Chinese Chess (XiangQi)

Introduction

Confucius Institute2010.10.30

Friends of Chinese Chess in Finland(Kiisys) r.y.www.shakki.info

Common origin with Western Chess is likely

Reference:H.J.R. Murray. A History of Chess,Oxford University Press, 1913Li, David H. The Genealogy of Chess, Premier Publishing, 1996

Early Indian game, ChaturangaDepicts an ancient battle

Four branches of ancient Indian army :

Western Chess Chinese Chess

Queen’s movement was changed to current type of movement in Europe in the 15th century (origianally there was a piece called a vizier which moved one step diagonally)

1. Chariots Rook(Engl. rook < Persian rokh, chariot> Italian rocca, fortress)

Chariot (Rook)

2. Elephants Bishop(Shatranj : al-fil, elephant)Movement method was changed in the 16th century, previously 2 diagonally

Elephant(moves 2 diagonally)

3. Cavalry Knight Horse

4. Infantry Pawn Pawn

Modern games

Why use Chinese Characters?

Pieces were easy to manufacture even using ancient methods

They identify a single piece perfectly

- A single character corresponded to a single word in ancient Chinese language

- Round wooden chips decorated with a few strokes of brush : compared with 3D western chess pieces making a Chinese Chess set is extremely simple

Why use different characters for the same piece?

Identifies whose piece is it without using colors

All sets do not necessarily distinguish all the pieces, especially the horse ( 馬 ) and the chariot ( 車 ) often look the same on both sides

Most often the sets use traditional Chinese characters, but the simplified characters can also be used (马）， ( 车 ) etc.

Character for the Chariot (rook): 車

車车

jū

Movement of the chariot

Initial positionMovement

Character for the Horse: 馬

馬马

Movement of the Horse

Initial positionMovement

Character for the Elephant: 象 /相

象

相([anc.] minister )

Movement of the Elephant

Initial positionMovement (if points A or B are occupied, the piece can not jump over. It also can’t jump over the river)

Characters for the Advisor: 士 /仕

士 大(big)

人(human)

亻(human, as a part of a character)

Movement of the Advisor

Initial positionMovement as in Charaturanga, one step diagonally(limited to the palace area)

Characters for the General (King): 帥 /將

帥（帅）

爿 爿 將（将）

Movement of the General

Initial position (ordinarily a king can not move to a line occupied by enemy General)

Moves one step horizontally or vertically (limited to the palace area)

Character for the Pawn: 兵 /卒

兵

( 衣)

卒

Movement of the Pawn

Initial positionMovement (after crossing the river, horizontal movement is also possible)

Character for the Cannon: 炮 /砲

火

石

包

Movement of the Cannon

Initial positionMovement ( When capturing an enemy piece, you need a piece in between. Relative location of those pieces are irrelevant)

”River”?In the middle of the board, you can read 楚河漢界 (simplified 楚河汉界 )

State of Chu ( 楚 )’s river ( 河 ), State of Han’s ( 漢 ) border( 界 )

The game is supposedly related to the founding of Han Dynasty (c. 210 BCE)The Leader of Han, Liu Bang ( 刘邦 ) versusThe Leader of Chu, Xiang Yu ( 项羽 )

Objective of the game

1. Making a mate like in Chess: the king is threatened and it no longer can move

- Remember that enemy king can help to checkmate

2. Also a stalemate is a winning situation (unlike in western Chess):

Stalemate = there are no more valid moves left

Illegal moves #1

1. Perpetual checking is forbidden- After three repetitions, the offending party is judged to lose

An example of perpetual checking

Illegal moves#2

2. Perpetual chasing is forbidden

An example of perpetual chasing

- Perpetual chasing unless using a pawn or a king is forbidden. After three repeats the offending party is judged to lose.

3. More detailed rules: http://wxf.org/xq/in.htm

Common principles for beginners(1)Pawn Relative value

Pawn before crossing the river 1

Pawn after crossing the river 2

Advisor 2

Elephant 1 - 2

Horse 4 - 5

Cannon 4 - 5

Chariot (Rook) 9

1.The chariot is the most valuable piece. You must get it into the game as soon as possible. For a beginner, you should avoid exchanging it even for a horse and a cannon (unless preparing to checkmate).2. Horse and a cannon are approximately of equal value. You can exchange a horse for cannon or viceversa. However, normally it is worth keeping at least one chariot, cannon and a horse.

3. You can sacrificice a single pawn to improve your position, but in the end game pawns close to the enemy palace are often vitally important. Therefore sacrificing several pawns might be unadvisable.

Common principles for beginners(2)

An easy checkmate example number 1 An easy checkmate example number 2

Use of Cannon requires some experience as the western chess has no equivalent piece

Where to find people to play with?Friends of Chinese Chess in Finland (Kiisys) r.y.

http://shakki.info/

Online

http://shakki.info/linkkeja.html (links to game servers)

How to develop your game skills?Primarily just by playing!

Literature :

http://shakki.info/kirjallisuutta.html