Xiang qi
Traditional
How to set-up
1. Xiang Qi is played on an 8-by-8 grid separated into two 8-by-4 sections by with a river. At opposite ends of the board, each player has a palace. Lines indicate permitted moves.
2. Each player selects 16 BEADs the colour of their choice. Pieces should be marked as follows; 5 BEADs are Pawns, 2 BEADs are Chariots, 2 BEADs are Horses, 2 BEADs are Elephants, 2 BEADs are Advisors, 2 BEADs are Canons, and 1 BEAD is the General.
3. BEADs are placed on row closets to the player from the outside: Chariot, Horse, Elephant, Advisor, with the General in the middle space.
4. Players place the Canon’s on their third row in line with the Horses and on the fourth row, players place the Pawns on alternating intersections starting on the edge of the board.
5. Players decide who begins the game by rolling a die.
How to play
1. In turns, each player moves 1 BEAD:
2. Pawns can only move forward in a straight line 1 space. After a Pawn crosses the river, it can also move to the left or right.
3. Chariots can move any number of empty squares either horizontally or vertically.
4. Canons can move any number of empty squares either horizontally or vertically.
5. Horses moves in an “L” shape, 1 space horizontally and 1 space diagonally.
6. Elephants move 2 points in a diagonal direction and cannot cross the river.
7. The Advisor can only move 1 space horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, and cannot leave the nine points of the fortress.
8. The General can only move 1 space horizontally, or vertically, and cannot leave the nine points of the fortress.
9. Captures are made by landing on a space occupied by an opponent’s BEAD.
10. A Canon must jump over another BEAD during a capture move.
11. BEADs are not permitted to move through a point occupied by another BEAD regardless of who the BEAD belongs to unless it is a Canon in the process of a capture.
12. Captured BEADS are removed from the board.
How to win
To win the game, a player must capture their opponent’s General.
History
1. Xiangqi , also called Chinese chess, is a strategy board game for 2 players. It is one of the most popular board games in China, and is in the same family as Western (or international) chess, chaturanga, shogi, Indian chess and janggi. Besides China and areas with significant ethnic Chinese communities, xiangqi is also a popular way of spending time in Vietnam.
2. The game represents a battle between 2 armies, with the objective of capturing the enemy's general (king). As in Europe, chess in China underwent changes, and the current game was formed some time after the 13th century. It is now reputedly the most widely played form of chess in the world, a fact partly due to the huge population of its native country.
1. Janggi, sometimes called Korean chess is a variation of xiangqi (Chinese chess) and is very similar to it.
2. The starting position of the pieces are the same, and the 9x10 gameboard is the same, but without the xiangqi "river" dividing the board.
3. Janggi differs from Xiangqi in that the janggi general starts the game from the central intersection of the palace, rather than from the center intersection of the back edge.
4. If the generals come to face each other across the board, and the player who has to move does not move away, this is called bikjang—a draw. This rule is different from that of Xiangqi where it is illegal for the generals to face.
5. Unlike in Xiangqi, which confines its elephants to one side of the board behind the "river", in Janggi there is no river and the movement of its elephants is not limited to one side of the board.
6. Unlike pawns in Chess, soldiers move and capture one point either straight forward or sideways. (Unlike Xiangqi, where soldiers must be promoted to move sideways.)
7. There is no promotion in Janggi. Once they reach the end of the board they may only move sideways. Soldiers may also move one point diagonally forward when within the enemy "palace".
