Xiangqi - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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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. The 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
[change | change source]- General (King)
- Advisor (Guard)
- Elephant (Bishop)
- Horse (Knight)
- Chariot (Rook)
- Cannon
- Soldier (Pawn)
Movement
[change | change source]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
[change | change source]- Flying General: Generals cannot stand on the same column unless there is 1 piece between them
Related pages
[change | change source]References
[change | change source]- ↑ 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