Chinese chess

(Xiangqi, Xiangqi)

War is a way of deception. Therefore, even if you are capable, show your opponent your inability. When you have to bring your forces into battle, pretend to be inactive. When the target is close, show that it is far away; when she is really far away, give the impression that she is close. (Chinese saying)

According to modern research Xiangqi's game emerged from ancient game Lubo 3500 years ago. In the original version of LiuBo, each player had only 6 pieces: 1 general and 5 pawns.

The number of moves was determined using a dice.

Since then, the game has changed. Having gone through many names, having lost a die, but having received a few pieces, by the 12th century the game turned into a kind of modern Xiangqi.

In the 80s of the last century, the Asian Xiangqi Federation (AXF) was created, and in 1997 the rules of this game were finally formulated. Now in Chinese chess played by at least 500 million people. This is more than in any other kind of chess.

Therefore, Xiangqi can be safely called the most common game in the world.

Chess board

A Western modern board might look like this.

That is, other numbering and designation of fields. The board has 9 verticals and 10 horizontals, i.e. forms 90 intersections or fields. It is on these fields that all the figures move from intersection to intersection.

Between the 4th and 5th horizontals the river “flows”. Not all figures can cross the river.

Chessmen

1. King (Commander) - a military leader who should not leave the limits of his palace. The resemblance to the classic King is slight. The king moves only one space vertically or horizontally within the fortress.

In Xiangqi, there is a very important "open file" rule: both Kings cannot be on the same file at the same time if there are no other pieces between the Kings. 2. Adjutants (Shi) - they are military officers, guardsmen, bodyguards, sages and advisers.

Shi also cannot leave the fortress-palace and go to the adjacent field along the drawn diagonals. 3. Bishops (Xiang) nbsp; - the Reds have an important official, and the Blacks have an elephant. Bishops move diagonally across one field, but only if this field is free.

The elephant cannot cross the River. 4. Horse (Ma) - horse. The movement of the horse consists of two parts. First, he goes to the adjacent field along the line, and then jumps to the field located diagonally.

The knight cannot jump over the pieces, but the River is not an obstacle to it either. 5. Rook (Che) - a war chariot. The strongest figure.

There are no obstacles for her. Moves vertically and horizontally. Very close to the classical chess rook. 6. Pawn (For the Reds it is Bin. For the Blacks it is Tzu) - soldiers.

They only go forward field after field. Having crossed the river, they become more maneuverable: they can take steps to the right and left. For one field. Pawns never have the right to retreat.

Having reached the extreme opposite line, the pawn does not become another piece. 7. Cannon (Pao) - cannon or cannon shot. Pao moves in the same way as the rook.

But the Cannon can hit a piece only if any other piece is located between it and the victim.

Purpose of the game

Defeat the enemy or put him in a stalemate.

This is possible if:

Checkmated;

You have created a stalemate. The one who got into this situation is counted as a defeat.

Rules of the game

Reds always go first;

You can not give perpetual check with the repetition of the position more than three times in a row. The one who gives such a check for the fourth time is counted as a defeat. In this case, the attacked side is not obliged to change moves, moreover, the fourth repetition will bring her victory;

You cannot indefinitely repeat the move of pursuing an opponent's piece if he has no other way to avoid losing this piece;

Two Kings cannot be on the same open file;

If neither side can checkmate or stalemate, then the game ends in a draw.


Volumetric figures have existed in India since time immemorial: it was a local tradition. They were played in all kinds of racing, in rare war games, but they were almost never divided by rank. There are no prerequisites for dividing exactly the same conical tablan and chaupar pieces into horses, bishops and other chess pieces. Most likely, chess pieces owe their appearance to the Chinese priests, who used boards with astrological symbols and flat chips depicting constellations, celestial bodies and sacred icons for predictions. The chips were moved by light blows on the board from below, although it is possible that sometimes a magnet was built into the board: Sima Qian in his “Historical Notes” (2nd century BC) mentions some “xian yi” (“mountain magician chess”) , in which the figures somehow attracted and repelled each other. Probably at the junction of sacred divination boards, strategy games and races such as Liubo and Chinese chess - xiangqi - arose.


xiangqi (象棋)

According to the History of the Northern Dynasties, in May 549 AD. Emperor Yu Wenyang finished the book "Xian Tin", where, among other things, he considered the merits new game"xiangxi" (象戏). This is not xiangqi yet - more than 1000 years have passed from the appearance of Liubo to the appearance of modern xiangqi. This book was lost, but Wan Bao's Xian Tin Su and Gen Xin's Xiangxi Fu written in the same era have survived. Xiangxi board was an 8x8 square divided into inner and outer layers. The figures were: Knight, Gold, Tree, Water, Fire, Earth and Dragon, accompanied by the Sun, Moon and Star. The king was placed in the inner space, the dragon - in the outer. This board resembled a xiangqi board, as well as the positions of the pieces.
Sima Qian (Sim Guan) (1019-1086), was an advisor to the Northern Song Dynasty. His book also describes the huge "Xiangxi of the Seven Kingdoms", which was played on the Go 19x19 grid during the Warring States - from 476 BC. and until the unification of China in the era of the Qin dynasty in 221 BC.

The seven armies represented the seven kingdoms: Qin (white), Chu (red), Han (orange), Qi (indigo), Wei (green), Zhao (purple), and Yang (black). The rules were printed on the day of the Lantern Festival in the second year of the Kaixi era during the reign of Emperor Zhao Guo Nan of the Song Dynasty (February 24, 1206) and were widely circulated among the people. An impression from this stamp is also given in the book. In these rules, for the first time, the “catapult” figure (the predecessor of the “cannon”) is mentioned. In addition, this is the first Chinese chess game, the full rules of which have been preserved.

If seven played maximum amount), each played for one "state". If there are six, the player who played for White (Qin) took one state as an ally. If five played, then in addition to this, the Reds (Chu) also entered into an alliance with another state. If 4 - an alliance Qi + 1 appeared, but if 3, then Qin entered into not one, but two alliances. Priority, as can be seen from the above, was for whites and reds.
The inhabitants of the Celestial Empire, very eager for all sorts of ceremonies, behaved in a similar way in the game. Taking command over the army of the allied states, the player proclaimed: "If any of the states under my command are lost, it will be due to my negligence", and if he ordered an ally to attack a heavily fortified other state, then he had to drink a glass of beer or tincture as a fine.
The move was passed counterclockwise; the reds went first.
Each army had 17 figures (120 in total). Emperor Zhou was in the center of the board as a sign of respect for the Son of Heaven; he had no army and did not participate in the battle. Each army had the following figures:
* One "General" (Jiang) - moved like a queen in modern Western chess.
* One "Adjutant" (Pyan) - moved like a rook in modern chess.
* One "Officer" (Bai) - moved like a bishop in modern chess.
* One "Diplomat" (Xin Ren - "herald", "herald", "parliamentary") - this unique figure also walked like a modern queen, but could not chop or be cut down and was used only for protection and blocking. At the initial arrangement, the Diplomat stood at the very edge of the attack, ahead of the glorious army.
* One "Catapult" (Pao) - moved like a cannon in xiangqi, that is, it moved like a rook in modern chess, but to capture it required the presence of another piece between it and the object of attack.
* One "Archer" (Run) - moved like a modern queen, only by 4 points. Couldn't jump over other pieces.
* One "Crossbowman" (Nu) - walked like a queen, only 5 points and also could not jump.
* Two "Knives" (Tao) - went one point diagonally.
* Four "Broadswords" (Jian) ​​- went one point vertically or horizontally.
* Four "Horsemen" (Qi) - analogues of horses in modern xiangqi: they went 1 cell in a straight line, then 3 diagonally. Other pieces could not jump over the turn.
Apparently, in the game of Liubo, it was not for nothing that there was a multi-faceted die and tokens, because this system also migrated to xiangxi. If a player made a bad move, he could take it back only after the agreed penalty - a glass of beer, skipping the next move, etc. There was also a penalty for a wrong move. If a player attacked his ally, that entire allied army was removed from the board.
The player defeated another state if he captured the General token, but even without this he could win by capturing more than 10 other tokens. If the enemy has not yet lost that many, and the player's own army lost more than ten during the attack, it itself was removed from the board.
After the game, a tally followed, and the player who grabbed the most chips at the end of the game received a "drinking victory": the losers drank a special drink that was consumed only during the game. If a player captured two Generals or captured a total of 30 lesser pieces, he was declared a "Hegemon". As soon as this happened, the rest of the "states" paid tribute to him ... and drank another round.
These rules make me smile today, because an anecdote immediately comes to mind (“What, should I smell like chess?”). It is not known whether anyone managed to finish at least one game to the end. You don't need to be a wise man to guess that with such a system of penalties, the number of errors increased in geometric progression, and the unfortunate player lost very soon (if he did not fall asleep at the table for the amusement of those who remained in their right mind and solid memory).

In the middle of the Tang Dynasty era, xiangxi developed and became similar to modern xiangqi. In addition to the curious “Xiangxi of the Seven States”, there were several other varieties of this game: xiangxi 8x8; guanxiangxi invented by Zhao Puzhi; daxiangxi, and popular among the common people xiaoxiangsi. As a result, xiaoxiangxi gained the greatest popularity among the people and were accepted by the majority of fans. It is surprising that 4 centuries before the invention of chess, the Chinese had already thought of pieces with the moves of the modern queen and officer - and then abandoned it.

Despite the fact that the name of the game is written in the same characters, in Beijing the name sounds like “xiang-qi” or “shyan-chi”, in Cantonese it is pronounced as “jung-kei”. Chinese word"xiangqi" consists of two hieroglyphs, the first of which, "Xiang" 象, currently means: elephant, portrait, phenomenon, ivory, star configuration, omen, action, game, official translator. The second character, "qi" 棋, means a chess piece, chess or other board games. In addition, "xiangqi" is not the only word for Chinese chess. It is impossible to trace all references, but almost all translations (“elephant chess”, “ivory chess”, “figurative chess”) are not that unfounded, but raise new questions. The elephant for ancient China was not a breathtaking curiosity, as for Europeans, but it was not something familiar, ordinary either. Chips were indeed carved from ivory, but not always, much more often they were made of wood, porcelain, or simply minted from copper, like coins. Many note that in most spellings of the word "xiangqi" one way or another there is a character xiang 象 or xiang 相. But if the first means "elephant", then the second symbol means, among other things, "chancellor", "minister", "chief adviser". These two words are homophones from 600 AD. and sounded similar from 1000 BC. Perhaps there was a simple substitution of one concept for another, and the "game of advisers", wise men, turned into a "game of elephants".

It is officially believed that modern xiangqi invented (or rather, standardized) in 569 AD. Emperor Wu Di of the Northern Zhou Dynasty. As a result, this game, coupled with Go (weiqi), gradually replaced Liubo. A complete set of figures of the Song era, quite identical to modern ones, was found in a burial in Luoyang (Heinan province), it is about 900 years old. Flat chips with hieroglyphs were cut out of bone, wood, tortoise shell or jade, sculpted from ceramics, but these particular ones are chased, copper, so they are often mistaken for Chinese coins. The oldest chips are double marked - a hieroglyph on one side and a graphic image on the other.

IN last years of the Southern Sun Dynasty, philosopher Chen Yuanting wrote an encyclopedia Everyday life“Shilin Guanqi”, in which he cited, among other things, the rules of xiangqi, 10 tips for playing, classical notation and value of pieces, examples from practical games, endgames, etc.
These 10 tips (useful in any game) are:

1. One should passionately strive for victory.
2. One should not invade enemy positions too lightly.
3. When attacking the enemy, one must also defend oneself.
4. Sometimes it is necessary to sacrifice private interests to take the initiative in the whole game.
5. It is necessary to sacrifice weak pieces in order to save strong ones.
6. Being in great danger, one must sacrifice a useless piece in order to win the whole game.
7. Don't move pieces without thinking.
8. One must seize the opportunity at the right moment.
9. If you cannot win, you must avoid direct confrontation.
10. In difficult times, one should not dream of victory. We must try to minimize losses without losing the chance of winning.

It is probably from these events that the countdown of the emergence of xiangqi as a fully formed game should begin. From now on, the gameplay no longer depended on rolling the dice, leading role began to play intelligence and experience.

What is curious - the number of names of figures in xiangqi coincides with the number of sacred treasures in Buddhism (7): this is a powerful military leader (successful commander), a minister (wise adviser), a wonderful elephant, a horse with supernatural abilities, a chariot flying anywhere in the world, a royal spouse (queen) and a magic jewel. According to Buddhism, each chakravartin (identified with the player) has these seven treasures - the ideal ruler who establishes the realm of justice. According to the first 5 points, there are actually direct textual coincidences, the analogue of the queen is a cannon, and the jewel is a pawn.
The most famous player during the Ming Dynasty was Li Kaixiang (1502-1568). He gave opponents a head start of 3 moves, and even a horse for the weak ones, composed many poems about xiangqi, but, unfortunately, did not leave behind manuals on the game.
The most famous manual of those years - the four-volume "Yu Zhong Mi" was published in 1632, its author was Zhu Tingren, nicknamed the Invincible. Another great master of go and xiangqi was Su Xingyu (1650-??), who, according to the chronicles, "defeated all the players in the Celestial Empire", but he eventually lost the title to a young player named Chen Lanzhu. Chronicles mention many great players, and it does not make sense to list them here, it is better to refer to the brochure "Xiangqi Culture" published by the Chinese Xiangqi Association, which is translated into Russian and is freely available.
The Chinese, with their love of pompous ceremonies, flowery names, and complex hierarchies, had the same attitude towards the game of chess. The ability to play chess (“qi”) was highly valued in China and was considered one of the four main arts along with qing (music), hua (painting) and shu (calligraphy). It is worth mentioning that in India there has never been such a reverent attitude towards chess - there they have always been a purely entertaining game with a touch of contemplative, meditative practice. In China, there were 9 schools of famous xiangqi players, whose representatives were Eight Talents of the Yangtze River East And Three Excellent Players of Hebei Province.
However, the most famous of the ancient xiangqi books is Baiyu Xiangqi Pu, published in 1801, during the Qing era. During the years of the Kangxi and Tiatsin emperors, several masterpieces were created, the most famous of which was the book “Mei Hua xiangqi” and the four great textbooks of Paichu: “Xingwu Endgame Collection”, “Manual of Hundred Games of Xiangqi”, “Xiangqi Textbook of Zhu Xian Zhai” and "Yuanshen Haikuo". Further, the development of xiangqi theory slowed down, and although in modern times such masterpieces as the “Guide to the Practical Game” by Shiyan Ityu were created, more attention was paid to the competitive aspect.
A quite understandable decline in interest in xiangqi occurred during the years of the Second World War, the formation of the PRC and the Cultural Revolution, but in our time xiangqi is again popular, especially in Eastern, Northern and Southern China; the three centers of gaming culture are Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou. At the end of September 1930, the first team championship in the history of xiangqi between players from East and South China took place in Hong Kong. Representatives East China were Zhou Deyu and Ling Yixiang from Shanghai, while South China was represented by Li Qinchuang and Fen Tingru from Guangzhou. The competition ended in a draw: the rivals were equal, and the captain of the South China team, Li Qinchuang, was awarded the title of "Invincible Player". In January 1956 State Commission for Physical Culture and Sports recognized chess as a sport and announced the holding of National Tournaments in Xiangqi, Go and Chess. Yang Guangling became the first official champion of China in xiangqi. In the late 1970s, women's competitions began to be held, and Huan Zitong became the first national champion.

Chinese chess is very different from the international ones known to us. They still use flat chips with a hieroglyphic designation of the dignity of the pieces. The red pieces play against the black ones, and the red ones move first. The Xiangqi board is bilaterally symmetrical, with 9 vertical and 10 horizontal lines. The figures are located not in the cells, but on the crosshairs, there is no checker marking. The initial arrangement is also very unusual, and if the first row is still similar to European chess (except that there are two queens - on both sides of the king), then the pawn formation is sparse and moved far forward, to the fourth line, and from the rear it is supported by two "guns" - endemic games of the Far East, which have no analogues in international chess.

The square "pond" of Ljubo's game has spilled over into a "river" ("he"), dividing the board into two equal halves: this is a neutral territory, the pieces cannot enter it, they can only move (and not all of them). The river is located horizontally, like the great rivers of China, the Yellow River and the Yangtze, flowing in a latitudinal direction. An inscription in hieroglyphs is usually placed on the image of the river: “The border of the state of Han” (that is, the border of China) and “The border of the principality of Chu” (this Chinese principality fought with the central government in ancient times). Each side has a "palace" - a 3x3 square, where the king is located (or rather, the "general" and "marshal": in xiangqi they are called differently: "jian" - for the reds and "shuai" - for the blacks) and two " adviser"; all three have no right to leave it.

* The king walks and cuts only vertically or horizontally at one adjacent intersection (within the palace, of course). At the same time, there is an “opposition rule”: both kings cannot be on the same file if there is no other piece between them. You can’t even make a move that leads to such a situation. The goal of the game is to checkmate the enemy general. If a player cannot take the king out of check, close or cut down the attacking piece, a checkmate is declared. A stalemate against the enemy king also brings victory. "Perpetual check" is prohibited, players cannot repeat the position on the board more than three times.
* Advisors ("shi") also go and cut only at one intersection, but diagonally within the palace.
* Elephant ("xiang"). Despite the same pronunciation, the figure is called the “elephant” by the blues and the “minister” by the reds. The elephant in xiangqi is slow-moving, moves only diagonally through one field to the third and cannot cross the river. Despite the fact that the xiangqi board is one-color and there are no white and black fields in the game, due to the peculiarities of movement, the enemy elephants, even crossing the river, would never meet.

* The horse or “rider” (“ma”) moves in the same way as in international chess, but at the same time it is a linear figure: it does not jump from the starting point to the final one, but moves along the route in the form of the letter “G” (but not “ L"!), and if the path is blocked by another piece, he cannot make such a move.
* The rook, which is called "ju" ("wagon"), moves and beats in exactly the same way as in traditional chess.
* In addition to the pieces known to us, there is a specific “cannon” (“pao”) in xiangqi, which moves like a rook, but attacks only if there is any third piece between it and its victim - it is called a “screen” or “gun carriage” ". The chronicles say that this figure was invented in the year of Baoyin (762 AD) by Niu Senru, the author of the treatise Xuan Guai Liu. It certainly was a strong idea. This unusual (especially for a European chess player) piece is very dangerous: it is long-range, other pieces are not a hindrance to it, and from the very first moves it can start attacking an enemy fortress. It is enough at the beginning of the game to thoughtlessly withdraw the rook - and the cannon immediately cuts the knight. True, they usually do not do this: at the beginning of the game, the cannon is noticeably stronger than the knight, and closer to the endgame, when the board is cleared, the cannon becomes less valuable, since it is difficult to find a carriage to hit with it. However, all the same, a cannon strike often decides the fate of the entire party.
* There are only five pawns on each side, while the black ones are called "zu", and the red ones are called "bin". Each one goes forward one crossroad and cuts in the same way. The pawn does not transform, but after crossing the river, it acquires the ability to move and chop one square to the side. After reaching the last line, she can only walk sideways.
Due to the specifics of xiangqi moves, a player has two additional options for avoiding check, which are absent in chess:
* It is possible to hide from a check with a knight: the knight in xiangqi does not “jump”, so the piece placed between the attacking knight and the king closes from the check.
* In the case of a check with a cannon, the player can defend himself by removing the "gun carriage" or vice versa - placing another piece between the cannon and the king - the cannon does not attack after two pieces.

In Russia, the description of the game of Chinese chess was first published in 1775 by the secretary of the Russian embassy in Beijing, A.L. Leontiev (“Description of the Chinese chess game, from Secretary Leontiev”). Kits for the game were brought from China as souvenirs, but the game did not gain wide popularity: xiangqi require not only a minimum knowledge of hieroglyphics (the same figures for both players are marked with different icons), but also the ability to freely distinguish all hieroglyphs in an inverted form, so learn how to play them it is quite difficult for a European, even if it is an adapted version, where the pieces are similar to chess or understandable pictograms are drawn instead of hieroglyphs. Many suggest replacing hieroglyphs with symbols or three-dimensional figures, as in most chess. But according to fans of xiangqi, the impression of the game in this case changes greatly - about the same as eating with a spoon and fork instead of chopsticks. At the same time, it should be taken into account that there is practically no literature on the theory of Chinese and Korean chess in Russian. Occasional publications in periodicals are for informational purposes only. In recent years, a well-known lover of Chinese chess, L.U. Kislyuk, has been giving a lot of energy to the propaganda of xiangqi in Russia. There is a Russian Federation of Chinese Xiangqi Chess.

In China, on the contrary, xiangqi is terribly popular, every house has a set, in any weather you can see people playing on the street. Xiangqi has its own legendary masters and famous champions (Xi Xiasong, Dou Guozhu, Su Daqin, Zhu Tiancui, Tu Tinmin, Hu Ronghua and others), and given the number of Chinese in the country and abroad, it is not yet known which game has more supporters on a planetary scale - in xiangqi or in international chess.

There are even xiangqi for three players. What is curious - the "river" was preserved there. This variant originated during the time of the Three Kingdoms and is called the “Game of Three Friends”.

An active promoter of xiangqi in the West is the Hong Kong-born economist David H. Lee, who published English first serious tutorial in Chinese chess. In 1998, his book The Genealogy of Chess, which provides a highly unconventional look at the origins of the game of chess, was named Book of the Year by Games magazine. However, his harsh criticism and demonstrative hostility to European chess irritated many people. Chinese xiangqi grandmasters generally look at traditional chess with some bewilderment: they are annoyed by the hurricane pace of the game, castling, and the overwhelming power of the queen (the same David Lee contemptuously refers to chess as “Quin-Qi” - “Queen’s Game”). The Chinese cannot understand why the king, instead of leading the army, in the middle of the battle suddenly runs cowardly from the battlefield and hides behind the backs of his subjects, and why the queen is given such unlimited rights, and other figures play the role of pathetic assistants.
It must be said that chess players reciprocate xiangqi in this respect: they are annoyed by the turtle moves of the Chinese pieces, the ornate system of opening formations and, as you might guess, the absence of queens. As soon as chess players get acquainted with xiangqi, they ask where the queen is, and having received an answer in the style of “There is no harp, take a tambourine”, at best they laugh, and at worst they are offended.

Strictly speaking, both sides are right and wrong. In a way, chess is truly a "one-piece game": the unplanned loss of a queen in chess almost always means a loss. But when the queen's sacrifice leads the Europeans into awe, the Chinese only shrug their shoulders in bewilderment: there is no such imbalance in xiangqi, and victory can only be achieved by the coordinated action of all the pieces. The board in xiangqi is 9x9 (even 9x10, counting the river), it has 90 points, the pieces are limited compared to chess, so there are no positions in Chinese chess where the player controls the entire field at once. The game is tactically much more dynamic than traditional chess, powerful connections arise in it, each move greatly changes the situation on the board and forces the opponent to look for an immediate response, here, as in classical chess, you cannot sit behind the pawn formation, regroup your troops with quiet moves and prepare a massive attack. In xiangqi, they rarely attack and defend on the whole front, military operations are carried out flying units of two or three figures in close cooperation with each other with the support of tanks and artillery, therefore there are very rare games lasting more than an hour. Actually, the whole game in xiangqi resembles an openwork, balanced middlegame with big amount figures. Amazing game, a worthy relative of classical chess.
It is unlikely that these two systems will be able to reconcile in the near future.



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Chinese chess (Xiangqi)

Xiangqi or Chinese Chess is a very popular game in Asian countries. It is assumed that both Xiangqi and classical Western Chess originated from the original Indian game Chanturanga.

Starting position and goal of the game

Xiangqi is played on a 9x10 rectangular board. Unlike Western chess, the pieces are placed at the intersections of the lines rather than in a box. Each player starts the game with the following pieces: 1 king (or general), 2 guards (or advisors), 2 bishops, 2 knights, 2 rooks (or chariots), 2 cannons and 5 pawns. The starting position is shown in the following picture:

The small squares containing the diagonal lines are called the red and black palaces, and the thick horizontal line in the middle of the board is called the "river".
The goal of the game is to checkmate or stalemate the opponent's king.

Movement of figures

All pieces in Xiangqi (except cannons) use the same rules for both moving and capturing opponent pieces. Cannons have a special rule, which will be explained below.

King (general)

The king moves one space vertically or horizontally, it cannot move diagonally. He never leaves his palace. As in standard chess, the king is not allowed to move to check. If the king is attacked (under check), the corresponding player must get rid of the check immediately. If this is not possible, the player loses.

Guard (Advisor)

The guard moves one space diagonally and just like the king, he never leaves his palace. In other words, each guard only has 5 possible positions within the palace area.

Elephant

Elephants can move exactly two spaces diagonally, and they cannot cross occupied squares. Also, the elephants are not allowed to cross the river, they must stay on their own half of the board. This means that each bishop has only 7 possible positions.

Horse

The knight moves one space vertically or horizontally, and then one space diagonally outward. There is a significant difference between Western chess and Xiangqi because the knight cannot jump over occupied spaces. The picture shows (in green places) all the possible moves of the red knight, since the black pawn blocks the left side. .

Rook

The rook moves like a rook in standard chess - any number of spaces vertically or horizontally.

A gun

The cannon moves in the same way as the rook. However, if the cannon wants to capture a piece, then this must be done by jumping over another piece (one's own or one's opponent). The picture shows a position where all possible moves or captures (marked with a green dot and black rook at the top of the board) of the red cannon are marked with green dots.
The black knight on the left side of the board cannot be captured because there is not one piece between it and the cannon. The top black rook can be captured by the cannon by jumping over the red pawn. On the other hand, the second black rook (on the right) cannot be captured, since the cannon jumps over only one piece (black pawn and red knight).

Pawn

Pawns move and capture only one space forward (they never move diagonally). When a pawn crosses a river, its movement options are increased - it can be moved one space horizontally.
Pawns do not promote to other pieces. When a pawn reaches the last row, it can only move sideways.

Other Important Rules

See also:

  • Games and game consoles,
  • Logic games

    • If you visit China and decide to look at the life of ordinary Chinese, then you will definitely come across this picture.

    The men play with passion board game By appearance reminiscent of ... checkers. Yes, yes, it is CHECKERS, but you are mistaken, this is a chess-type game. Before us is a classic confrontation between two armies of figures of different ranks.


    Many European researchers call this game CHINESE CHESS, which in my opinion is not quite right. This is XIANGQI, a Chinese chess game that has a centuries-old history and unique identity.
    Western researchers usually consider xiangqi as one of the branches of the development of a class of games, the root of which is shaturanga (chaturanga). According to this version, it is believed that shaturanga (chaturanga) is the common ancestor of all currently known chess-type games. Moving west, Shaturanga (Chaturanga) gave birth to the Arabic Shatranj, which became the ancestor of modern classical chess. Spreading to the east and getting to China, shaturanga (chaturanga), and perhaps even already shatranj, changed in accordance with Chinese traditions and turned into xiangqi.
    This is how Robert Bell describes the origin and design of the game in his book: “Shatranj in new form has undergone significant changes, and already elephants, horsemen, foot soldiers, a cannon with war chariots were fighting to capture the enemy general. Each army had a fortress, sitting in which the general and his tangerines hatched their plans. To win the game, it was necessary to take the enemy's fortress by storm. A river flowed between the two armies, which the heavily laden elephants could not cross. Other minor pieces freely crossed it.
    Chinese researchers categorically disagree with the theory of the origin of xiangqi from shaturangi (chaturangi). Based on documents, the oldest of which date back to the Han era, they claim that the game that became the ancestor of XIANGQI appeared in ancient China about 3,500 years ago and was originally called LIUBO. In this game, pieces were also moved around the board, among which were pawns and a general, having various rules moves, but dice were used to determine the move, thus introducing an element of chance into the game. Just like the progenitor of Shaturanga (Chaturanga) was the game TAAYAM. Later, the bones were abandoned, getting the game GOWILI SAIZHANG.
    In the Tang era, the rules of the game were modified, and the variety of pieces increased, which led to the emergence of XIANGQI rules, close to modern ones. It is quite definitely proved that in the 8th century China XIANGQI existed, they were played by two players, the dice were no longer used, and the set of figures corresponded to the set of figures of shaturangi (chaturangi) - general (king), horse, elephant, chariot (rook) and soldiers (pawns).
    So let's take a look at the game itself.
    The XIANGQI board consists of two halves with 8 by 4 squares, which are separated by a one-square-wide space known as a RIVER (or POND). Each half of the board has four squares marked with diagonals, thus formed a square of nine points represents a FORTRESS (CASTLE). When playing, the pieces are placed at the intersections of the lines, and not in the squares themselves. Therefore, the board is considered as one large space of dots in the amount of 9 by 10.

    IN classic game the figures are round disks of the same size. Its meaning is written on the top side of the figure. Usually the inscriptions are made in red and green (sometimes black) color. When writing equivalent figures, various Chinese characters are used to designate them, for example, if on some figures the inscriptions were on English language, and on others - in German.
    On the game board in XIANGQI, the following pieces are presented (taking into account the rules for their movement during the course):
    GENERAL for "green" ("black") / MARSHAL for red - a figure similar to the chess KING, its loss means the player's loss in the game. It can move one point in a vertical or horizontal direction, but in its movements it is limited to nine points of its fortress (castle). Generals cannot face each other (when there are no pieces between them in a vertical line), in this case, in response to a move that frees the line, the general can attack across the entire field and kill the enemy general with his “look” (very funny rule with oriental flavor, shots from Chinese historical films with piercing glances of actors playing the role of some generals immediately come to mind).
    GOVERNOR for the “green” (“black”) / MANDARIN for the red ones - the piece can move one point diagonally, but they are also limited in their actions by the boundaries of the fortress, i.e. five dots marked with thick lines.
    ELEPHANT for "green" ("black") / MINISTER for red - a piece can only move diagonally to one next point, in addition, the figure cannot cross the river (pond) and invade the enemy's territory.
    RIDER / HORSE - a piece can move one point vertically or horizontally, followed by moving to a point diagonally. Unlike a chess knight, a knight in xiangqi is an ordinary linear figure - during the move, it does not “jump” from the starting point to the final one, but moves in the plane of the board, first horizontally or vertically, and then diagonally. If a piece of its own or an opponent's piece stands at the intermediate point of the knight's move, then it blocks the corresponding move.
    CHARIOT / BOAT - analogue of a chess rook, can move any distance vertically or horizontally.
    CATAPULT for "green" ("black") / CANNON for red - can move like a chess rook. It captures the opponent's pieces only if there is some third piece, called a screen, between it and the attacked piece.
    WARRIOR / PAWN - on his own half of the board, he can only move vertically one point forward, on enemy territory he can move one point forward or sideways. When reaching the back line of the opponent, he can only move horizontally. It does not have the ability to transform into other pieces, as in chess.

    The goal of the game is to declare checkmate to the enemy general or achieve a stalemate. In this case, the player cannot give perpetual check, he must vary his moves.
    The general is in check under the following conditions:
    - being attacked by any piece, he can be captured on the next move, if no measures are taken to repel the attack on him;
    - when the generals oppose each other on the same vertical and there are no figures between them (the same piercing look).
    When declaring a check to a general, there are three possible responses:
    - a piece attacking the general can be captured by an opponent's piece;
    - the general can get out of check;
    - a check can be averted using "specific" rules for moving pieces (for example, add / remove a screen in front of a cannon, parry / block a rider).
    Unfortunately, in our country and in Europe, XIANGQI could not achieve great popularity, although this is the most popular game in China (the game is in almost every home). But there are objective reasons for this:
    Firstly, in order to understand the figures themselves, it is necessary to at least entry level understand Chinese characters and be able to read the characters marked on them.
    Secondly, there is practically no translated professional literature on this topic (various articles, including this one) will not give a complete penetration into the world of this exciting game.
    Now a lot is being done to popularize this game, for example, you can buy such a set with figures close to chess.

    Or here is such a souvenir set of the game in XIANGQI in ethnic style

    Before writing this article, I personally “surfed” the expanses of various markets and found some wonderful XIANGQI game simulators for IOS and Android to get an idea about it.
    For the sake of interest, I suggest that you also enter “xianqi”, “xianci” or “xiangqi” in the search engine to try yourself in this game.
    I hope, given the increasing interaction between Russia and China, more literature will begin to appear in Russian, not only on the history of this game, but also with clarifications of the rules and examples of games.

    CXQ Rules ("Chinese Xiangqi Rules")

    Xiangqi CXQ rules consist of three parts:

    (1) the basic rules for what moves are allowed;
    (2) additional rules prohibiting certain moves to ensure clarity of play, and
    (3) draw rules to prevent excessive lengthening of games.

    1. Basic rules of CXQ

    Pieces in xiangqi move like this:

    1. King moves only 1 point per turn, either horizontally or vertically. In addition, the king must remain within palace- a 9-point square defined by diagonal lines.
    2. Advisor(defender) moves only 1 point diagonally in one move. Like the king, the protector has no right to leave the palace.
    3. Elephant(Minister) moves exactly 2 spaces diagonally. Not allowed to cross the river. Any piece standing between the start and end points of his move blocks the bishop, preventing him from this move.
    4. Rook moves to any number of points vertically and horizontally, provided that all the points through which it passes are empty.
    5. Horse moves 2 points horizontally + 1 vertically (or 2 vertically + 1 horizontally). If the point adjacent to the knight horizontally or vertically is occupied, then it blocks this direction, and moves in this direction are prohibited for the knight.
    6. A gun moves any number of points horizontally or vertically, just like a rook. However, when taken between the start and end points of its move, exactly one point ("carriage") must be non-empty. On moves without capture, all the points through which it passes must be empty.
    7. Pawn moves exactly one point. If the pawn has not yet crossed the river, it can only move forward. A "crossed" pawn can also move horizontally.
    8. Take: When a piece moves to a point occupied by an opponent's piece, it eats that piece. The captured piece is removed from the board.
    9. King vertical: Kings cannot be on the same column if all the points between them are empty. A move that creates such a situation is forbidden.
    10. King's safety: You cannot leave the king in a position in which the opponent can eat him. A move that leaves the king under attack is illegal.
    Game end conditions: The game ends when one of the following events occurs:
    • Mat: A threat to the opponent's king by capturing that the opponent cannot get rid of is a victory.
    • Pat: The one who cannot make a move according to the rules loses.
    • One or both parties violate Additional rules.

    Additional CXQ Rules

    To make the game fair, some moves are forbidden. Briefly, CXQ Rules prohibit a player from continuously threatening to take one from the opponent's pieces using one or more pieces. These moves are perpetual checks (if the king is threatened) or perpetual attacks (if the king is not threatened).

    Terminology: To make the rules precise, the following terms are used:

    1. shah: A move that threatens the opponent's king with a capture on the next move.
    2. Same type of victim (exchange): Move a piece to a point from which it can capture an opponent's piece of the same type, so that some opponent's piece can also capture this piece on the next move.
    3. Attack: A piece's move to a point where it can capture an opponent's piece (not the king) on ​​its next move. An attack is also considered the move of a piece, which becomes a "carriage" for its cannon, while attacking the opponent's piece. This definition has several exceptions:
      • The threat of being captured by a king or a pawn does not count as an attack.
      • The threat of capturing a pawn that has not yet crossed over is not considered an attack.
      • The same type of sacrifice and exchange is Not attack.
    4. security: A piece is protected if there is a piece that can capture any piece that captures this protected piece. Exception: A rook is never considered protected if threatened by a knight or a cannon.
    Additional CXQ Rules: All moves according to the main rules are allowed, except for the following:
    1. Perpetual check: It is forbidden to continuously check the opponent with any number of pieces.
    2. Eternal Attack: Prohibited continuous attack on one an unprotected piece by any number of pieces.
    If one of the parties violates additional rules, and the other does not, then the offender loses.
    If both sides inflict a perpetual check, or both sides inflict a perpetual attack, then it is a draw.
    If one of the sides inflicts a perpetual check, and the other - a perpetual attack, then the side that checks loses.

    CXQ allows the player to check/attack 6 times in a row with one piece, 12 times with two pieces, and 18 times with three pieces before these checks/attacks are considered perpetual.

    CXQ Auto Draw Rules

    When there is no win in the game, both players are strongly encouraged to admit the tie themselves. To prevent one of the players from pointlessly dragging out the game, CXQ contains 3 automatic draw rules:

    1. Efficiency: When the number of effective moves made by each side (excluding checks, attacks, and responses to checks and attacks) reaches 120.
    2. P progress: When the number of moves made by each side since the last progress (i.e. the last capture or advance of a crossed pawn) reaches 30.
    3. X odes: When the number of moves made by each side reaches 300. This rule is rarely used, it is here for completeness.
    • One (or many) checks and one delay are allowed.
    • One (or many) checks and one attack are allowed.
    • One (or many) attacks and one check are allowed.
    • One (or many) attacks and one delay are allowed.
    • One (or many) checks and one mate threat are allowed.
    • Perpetual attack on two or more pieces is allowed.
    • Perpetual blocking is allowed.

    Note that a move is a violation if it violates the Additional Rules in any way. For example, if a perpetual block is also a perpetual attack, then it is a violation, although perpetual blocking is generally allowed.