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Xiangqi - Rules of the game

Xiangqi - Rules of the game: Encyclopedia II - Xiangqi - Rules of the game

Xiangqi - Board. Xiangqi is played on a board that is 9 lines wide by 10 lines long. In a manner similar to the game go, the pieces are played on the intersections, which are known as points. The vertical lines are known as files, while the horizontal lines are known as ranks. With a few awkward substitutions, it is possible to play this game using a standard chess set. Centered at the first through third ranks of the board is a square zone also mirrored in the opponent's territory. The three ...

Xiangqi: Encyclopedia II - Xiangqi - Rules of the game

Xiangqi - Rules of the game

Xiangqi - Board

Xiangqi is played on a board that is 9 lines wide by 10 lines long. In a manner similar to the game go, the pieces are played on the intersections, which are known as points. The vertical lines are known as files, while the horizontal lines are known as ranks. With a few awkward substitutions, it is possible to play this game using a standard chess set.

Centered at the first through third ranks of the board is a square zone also mirrored in the opponent's territory. The three point by three point zone is demarcated by two diagonal lines connecting opposite corners and intersecting at the center point. This area is known as 宮 gōng ( listen), the palace or fortress.

Dividing the two opposing sides (between the fifth and sixth rows) is 河 hé, the river. The river is often marked with the phrases 楚河 chǔ hé ( listen), meaning "Chu River", and 漢界 (in Traditional Chinese) or 汉界 (in Simplified Chinese) hàn jiè ( listen), meaning "Han border", a reference to the Chu-Han War. Although the river provides a visual division between the two sides, only a few pieces are affected by its presence: soldiers are promoted after crossing, and elephants cannot cross the river.

The starting points of the soldiers and cannons are marked with a small cross.

Xiangqi - Pieces

The two players take command of pieces on either side of the river. One player's pieces are usually painted red (or, less commonly, white), and the other player's pieces are usually painted black (or, less commonly, blue or green). Which player moves first has varied throughout history, and also varies from one part to another of China. Some xiangqi books state that the black side moves first; others state that the red side moves first. Also, some books may refer to the two sides as north and south; which direction corresponds to which color also varies from source to source.

Modern xiangqi pieces are represented by disks marked with a Chinese character identifying the piece and painted in a color identifying to which player the piece belongs. Modern pieces are usually made with plastic, though some sets use pieces made of wood, and more expensive sets may use pieces made of jade. In more ancient times, many sets were simple unpainted woodcarvings; thus, to distinguish between the pieces of the two sides, most corresponding pieces use characters that are similar but vary slightly between the two sides.

The generals are labeled with the Chinese character 將 (trad.) / 将 (simp.) jiàng ( listen) (general) on the black side and 帥 (trad.) / 帅 (simp.) shuài ( listen) (marshal) on the red side. These pieces are equivalent to the kings of Western chess. Legend has it that originally the pieces were known as emperors, but when an emperor of China heard about the game, he executed two players for "killing" or "capturing" the emperor piece. Future players called them generals instead.

The general starts the game at the midpoint of the back edge (within the palace). The general may move one point either vertically or horizontally, though unlike the king of Western chess, the general may not move diagonally. The general cannot leave the palace under any circumstances; thus, the general can only move to and stay on the 9 points within the palace.

When a general is threatened by an enemy piece, the general is said to be "in check." When the general is in check and unable to escape check on the player's move, it is said to be checkmated, and the player loses the game. A player also loses when his general is not in check, but he can make no legal move that doesn't put the general in check; a stalemate rule does not exist.

Furthermore, in a rule often forgotten by new players of the game, a player cannot make any move that would leave the two generals facing one another on the same file with no other pieces placed in between. In other words, a clear line of sight can never exist between the two generals. 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. Indeed, checkmate remains possible as long as a player retains the general and any single piece (with the exception of a cannon), even a soldier, that can cross the river.

The advisors (also known as guards or ministers, and less commonly as assistants, mandarins, or warriors) are labeled 士 shì ( listen) (gentleman) for black and 仕 shì ( listen) (scholar) for red. They represent civilian government officials. While their origin is probably the same as that of the queen in western chess, their powers are so different that they cannot be said to be equivalent to queens.

The advisors start on either side of the general. They move one point diagonally and may not leave the palace. This effectively means they can only move to and stay on five of the points within the palace. Although their limited movement may cause some to consider them the weakest pieces, they are invaluable for protecting the general, which is indeed their primary function.

The elephants are labeled 象 xiàng (elephant) for black and 相 xiàng (minister) for red. They are located next to the advisors and are the equivalent of the bishop of Western chess. These pieces move exactly two points diagonally, and may not jump over intervening pieces. They may not cross the river; thus, they serve as defensive pieces. The rules restricting their movement mean that there are only seven possible points on the board to which they can move.

The Chinese characters for "minister" and "elephant" are homonyms ( listen) and both have alternative meanings as "appearance" or "image".

The horses are labeled 馬 mǎ ( listen) for black and 傌 mà ( listen) for red in sets marked with Traditional Chinese characters and 马 mǎ ( listen) for both black and red in sets marked with Simplified Chinese characters. They begin the game next to the elephants. The horse is similar to the knight in Western chess. It moves one point vertically or horizontally and then one point diagonally away from its former position. It is important to note that the horse does not jump, as does the knight in Western chess. Thus, if there were a piece lying on a point one point away horizontally or vertically from the horse, then the horse's path of movement is blocked and it is unable to move in that direction. Note, however, that a piece two points away horizontally or vertically or a piece a single point away diagonally would not impede the movement of the horse. The diagram on the left illustrates the horse's movement.

Since horses can be blocked, it is sometimes possible to trap the opponent's horse. It is possible for one player's horse to attack the opponent's horse while the opponent's horse is blocked from attacking, as seen in the diagram on the right.

The chariots are labelled 車 for black and 俥 for red in sets marked with Traditional Chinese characters and 车 for both black and red in sets marked with Simplified Chinese characters. All three of these characters are pronounced as jū ( listen). Capturing and moving in a straight line either horizontally or vertically, the chariot moves and captures exactly like the rook in Western chess. The chariots begin the game on the points at the corners of the board. It is considered to be the strongest piece in the game.

The cannons are labeled 包 bāo ( listen) or 砲 pào ( listen) for black and 包 bāo or 炮 pào ( listen) for red. Before firearms were invented, the word meant catapult, referring to a giant catapult used to throw a boulder. The name being similar to English "pow" (a common onomatopoeia for the sound a gun or cannon makes), is likeliest coincidence. The cannon has no equivalent in Western chess.

Each player has two cannons. The cannons start on the row behind the soldiers, two points in front of the horses. Cannons move like the chariots, horizontally and vertically, but capture by jumping exactly one piece (whether it is friendly or enemy); it cannot capture while jumping more than one piece, or without jumping a piece. When capturing, the cannon is moved to the point of the captured piece. The piece over which the cannon jumps is called the bao tai = "cannon platform". Any number of unoccupied spaces may exist between the cannon and the cannon platform, or between the cannon platform and the piece to be captured, including no spaces (the pieces being adjacent) in both cases. Cannons are powerful at the beginning of the game when platforms are plentiful, but lose value rapidly with attrition.

Each side has five soldiers, labeled 卒 zú ( listen) for black and 兵 bīng ( listen) for red; they are similar to the pawns of Western chess. Soldiers 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, soldiers may not move two points on their first move, and there is no en passant rule. Also unlike Western chess, when soldiers reach the enemy's edge of the board they are not promoted, nor may they retreat; however, they may still move sideways.

It is to be noted that these are advisory values and that the piece values do not take into account positional advantages. Often a piece is more powerful at a certain intersection as compared to another intersection. The chariot at the corner in the beginning of the game is not very useful, but it can be moved to points where it affects the game much more. Also, the value of a cannon drops as the game goes on due to having fewer hurdles for use in capturing, while the value of the horse increases slightly due to fewer obstructions. It should be pointed out that often times, players will value a cannon on or exceeding the level of a chariot due to its unique attack style. The same can be applied to the horse.

Xiangqi - Ending the game

The game ends when one player successfully checkmates the other player — that is, when one player successfully threatens the opposing general with a piece and the player with the threatened general has no legal moves which would prevent the general from being threatened.

In Chinese, to say check, one says 將 (trad.) / 将 (simp.) jiāng ( listen), and to say checkmate, one says 將軍 (trad.) / 将军 (simp.) jiāngjūn ( listen).

In Western chess, if a player's king is not in check and the player has no legal moves available, the game ends in stalemate and a draw. This is not the case in xiangqi; in xiangqi, the player who has no legal moves loses the game.

In Western chess, perpetual check or an excessive number of repetitions of position can result in a draw. This is not the case in xiangqi, wherein 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.