves the same as the Chariot but to capture, the cannon must jump over 1 piece and then lands on a piece

Soldier: Moves 1 point forward and after it crosses the river, the soldier can also move sideways

Special rules

Flying General: Generals cannot stand on the same column unless there is 1 piece between them

Xiangqi Media

Xiangqi is a common pastime in Chinese cities (Beijing, 2005)
An instance of checkmate that assumes the cannon is safe and Black cannot block the check. The horse is not needed for this checkmate.
Pieces for en:Xiangqi (a Chinese form of chess). The two sides (red and black) have different characters for the same piece. This image shows the traditional characters. The "general" pieces.
XiangqiJiangShi
Pieces for en:Xiangqi (a Chinese form of chess). The two sides (red and black) have different characters for the same piece. This image shows the traditional characters. The "advisor" pieces.
Pieces for en:Xiangqi (a Chinese form of chess). The two sides (red and black) have different characters for the same piece. This image shows the traditional characters. The "elephant" pieces.
Pieces for en:Xiangqi (a Chinese form of chess). The two sides (red and black) have different characters for the same piece. This image shows the traditional characters. The "horse" pieces.
Pieces for en:Xiangqi (a Chinese form of chess). The two sides (red and black) have different characters for the same piece. This image shows the traditional characters. The "chariot" pieces.
Pieces for en:Xiangqi (a Chinese form of chess). The two sides (red and black) have different characters for the same piece. This image shows the traditional characters. The "cannon" pieces.

Related pages

References

↑ Pritchard, David Brine 1994. The Encyclopedia of chess variants. ISBN 0-9524142-0-1
↑ Hooper, David & Whyld, Kenneth 1992. The Oxford Companion to Chess 2nd ed, Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-866164-9

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[1] Pritchard, David Brine 1994. The Encyclopedia of chess variants. ISBN 0-9524142-0-1

[2] Hooper, David & Whyld, Kenneth 1992. The Oxford Companion to Chess 2nd ed, Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-866164-9

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