Get to Grips with Chinese Chess
Xiangqi (象棋), or Chinese chess as it is more commonly known, has been played in China since the fourth century BC. Nowadays, barely a street corner in Beijing is without a group of weathered old timers hunched over a board. Follow tbjkids’ guide to this classic game and in no time you’ll be pushing your chariot across the river and jumping your cannon over a screen like a pro.
The Game
Chinese chess is a two-player board game that shares many similarities with the game of chess played in the West. Like in most board games, players take alternate turns and move a single piece each time – the red player has the honor of starting the game. Both players start with 16 pieces, each of which is marked with a Chinese character denoting its role in the game (although each side uses a different character to represent a given piece’s role, e.g. elephant is 相 on the red pieces and 象 on the black). Most xiangqi sets use traditional rather than simplified characters, but this shouldn’t impede your game play once you’ve worked out which is which. If a piece is moved to a point occupied by an enemy piece then the enemy piece is captured and removed from play for the rest of the game.
The Board
A xiangqi board is made up of nine vertical lines (ranks) and ten horizontal lines (files). Unlike in chess, the xiangqi pieces are placed on the corners (points) of the squares rather than inside them. Running horizontally through the center of the board is the river (河 hé, see diagram). Only the horse, cannon, chariot and soldier can cross the river into the opponent’s half of the board. Each side of the board has its own palace (宫gōng, see diagram) marked with an X. Inside the palace reside the general and two mandarins. If you don’t own your own xiangqi board, it is possible to modify a traditional chess board to play, but it is a bit awkward.
The Object of the Game
The object of the game is to checkmate your opponent’s general. If the general is threatened with capture by another piece, then it is said to be in check (将jiāng) and on the player’s next turn must be moved to a position in which it is not threatened. If this is impossible, checkmate has been achieved (将军 jiāngjūn) and the game is over. A stalemate is reached when one player has no legal move to make but neither general is in check.
The Pieces
General (king) 1 per side
 jiàng |
 shuài |
Similar to the king in chess, the general is the most important piece on the board, and the object of the game is to checkmate your opponents general. The general is confined to the palace (宫 gōng) and can only move one point in an either vertical or horizontal direction in every move. One rule unique to xiangqi is that the two opposing generals cannot face each other on the same file (horizontal line) without other pieces in between them. If this happens, the last general to move is in check and needs to move to safety on the next turn.
Chariot 2 per side
 jū |
 jū |
The chariot is similar to a rook in chess, in that it moves and captures other pieces in a vertical or horizontal fashion. It is also able to move as many points as required for every turn, making it the most powerful piece on the board.
Mandarin (assistant) 2 per side
 shì |
 shì |
Like all good mandarins, these pieces remain inside the palace at all times and their main purpose is to protect the general – at all costs. Each turn they move one point in a diagonal direction. They are limited to defense.
Cannon 2 per side
 pào |
 pào |
When not capturing, the cannons move exactly like the chariots, either horizontally or vertically and as many points as required. However, to successfully take an opposing player’s piece you must first jump the cannon over another piece (known as the screen) of either color before landing at the intended target. The cannon then replaces the taken piece on its point. There must be no other pieces in the way of the cannon and its target apart from the screen, but there can be any number of points in between the three pieces. The cannons are very effective at trapping the general in check and checkmate because of their ability to leap over a single blocking piece.
Elephant 2 per side
 xiàng |
 xiàng |
These exotic beasts can cover more ground than the mandarins (two points diagonally every turn), but their large size means they are unable to jump over opposition pieces. Being rather water-shy they do not cross the river in the center of the board and therefore are largely defensive pieces.
Soldier (pawn) 5 per side
 zú |
 bīng |
Each team has five of these hard-working pieces that move and capture by moving forward vertically or diagonally one point for every move. When the soldiers have crossed the river into the opposition player’s half of the board they can also move and capture one point horizontally. These brave pieces are cursed with an inability to move backwards, so retreating is never an option!
Horse 2 per side
 mǎ |
 mà |
The horse first moves one point either horizontally or vertically and then one point diagonally so that it ends up two points away from where it started. Unlike in chess, the horse is unable to jump over pieces, so if there is something in its way, its move is blocked.
Where to Buy
Getting your hands on a xiangqi set couldn’t be easier. All major supermarkets (like Carrefour) sell sets starting at RMB 5 all the way up to RMB 300. If bargaining is more your thing, markets like Alien Street (Laofanjie Shichang) and Yabao Lu (south of Fulllink Plaza) are good places to look for more traditional sets.
More
You can find out more about Chinese chess and play free online at Club Xiangqi
