Xiangqi

Xiangqi (Chinese: 象棋; pinyin: xiàngqí, Wade-Giles: Hsiang-ch'i; roughly pronounced "shyang-chee") is also called Chinese chess (as opposed to international/western chess) or elephant chess. It is a game that is played on a board that is 9 lines wide by 10 lines long. The pieces are played on the intersections, which are known as points. On the center-back edge of each side of the board, is a 3x3 point palace, with 4 diagonal lines connecting the center point to the corners. Dividing the two opposing sides (between the fifth and sixth rows) is the river.

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 shares a common ancestor, probably chaturanga, with those two games. It is worth noting that in the past (before 1000 AD) that the name Xiangqi has been applied to board games other than Chinese chess. The Korean variation of Xiangqi, called Janggi (also written Changgi, Jangki, Tjyang Keui or Korean Chess), is derived from an old version of Xiangqi.

Pieces

On either side of the river are the red (or white) side, which moves first, and the black (or blue or green) side. They are represented disks marked with an identifying character and color.

Soldier

The soldiers are labelled 兵 (bīng) (soldier) for red and 卒 (zú) (bandits) for black. 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 capture (unlike Pawns in international chess) by advancing one point. Once they have crossed the river, they may also move (and capture) one point horizontally. Unlike international chess, when they reach the enemy's edge of the board they are not promoted, nor may they retreat; however, they may still move from side to side.

General

The generals are labelled with the Chinese character 帥 (shuài) on the red side and 將 (jiàng) on the black 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.

Advisor

The advisors are labelled 仕 (scholar) for red and 士 (gentleman) for black (both pronounced shì). They are civilian government officials, i.e. the council members serving the commander in chief. One may also refer to them as guards because they stay close to the general. They are also known as assistants or mandarins.

The advisors start on either side of the general. They move one point diagonally and may not leave the palace. Although their limited movement may cause some to consider them the weakest pieces, they are invaluable for protecting the general.

Elephant

The elephants are labeled 相 (xiàng) (ministers) for red and 象 (xiàng) (elephants) for black. They are located beside advisors. These pieces move exactly 2 points diagonally, and may not jump over intervening pieces. Because they cannot cross the river, their purpose is strictly defensive.

The characters for "minister" and "elephant" are homonyms and both have alternate meanings as "appearance" or "image".

Horse

The horse 馬 or 马 (mǎ) is similar to the Knight in international chess. It is important to distinguish that the horse moves one point vertically or horizontally and then one point diagonally away from its starting position. Thus, the horse cannot jump over pieces as the knight in international chess.

Chariot

The chariots are labelled 車 or 车 (jū) for both red and black. Like the Rook in international chess, the chariot moves and captures in a straight line either horizontally or vertically. The chariots begin the game in the corners, on their respective sides.

Cannon

The cannons are labelled 炮 (pào) or 砲 (bào) . Some sets may use the same characters for all cannons. Others use a different character for each side.

Each player has two cannons. The cannons are placed on the row behind the pawns, directly in front of the knights. Cannons move like the chariots, horizontally and vertically, but capture by jumping exactly one piece, friendly or otherwise. When capturing, the cannon is moved to the point of the captured piece. They are powerful at the beginning of the game when "hurdles" are plentiful, but lose value rapidly with attrition.

Ending the game

Stalemate is achieved when no legal moves are possible. Unlike international chess, however, the person who has no legal moves loses.

Miscellaneous rules

Unlike in international 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.

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.

See also List of Chinese proverbs.

Useful concepts

The board is bigger than the international chess board, and there are not as many powerful pieces with long-range moves. Because of this, it can take time to move one's army of pieces from place to place on the board, and there is a tendency for the battle to focus on a particular area of the board. There is no real concept of a struggle for control of the center, as in international chess.

In the opening, it is important to develop at least one chariot within the first few moves, because the chariots are the only powerful long-range pieces. A common first move is to bring one cannon to the center line, where it can attack the enemy's general immediately. However, the opening is not a struggle for control of the center. It may not be bad to develop one horse to the edge of the board, e.g., to avoid being blocked by one of one's own pawns that cannot advance. However, at least one horse should be moved to the center.

The pawns do not normally support one another, and there is no concept of pawn structure.

Defensively, a common configuration is to leave the general at his starting position, and deploy one guard and one minister on the central line in front of him, and the other guard and other minister next to one another, to the side. In this setup, the paired-up guards and ministers support each other, and the general is immune from attacks by cannons. However, with the loss of a single guard or minister, the general becomes vulnerable to cannons, and this setup may need to be abandoned. The defender may move guards or ministers away from the general, or even sacrifice them intentionally, to ward off attack by a cannon.

The chariots are not normally chained as in international chess, because this leaves them vulerable to attack by cannons. It is more common to use the cannons independently to control particular ranks and files. It is desirable to position a chariot in one of the corners on the enemy's side of the board, where it is very difficult to dislodge, and threatens the enemy general.

Since horses cannot jump over other pieces, it is common to try to block or trap an enemy horse. It is possible for your horse to attack your enemy's horse at the same time that the enemy's horse is blocked from attacking yours.