Chinese chess game rules. Xiangqi: Chinese chess-type game

Xiangchi: Chinese chess

material reprinted from the site www.narod.ru

There are different points of view regarding the origin of Chinese chess. Basically they come down to two options: Chinese chess arose independently of others long before the new era; Chinese chess arose in the 6th-8th centuries AD from the chess of the Indian (Western) group. Currently, most researchers are inclined to the second theory. But even before the penetration of chess from India or another western (relative to China) country, the Chinese already had national chess-type games with pieces bearing the names of celestial bodies (celestial or astronomical chess). And although modern Chinese chess mainly owes its birth to chess of Indian origin, it was still influenced by ancient Chinese chess, so Xiangqi is a hybrid of both directions, and the first theory is also true to some extent. It is possible that he is playing Xiangqi more people than any other type of chess - after all, the number of people who play Xiangqi, at least from time to time, is no less than 500 million people. The number of regular players exceeds 100 million people. Currently, Xiangqi has found a second wind and is entering the international arena. Since 1980, the Asian Xiangqi Cup has been held once every two years.

How to play this game:

Let us now move on to a description of the rules of the game. If you give the game a purely verbal short description, then it may seem that Chinese and international chess are very similar. Indeed, in both, the number of board squares and the number of pieces are the same - 64 squares, each player has 16 pieces. The “eaten” pieces do not return to the board, only the pawn gets a “promotion” - all this brings Xiangqi and international chess closer together. But in fact, there are almost more differences between Xiangqi and chess than similarities. Let's take a look at the initial arrangement of the figures shown in the figure. Two features are immediately noticeable.

The first is that the figures do not stand inside the squares, but at the intersection points of vertical and horizontal lines. It is these points that are the fields of the board, as in Go or Renju. The number of fields on a Chinese chessboard is 90, which is almost one and a half times the number of fields on a regular board.
The second feature is the complexity of the Chinese board. It resembles a map. In the middle we see a strip where the verticals are interrupted. This strip is called the border or heavenly river, but more often - just a river. The Chinese call Milky Way Heavenly River, and it is very possible that the river on the Chinese chessboard is part of the inheritance from ancient Chinese astronomical chess. At the extreme horizontal lines we see two large squares with drawn diagonals. These are palaces. Each palace consists of 9 fields or four small squares. Palaces are sometimes called fortresses or headquarters. The purpose of the river and palaces will be discussed below.
Figures in Xiangqi are flat round checkers on which the names of the figures are written in hieroglyphs. The colors of the figures are red and black. More precisely, these are not the colors of the figures themselves, but the hieroglyphs on them.
Moves in Xiangqi are made alternately with red and black, one move at a time. You can move either to a free field or to a field occupied by someone else's piece. In the latter case, this piece is beaten - removed from the board and no longer participates in the game. Winning in Xiangqi is possible by checkmate, stalemate, or if the opponent violates the rules.
When choosing symbols for figures instead of hieroglyphic designations, we will proceed from the same principles as for shogi, i.e. if there are analogues in chess, then the usual symbol is taken, otherwise new notations will be introduced, as simple and logical as possible. To designate the fields of the board, we will use European notation, because Chinese notation is too unusual for us. The Chinese designate verticals with numbers, with each player having their own reference point on the right, and the position of the figure on the indicated vertical is described in words.
Nowadays it is customary to start the game with red. Below is a description of the figures.

King
As a matter of fact, this figure is translated from Chinese as commander. By naming the main figure this way, the Chinese eliminated an unacceptable situation for them - the presence of two monarchs on the board, which was seen as a hidden call for rebellion against the only legitimate monarch. In the Chinese, the red and black kings are designated by different hieroglyphs, which are pronounced differently: for the red ones - shuai, for the black ones - Jiang. The king moves only within the palace to the adjacent field vertically and horizontally. In Xiangqi there is very important rule open vertical, turning the king into an attacking piece, although he is a prisoner of the palace: both kings cannot simultaneously stand on the same vertical if there are no other pieces between the kings. We will also call this rule the rule of opposition (for the sake of brevity). In the endgame, it allows you to push the enemy king to the side of the palace, where he is easily mated or stagnated, or create pins at any stage of the game. At the beginning of the game, Shuai is on the e1 square, and Jiang is on the e10 square. We will use the usual abbreviated designation for the king - Kr.

Bodyguard
Each player has two such pieces, they stand to the right and left of the king. Like the king, they have no right to go outside the palace. They walk to the neighboring field along the drawn diagonals. While the king has access to all the fields of the palace, the bodyguards are depicted in circles, which well reflects the purpose of these figures - to protect the king, because the circle is a round shield. Moreover, this image, being simple and pleasing to the eye, reminds us of the image of gold in shogi, and the bodyguard and gold are related, since the second is derived from the first. The Chinese call a bodyguard "shi", this word has whole line meanings: warrior, guardsman, bodyguard; scientist, sage; noble person; advisor. The bodyguard moves like a queen in shatranj (Arab medieval chess), but with one difference: the latter could move all over the board. In short, we will denote the bodyguard T. Sometimes it is proposed to call this piece a queen and denote it F, but it is very different from the queen we are used to, and therefore we discard this option.

Elephant
Red bishops are on c1 and g1, black bishops are on c10 and g10. Red and black elephants are designated by different hieroglyphs, but are pronounced the same (if we ignore tonal differences) - xiang. The meanings of both hieroglyphs overlap: the hieroglyph for black elephant means elephant. And also a figure, and the hieroglyph for a red elephant is only a figure. The hieroglyph depicting a black elephant comes first in the name of Chinese chess - xiangqi, and the second hieroglyph in this word means "game". Therefore, xiangqi is translated either as the game of elephants or as the game of pieces. Sometimes this interpretation is given - playing with pieces from Ivory.
The bishop moves diagonally across one square if it is free. The elephant in Xiangqi is very similar to the elephant in Shatranj, but there are two differences: in Xiangqi, elephants cannot cross the river, but elephants in Shatranj could walk along the chessboard from edge to edge; In Shatranj, the elephant could jump over the pieces, but Chinese elephants cannot do this. From the initial position, the red bishop on c1 can move to a3 and e3, but if there is any piece on d2, then the move to e3 will become impossible (blocked). Likewise, any piece on b2 blocks the move to a3. The elephant has only seven fields available to him. And even if the elephants could cross the river, they would have access to 12 squares out of 90 squares on the board. Let us note one more curious fact: if the elephants in Xiangqi could cross the river, then the red and black elephants could not beat each other, just as the white and black elephants of the Shatranj could not beat each other. By the way, the same is true for the bodyguards: if they are released from the palace and given freedom of movement across the entire board, then the red and black bodyguards will be invulnerable to each other (and here there is an analogy with Shatranj: the black and white queens of Shatranj could not attack alone to another). Although the bishop has an analogue in international chess, there is a very strong difference between them, and therefore it is better to depict it in a non-European way. We will abbreviate it in exactly the same way as European or international chess bishop, i.e. WITH.

Horse
In Xiangqi, knights are almost complete analogues of pieces with the same name in ordinary chess; they not only stand in their usual places (next to the corners of the board in the first row), but also move almost like “our” knights. The Chinese knight can move in any direction and all over the board, but like the bishop, it cannot jump over pieces. Let's clarify what trajectory the horse moves in xiangqi in order to understand when it can be blocked.
The end points of the knight's path in European and Chinese chess are the same, but in Xiangqi the knight does not move in the letter G; the Chinese knight's move consists of two steps: the first - to an adjacent square horizontally or vertically (like a king) and the second - diagonally to an adjacent square (like a bodyguard). Any piece standing at the breaking point of the knight's move (i.e. at the junction of both steps) blocks the knight, or, as the Chinese say, ties the knight's legs. For clarification, let's take the starting position. The knight on h1 can move to g3 and i3, but cannot move to f2, because he is blocked by the bishop on g1. Due to the almost complete identity of Chinese and European chess knights, we retain the usual image for the knight in Xiangqi in diagrams and the usual abbreviation in records of games and positions (K). The Chinese call a chess knight "ma", which means knight or horse.

Rook
The only piece in Xiangqi that, without any exception, moves the way we are used to is the rook. Naturally, we take both the symbol on the diagram and the abbreviated designation for it from international chess, namely the drawing of a fortress tower and the letter L. The Chinese call the rook “ju”, which means chariot, and sometimes even more simply, “che” - a wagon or cart .

Pawn
While the number of kings, bishops, knights and rooks in “our” and Chinese chess is the same, there are fewer pawns in Xiangqi, only five, and at the beginning of the game they stand not shoulder to shoulder, but across an empty square. Like kings and bishops, pawns for red and black are designated by different hieroglyphs, which are read differently: a red pawn is bin, a black pawn is tzu. Until the pawn crosses the river, it moves and shoots only forward to the adjacent square vertically. Those. Before crossing the river, the Chinese pawn acts like the Japanese pawn. In Xiangqi, the pawn does not transform into another piece, but after crossing the river, it becomes stronger and can move and shoot not only forward, but also horizontally to the right and left to the adjacent square. Under no circumstances may a pawn retreat. We will denote a pawn on the diagram with a regular symbol, and we will abbreviate it with the letter “p”, i.e. same as usual. However, we will also apply another common rule: when indicating a pawn's moves, the letter "p" can be omitted.

A gun
The most exotic Xiangqi figure – the cannon – has been left for last. Two cannons are in the middle row. The initial "artillery" positions of the sides are as follows: red cannons - b3, h3, black cannons - b8, h8. Until the cannon attacks, i.e. until it hits or checks, it acts exactly the same as a rook. But in order to capture or check, another figure must stand between the cannon and its victim, no matter what, called very figuratively - a gun carriage. The carriage, the cannon and its victim must be located on a vertical or horizontal straight line.
The cannon is the only figure in Xiangqi that can jump, although only during a striking move, and is also the only figure that hits differently from walking. For the cannon symbol in the diagrams, we chose to depict a cannon barrel, exactly the same as in the rank insignia on the artillery uniform. We will abbreviate the cannon as the letter P (not to be confused with “p” - short for pawn!). Any cannon can take the knight as the first move in the game, but usually they don’t do this, since the cannon is immediately beaten by the rook, and at the beginning of the game the cannon is usually stronger than the knight. The Chinese name for the cannon is pao (artillery gun).

Let us now move on to describe some general rules Xiangqi A stalemate in Xiangqi is not a draw; the one who ends up in a stalemate is considered a loss. A whole series of endgames in Xiangqi are built, as we will see below, on winning by stalemate.
There are a number of prohibitions in Xiangqi. One thing we already know is the ban on the opposition (the open vertical rule). Let us now move on to other prohibitions.
You cannot give a perpetual check with the position repeated more than three times in a row. The one who gives such a check for the fourth time is considered defeated. In this case, the attacked side is not obliged to change moves; moreover, it is interested in repetition, since the fourth repetition will bring it victory. Here is a complete analogy with shogi. You cannot give a repeated check that is interrupted by a move that prepares for checkmate on the next move.
Let's move on to the last prohibition. It concerns the eternal threat to any piece other than the king. If such pursuit is carried out with a repetition of the position, then the game ends on the fourth repetition. However, there is a discrepancy in the rules: in the PRC in this case it is considered a draw, but outside the PRC (for example in Hong Kong) this prohibition does not differ from the previous ones and the attacker loses for the fourth time.

Xiangqi is a logical board game from China that has some similarities with European chess, Indian chaturanga and Japanese shogi. This game is often called Chinese chess. Xiangqi is one of the most common chess-type board games in the world, considering the number of players, especially since this game is popular in some other countries besides China. Xiangqi entered the list of World mind games in 2008 and 2012.

Story

European researchers consider xiangqi as one of the branches of the class of games descended from chaturanga, which arose in India no later than the 6th century. Chaturanga is considered the common ancestor of all games such as chess that exist today. As chaturanga moved westward, Arabic shatranj arose on its basis, from which, in turn, later modern chess arose. During its spread to the east and penetration into China, chaturanga was strongly influenced by Chinese traditions, transformed into xiangqi, and on their basis the game of shogi, which is popular in Japan, appeared. Also in Korea, based on Xiangqi, the game Changi arose, which is played on almost the same board and with the same pieces, but its rules are somewhat different from the rules of Xiangqi.

Some Chinese researchers do not share the opinion that Xiangqi originated from Chaturanga. Using documents, the oldest of which date back to the Han era, as evidence, they believe that the game, which was the ancestor of xiangqi, originated in China about 3,500 years ago, and its original name was “lubo.” It also involved moving pieces on the board and among them there were pawns and a general who made moves differently in accordance with the rules, but the move was determined using dice, so there was an element of chance in the game. Later, dice were abolished and a game called “saizhang” or “geu” was created. According to legend, its rules were personally approved by the Emperor of China at that time, Han Wu-di.

During the Tang era, the rules changed, the variety of figures expanded, resulting in the rules of Xiangqi, which were already quite close to modern rules this game. It has been reliably established that at least in the 8th century, Xiangqi already existed in China, which was played by two people; dice were no longer used then, and the figures coincided with the figures in chaturanga - general (or king), bishop, horse, chariot (or rook) ) and soldiers (or pawns). The pieces made moves quite similar to those in chaturanga (but in the latter the pieces were placed on squares, whereas in Xiangqi they stand at the intersections of lines). It is unlikely that such similarities could have arisen by chance; it is much more likely that, even if chaturanga was not the direct ancestor of Xiangqi, it at least significantly influenced Chinese ancient game, from which Xiangqi directly descended. The name of the game, according to a common version, comes from the phrase “ivory figures,” since it was from this material that figurines for xiangqi were made at that time. Unlike the current simple figures, decorated only with hieroglyphs, then three-dimensional figures were often used, created through artistic work and “fully” depicting characters - chariots, horses, elephants, generals.

It is important to take into account that documents, especially quite ancient ones, cannot always be interpreted unambiguously, therefore the question regarding the origin of Xiangqi remains open.

From ancient documents, a game of xiangqi is known in detail, played in the 10th century between the Taoist hermit Chen Tuan and the emperor, which ended in victory for the Taoist.

The first episode of acquaintance with xiangqi in Europe was the engraving of John Ingram, which was published in Paris in 1741-1763. (but the figures depicted on it do not correspond to the real Xiangqi figures, apparently because the graphic artist was not very familiar with them).

The most strong player The 20th century was Hu Ronghua, who became the champion of China 14 times. Perhaps the strongest modern Xiangqi player is Lü Qin, who became Chinese champion 5 times in the 21st century.

Since the 1970s, books and sets of Chinese chess called Cho Hong Ki have been published in the USSR.

Rules

Board

This game uses a rectangular board, which is lined with horizontal and vertical lines. Its dimensions are 9 by 10 lines. Similar to the game of Go, the pieces are placed at the intersections of lines rather than in squares. Between the two central horizontal lines there is a river, which influences the movement of warriors, horses and elephants. The 3 by 3 squares marked with two diagonal lines on the board are called palaces or fortresses. According to the rules, generals and advisers cannot leave these squares.

Figures

At the beginning of the game, the player has at his disposal a set of pieces shaped like checkers, made in most cases from wood. They have hieroglyphs on them. The hieroglyphs on the same type of figure in two different sets may differ. Traditionally, one side of the figure is red (less often white), and the other is black (sometimes blue or green). There is some disagreement in different regions as to which color pieces move first, but in tournaments, red pieces tend to move first.

How different figures move in Xiangqi:

1. The king can only move 1 point per move, either horizontally or vertically. He must also not leave the confines of his palace - a square consisting of 9 points, which is limited by diagonals.
2. The advisor (or defender) can only move 1 point in a diagonal direction per turn. Like the king, he cannot go outside the palace.
3. The bishop (or minister) moves in a diagonal direction by 2 points (no more and no less). According to the rules, he cannot cross the river. Each piece, located between the starting and ending points of the bishop's move, blocks it, as a result of which the bishop cannot make this move.
4. The rook can move to any number of points in the vertical and horizontal direction, provided that there are no other pieces on any of the points through which this piece passes.
5. The knight moves horizontally exactly 2 points and then 1 vertically, or vice versa - exactly 2 points vertically and then 1 horizontally. In the case when a point adjacent horizontally or vertically to the knight is occupied by another piece, it blocks the knight’s moves in this direction and he cannot make them.
6. A cannon can move to any number of points in a horizontal or vertical direction, similar to a rook. But in the case of a capture, between the start and end points of its move there must be exactly one non-empty point (occupied by another piece, which is a “carriage”). In the case of a move without capturing, absolutely all points through which the rook passes must be empty - not occupied by other pieces.
7. The pawn moves only 1 point. A pawn that has not yet crossed the river can only move forward, but a pawn that has “crossed” can also move horizontally.
8. Capture: any piece can enter a point occupied by an opponent's piece - in this case, the first piece “eats” the enemy piece. In this case, the “eaten” piece is removed from the board.
9. King's file: two kings cannot stand on the same file if all the points separating them are empty. A move that creates such a situation is prohibited by the rules.
10. Safety of the King: The rules prohibit leaving the King at a point where an opponent can eat it. A move that puts the king at risk is prohibited.

Some other moves are also prohibited by the rules. It is prohibited to constantly threaten to capture any of your opponent's pieces using either one or two or more of your own pieces. Such a move is called a “perpetual check” (if a threat is created to the king) or a “perpetual attack” (if a piece other than the king is threatened).

The following terms are used in Xiangqi:

1. Check: A move that threatens the opponent's king with a capture on the next move.
2. Same-type sacrifice (or exchange): a move to a point from which that piece can eat an opponent's piece of the same type, in such a way that some opponent's piece can then also eat that piece on the next move.
3. Attack: a move of any piece to a point from which it can eat an opponent's piece (except the king) on ​​the next move. An attack is also a move of a piece, as a result of which it becomes a “carriage” of its own cannon, which in this position threatens the opponent’s piece. There are exceptions here:
   • a threat created by a king or a pawn is not an attack;
   • a threat posed by a pawn that has not yet crossed the river is not an attack;
   • a threat leading to an exchange is also not an attack.
4. Protected: A piece is protected when there is another piece that can eat any of the pieces that eat the first piece. The exception to this rule is the rook, which is never protected if it is threatened by a cannon or knight.

Perpetual check and perpetual attack

The rules prohibit perpetual check and perpetual attack. If this rule is violated, the offending player will lose. In the event that both sides break this rule at the same time, the game is considered a draw. If one player creates a perpetual check, and the other at the same moment creates a perpetual attack, the player who created the perpetual check is considered defeated.

According to the rules, an attack or check can be made no more than 6 times in a row by one piece, no more than 12 times in a row by two pieces, no more than 18 times in a row by three pieces, after which the check/attack is considered eternal.

End of the game

The game ends in one of three cases:

• Checkmate: Checkmate is a threat to the opponent's king by capture that he cannot defend against. Checkmate is a victory for the player who places it on the opponent's king.
• Stalemate: a situation where one player cannot make a single move that does not contradict the rules. A stalemate is a loss for that player.
• One or both players violated the rules.

Value of figures

In the game of Xiangqi there is a certain scale of the value of pieces (the value of a pawn that did not cross the river is taken as one, the value of other pieces is expressed in a different number of pawns that did not cross):

• rook - nine;
• cannon - four and a half;
• horse - four;
• elephant - two;
• advisor (defender) – two;
• a pawn that crosses a river – two.

Game Features

When playing Xiangqi, it is important not to go to extremes - not to get carried away with only attack or only defense. It has great importance balance of the game, otherwise even with a huge material advantage you can easily be defeated. Balance, that is, the harmony of opposite principles among themselves, is a fundamental position of Chinese philosophy and a feature of the Chinese mentality. This feature of Xiangqi, however, has a rather simple reason: the king’s moves are limited by the palace, so sometimes after a player loses the initiative even for 1 move, his opponent “destroys” the insufficiently protected king with small forces.

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

Men play enthusiastically board game in appearance resembling... checkers. Yes, yes, CHECKS, but you are mistaken, this game is a chess type. 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 entirely true. This is XIAN QI, Chinese chess game, which 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 Arabic shatranj, which became the ancestor of modern classical chess. Spreading to the east and reaching China, shaturanga (chaturanga), and perhaps even shatranj, were modified 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 underwent significant changes, and already elephants, horsemen, infantrymen, cannon and war chariots fought to capture the enemy general. Each army had a fortress, sitting in which the general and his mandarins hatched their plans. To win the game it was necessary to storm the enemy's fortress. There was a river between the two armies that the heavily laden elephants could not cross. Other light figures freely forced it.”
Chinese researchers categorically disagree with the theory of the origin of XIANG QI from shaturanga (chaturanga). Based on documents, the oldest of which date back to the Han era, they argue that the game that became the ancestor of XIANGQI appeared in ancient China about 3,500 years ago and was originally called LUBO. In this game, pieces were also moved around the board, among which were pawns and a general, which had different rules of movement, 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. The dice were later abandoned to form the game GEULI SAIZHANG.
In the Tang era, the rules of the game were modified, and the variety of figures was increased, which led to the emergence of XIAN QI rules, close to modern ones. It is quite definitely proven that in the 8th century in China XIANQI existed, they were played by two players, dice were no longer used, and the set of figures corresponded to the set of figures of shaturanga (chaturanga) - general (king), horse, bishop, chariot (rook) and soldiers (pawns).
So let's look at the game itself.
The XIAN QI board consists of two halves with 8 by 4 squares that are separated by a one square wide space known as the RIVER (or POND). Each half of the board has four squares marked with diagonals, the square of nine points thus formed represents a FORTRESS (CASTLE). When playing, the pieces are placed at the intersections of lines, and not in the squares themselves. Therefore, the board is considered as one large space from points in the amount of 9 by 10.

In the classic game, the pieces are round disks of the same size. On the top side of the figure is written its meaning. Typically, inscriptions are made in red and green (sometimes black). When writing equivalent figures, various Chinese characters are used to denote them, for example, if on some figures the inscriptions were on English language, and on others - in German.
On game board The following figures are presented in XIANQI (taking into account the rules of their movement during a move):
GENERAL for the “greens” (“blacks”) / MARSHAL for the reds - a figure similar to the chess KING, its loss means the player loses the game. It can move one point in the vertical or horizontal direction, but its movements are limited to nine points of its fortress (castle). Generals cannot look face to face at each other (when there are no pieces between them on a vertical line), in this case, in response to a move that frees up the line, the general can attack across the entire field and kill the enemy general with his “look” (a very funny rule with an oriental flavor, images from Chinese historical films with piercing glances of actors playing the role of some generals immediately come to mind).
GOVERNOR for the “greens” (“blacks”) / MANDARIN for the reds - the figure 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 bold lines.
ELEPHANT for the “greens” (“blacks”) / MINISTER for the reds - the piece can move diagonally only to one next point, in addition, the piece cannot cross the river (pond) and invade enemy territory.
HORSEMAN/HORSE - the figure can move one point vertically or horizontally and then move one point diagonally. Unlike a chess knight, a knight in Xiangqi is an ordinary linear piece - during a move, it does not “jump” from the starting point to the final point, but moves in the plane of the board, first horizontally or vertically, and then diagonally. If your own piece or an opponent’s piece is at the intermediate point of the knight’s move, then it blocks the corresponding move.
CHARIOT / RICK - an analogue of a chess rook, it can move any distance vertically or horizontally.
CATAPULT for “green” (“black”) / CANNON for red - can move like a chess rook. Captures enemy 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 the enemy’s territory he can move one point forward or sideways. When reaching the opponent's back line, 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 MAT to the enemy general or achieve a stalemate. In this case, the player cannot give a 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 measures are not taken to repel the attack on him;
- when the generals confront each other on the same vertical and there are no figures between them (that same piercing look).
When announcing the Shah, the general has three possible answers:
- a piece attacking a general can be captured by an enemy piece;
- the general can escape from the check;
- check can be averted using “specific” rules for moving pieces (for example, adding/removing a screen in front of the cannon, parrying/blocking a horseman).
Unfortunately, in our country and in Europe XYANGQI could not achieve great popularity, although it 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 symbols indicated on them.
Secondly, there is practically no translated professional literature on this topic (various articles, including this one) will not provide full insight into the world of this fascinating game.
Now a lot is being done to popularize this game, for example, you can buy this set with pieces close to chess.

Or this souvenir set of XIAN QI games in ethnic style

Before writing this article, I personally combed through various markets and found several wonderful simulators of the game in XIAN QI for IOS and Android to get an idea of ​​​​it.
Just for fun, I suggest you enter “xianqi”, “xianci” or “xiangqi” into a search engine to try yourself in this game.
I hope that given the growing interaction between Russia and China, more literature will begin to appear in Russian not only on the history of this game, but also with explanations of the rules and examples of games.

Chinese chess formed as a result of the synthesis of the ancient Chinese game of lubo and Indian chaturanga. The number of pieces and their names roughly correspond to the rules of classical chess, but there are also important differences. The board looks unique.

Story

According to Chinese researchers, the game was known on the territory of this country back in the third millennium BC any. Each participant had six pawns and one general at his disposal, and dice were used to determine moves. IN further rules This game has undergone changes, in particular, the participants abandoned the use of dice.

Around the 9th - 11th centuries AD arose a new game xiangqi, as a kind of synthesis of any and Indian chaturanga. The number of figures, their names and moves reveal the similarity of xiangqi with chaturanga. In the same time, appearance boards and pieces, as well as some peculiar rules, are more consistent with any.

The rules of Xiangqi were finally formulated only in 1997. A little later, world championships began to be held regularly. Currently, approximately half a billion people play Xiangqi. Thanks to obvious similarity with chaturanga, xiangqi is also called Chinese chess.

Board

Xiangqi uses a rectangular board lined with nine lines vertically and ten lines horizontally. Between the two central horizontal lines there is a river - a strip where the vertical lines are interrupted. The figures are placed not on cells, but at the intersections of lines. At the extreme horizontal lines there are squares of nine fields, marked with diagonals. These squares are called palaces. Some figures cannot cross the river, others cannot leave the palace.

Figures

Each player has sixteen pieces at his disposal. Their colors are red and black. Reds make the first move.

Moves of figures in Xiangqi:

1. King. Moves to one field vertically and horizontally, without leaving the palace. The situation when two kings are located on the same open vertical is unacceptable in xiangqi.
2. Advisor. Moves one square diagonally without leaving the palace.
3. Elephant. Moves two squares diagonally. Cannot cross the river.
4. Horse. In one move, it moves one field vertically or horizontally and one field diagonally. Unlike the knight in classical chess, it cannot jump over pieces.
5. Rook. Moves to any number of fields vertically and horizontally.
6. Pawn. He moves on one square: on his own half of the board - only forward, on the other half - forward and horizontally. Unlike a pawn in classical chess, it cannot be transformed into other pieces.
7. A gun. Moves to any number of fields vertically and horizontally. Unlike other pieces, the cannon hits only when there is one piece between it and the enemy piece.

Completion of the game

The goal of playing Xiangqi is to checkmate the opponent's king. However, a stalemate is also a winning situation - the player who declared the stalemate wins.