Xiangqi (Chinese: 象棋; pinyin: xi , Wade-Giles: hsiang-ch'i; roughly pronounced "shyang-chee"; literally translated as elephant chess) is one of a family of strategic board games of which chess and shogi are also members. It has commonly been assumed to have originated from the 6th century Indian game of chaturanga or a close relative thereof, a popular theory which most recently has undergone some revisions. (See History below.) Xiangqi is native to China and is commonly called Chinese chess in the West. It is the most played Chess game in the world.

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 fortress, 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.

XiangQi, Chinese chess

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. In addition, since the General is confined to only moving within his 3x3 point fortress, he can be checkmated easier unless he is protected by his other pieces. 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 [1] (http://www.csie.ndhu.edu.tw/~sjyen/Papers/2004CCC.pdf).

History

Chinese chess has a long history. Though its precise origins have not yet been definitely confirmed, our earliest indications reveal the game may have been played as early as the 4th century BC, by Meng Changjun for example. (See chess in early literature or timeline of chess). Judging by its rules, we can conclude that the origin of Chinese chess was apparently closely related to military strategists in ancient China.

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, wars were fought for years running. A new chess game was patterned after the array of troops. This was the earliest form of Chinese chess.

Because some remnants of Chinese silk have been dated in Egypt as early as 1000 BC (see Silk Road) and because of the astounding similarities between Xiangqi and an ancient "game" board portrayed in the tomb of Egyptian Queen Nefertari (see Origins of chess) the two ancient countries could possibly have influenced one another in the creation of both games. Nefertari's "game" may have provided early inventors with a fundamental model upon which Xiangqi and other ancient chess variants are patterned. The ancient Chinese game of Liubo may also have had an influence as well. Assuming our present day historical records to be accurate, both Nefertari's "game" and Liubo are approximately one thousand years older than Xiangqi.

During the Wei, Jin and Northern and Southern Dynasties, a kind of chess game was popular among the people. It laid a foundation for the finalized pattern of Chinese chess. In ancient times, Chinese chess was always enjoyed by both highbrows and lowbrows.

During the reign of Suzong of the Tang Dynasty, Prime Minister Niu Sengru wrote a fictional story about chess. That occurred during the Baoying period, so it was named Baoying chess. Baoying chess had six pieces. He wrote about the rules of the chess. Baoying chess produced a significant influence on the chess in subsequent years.

Three forms of chess took shape after the Song Dynasty. One of them consisted of 32 pieces. They were played on a chessboard with 9 vertical lines and 9 horizontal lines. Popular in those days was a chessboard without a river borderline. The Chu River and Han Borderline were added later. This form has lasted to this day.

With the economic and cultural development during the Qing Dynasty, Chinese chess entered a new stage. Many different schools of chess circles and chess players came into prominence. With the popularization of Chinese chess, many books and manuals on the techniques of playing chess were published. They played an important role in popularizing Chinese chess and improving the techniques of playing in modern times.

Pieces

On either side of the river are the red (or white) side, which moves first, and the black (or blue or green) side. (Note, however, that there has apparently been a rule change, for older chess books show black moving first.) They are represented by disks marked with an identifying character and color.

Soldier

The soldiers (known as pawns in some sources) are labelled 兵 (bīng) (soldier) for red and 卒 (z ) (pawn) for black. Each side has 5 soldiers (or pawns). They are placed on alternating points, one row back from the edge of the river. They move, and capture (unlike Pawns in Western chess) by advancing one point. Once they have crossed the river, they may also move (and capture) one point horizontally. Unlike Western 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 (shu i) (marshal) on the red side and 將 (ji ng) (general) 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 spot of the back edge (within the fortress). The General may move 1 either vertically or horizontally only, never diagonally as in Western chess. When the General is unable to escape check, he is said to be checkmated, and the player loses the game. The General cannot leave the fortress under any circumstances, hence this effectively means he can only move to and stay on the 9 possible positions in the fortress. A player cannot make any move that would leave the two Generals facing one another on the same line with no other pieces placed in between. Therefore a player will lose the game if he/she is forced to move the General to face their opponent's counterpart, effectively making the General 'captured'. 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 taken and the board is wide open.

Advisor

The advisors are labelled 仕 (scholar) for red and 士 (gentleman) for black (both pronounced sh ). 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 fortress. This effectively means they can only move to and stay on the 5 possible positions in the fortress. 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 (xi ng) (ministers) for red and 象 (xi ng) (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. This effectively means they can only move to and stay on the 7 possible positions on the board.

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

Horse

possible moves of the horse
(Yellow: legal and available; Cyan: illegal move because the way is blocked by another piece)

The horse, 馬 or 马 (mǎ), is similar to the Knight in Western chess. However, It is important to distinguish that, the horse moves two points vertically or horizontally and then one point horizontally or vertically respectively, away from its starting position. If there were a piece placed right next to the the horse on its longer path, then the horse is said to be blocked and thus cannot move in that direction. The picture on the right illustrates the horse's move further.

Chariot

The chariots (named rooks in some sources) are labelled 車 or 车 (jū) for both red and black. Like the Rook in Western 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 (p o) or 砲 (b o) . Some sets may use the same character for the cannons of both sides. 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.

Piece Values

It is to be noted that the piece values do not take into account positional advantage. Often a piece is more powerful in certain intersection as compared to another intersection. The Chariot at the corner in the beginning of the game compared to The Chariot in the middle of the board is a good example. Also, the value of a cannon drops a little as the game goes on due to less mounts for it, while the value of the horse goes up a little due to less obstruction for it.

Ending the game

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

Miscellaneous rules

Unlike Western chess, it is not always a draw by perpetual check or repetition of position. If all these situations were declared draws, there would hardly be a decisive game of xiangqi in expert play.

If a position is being repeated: The side that perpetually checks with one piece or several pieces will be ruled to lose under any circumstances unless he stops the perpetual checking. The side that perpetually chases with one piece will be ruled to lose under any circumstances unless he stops the perpetual chasing. If one side perpetually checks and the other side perpetually chases, the perpetually checking side has to stop or be ruled to lose. When neither side violates the rules and both persist in not making an alternate move, the game can be ruled as a draw. When both sides violate the same rule at the same time and both persist in not making an alternate move, the game can be ruled as a draw.

Useful concepts

The board is bigger than the Western 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 Western chess.

For a few opening moves, 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 very common opening move is to bring one cannon to the center line, where it poses a threat to check 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 two chariots are not normally lined up together in Chinese chess, as they are the most powerful piece and in doing so, a player risks the chances of losing at least one chariot to an inferior piece of the enemy. Depending on the situation, it may be advantageous to position a chariot at one of the corners of the enemy's side of the board, where it is very difficult to dislodge, and threatens the enemy general.

It is more common to use the cannons independently to control particular ranks and files.

Since horses can be blocked, usually it is possible to trap an enemy's horse. It is possible for your horse to attack your enemy's horse while the enemy's horse is blocked from attacking yours.

External links

• Computer Chinese Chess (http://www.csie.ndhu.edu.tw/~sjyen/Papers/2004CCC.pdf) (Yen, Chen, Yang, Hsu) - review
• Introduction to Chinese Chess (http://home1.gte.net/res1bup4/chess_intro.htm)
• An Introduction to Xiangqi for Chess Players (http://www.crockford.com/chess/xiangqi.html)
• Chinese Chess | Zillions Of Games (http://www.zillions-of-games.com/cgi-bin/zilligames/submissions.cgi/83214?do=show;id=179)
• Qianhong (http://www.jcraner.com/qianhong/index.html): Chinese Chess for Windows
• World Chinese Chess Federation (http://wxf.hypermart.net/eg/)