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(Note: This is not intended to be a complete description of
Xiangqi.
This page is intended to be a brief introduction to Xiangqi for people playing
in the
Variant
Tournament
to be held September 28, 2008, at the
Carrel Chess Club
in Canton, Michigan. For complete information about Xiangqi, follow the links at the
bottom of this page.)
There is a game where two players maneuver an army of sixteen pieces across a
square board. Each piece must follow
particular rules, with slow moving pawns moving relentlessly forward, while
other pieces cross the entire board in a single move. Most pieces are blocked by other
pieces, but one kind of piece can jump over intervening pieces. One special piece, the king, is not
the most powerful piece on the board, but it is the most important, because if
your king is captured you lose the game. It is the second most popular board game in the world.
Of course, I am talking about Chess.
The most popular board game in the world is Xiangqi. Xiangqi is descended from the same
roots as Chess, but as the game moved eastward from
India, it took on different forms. Xiangqi did not spread around the
world as much as Chess. Widespread play
is found only in
China and
Vietnam, with some influence in other Asian
countries. However, in those
countries, it is much more popular than Chess is in Europe or
America, which is why there are more Xiangqi
players than Chess players in the world.
There are several differences between Xiangqi and its Western cousin, Chess. The pieces begin more spread out,
resulting in a more open game. The
board, with files 10 long and ranks 9 wide, is divided into two halves,
separated by a “river”. Some pieces
cannot cross the river, but pawns gain extra powers after crossing the river.The king, meanwhile, is confined,
with two guards, to a 3x3 fortress in the back of his territory.
New players find the most striking difference between Chess and Xiangqi to be
the addition of a piece unlike anything in Chess. The cannon moves like a rook, but captures pieces by jumping. It cannot capture unless there is an
intervening piece, either an opponent’s piece or a friendly piece. This creates interesting
opportunities for such cases as discovered check. If a cannon is facing a king, the king can be checked by moving another
piece in between the king and the cannon. Likewise, there is a fourth way to get out of check. In Chess, when in check you can
relieve the check by capture, by interposing a new piece, or by moving the king
to a safe square. In Xiangqi, if the
king is in check by a cannon, the check may be relieved by moving a piece out of
the path between the king and the cannon.
For the Chess Variant tournament, the club will provide Westernized Xiangqi
sets, with symbols that will be easily recognized by people who cannot read
Chinese. If you own a Xiangqi set, please bring it, and you may use it if
both players are familiar with the Chinese symbols traditionally used on the
pieces.
More information (If there is a resource for Xiangqi you would like to
see listed here, email dave@gamesinmichigan.com.)
Wikipedia :Xiangqi
Chessvariants.org:
http://www.chessvariants.org/xiangqi.html
Play Online (human opponents)
Club Xiangqi
Play against a computer:
Xiangqi is available from
Zillions of Games
. Xiangqi is available as part
of the free demo.