Chinese Chess Xiang Qi Introduction Friends of Chinese

Chinese Chess (Xiang. Qi) Introduction Friends of Chinese Chess in Finland(Kiisys) r. y. www. shakki. info Confucius Institute 2019. 11. 01

Common origin with Western Chess is likely Reference: H. J. R. Murray. A History of Chess, Oxford University Press, 1913 Li, David H. The Genealogy of Chess, Premier Publishing, 1996

Early Indian game, Chaturanga Depicts an ancient battle Four branches of ancient Indian army : Western Chess Chinese Chess Chariot (Rook) 2. Elephants Rook (Engl. rook < Persian rokh, chariot> Italian rocca, fortress) Bishop (Shatranj : al-fil, elephant) Movement method was changed in the 16 th century, previously 2 diagonally 3. Cavalry Knight Horse 4. Infantry Pawn 1. Chariots Elephant (moves 2 diagonally) Queen’s movement was changed to current type of movement in Europe in the 15 th century (origianally there was a piece called a vizier which moved one step diagonally)

Modern games

Why use Chinese Characters? They identify a single piece perfectly - A single character corresponded to a single word in ancient Chinese language Pieces were easy to manufacture even using ancient methods - Round wooden chips decorated with a few strokes of brush : compared with 3 D 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.

jū Character for the Chariot (rook): 車 車 车

Movement of the chariot Movement Initial position

Character for the Horse: 馬 馬 马

Movement of the Horse Movement Initial position

Character for the Elephant: 象/相 象 相 ([anc. ] minister )

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

Characters for the Advisor: 士/仕 士 大 (big) 人 (human) 亻 (human, as a part of a character)

Movement of the Advisor Movement as in Charaturanga, one step diagonally(limited to the palace area) Initial position

Characters for the General (King): 帥/將 帥 （帅） 爿 爿 將（ 将）

Movement of the General Moves one step horizontally or vertically (limited to the palace area) Initial position (ordinarily a king can not move to a line occupied by enemy General)

Character for the Pawn: 兵/卒 兵 (衣) 卒

Movement of the Pawn Movement (after crossing the river, horizontal movement is also possible) Initial position

Character for the Cannon: 炮/砲 火 石 包

Movement of the Cannon Movement ( When capturing an enemy piece, Initial position 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�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) versus The Leader of Chu, Xiang Yu (�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 - Perpetual chasing unless using a pawn or a king is forbidden. After three repeats the offending party is judged to lose. An example of perpetual chasing 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) Use of Cannon requires some experience as the western chess has no equivalent piece An easy checkmate example number 1 An easy checkmate example number 2

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