Chinese Chess (Xiangqi)

Anyone familiar with Xiangqi aka Chinese Chess? A friend of mine, orignally from Hong Kong, told me about it after he learned that I had a chess addiction. In fact, he's given me a set. I know next to nothing about it.

It is intriguing though. I mean, they have elephants and catapults!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiangqi

Originally posted by MrHand
Anyone familiar with Xiangqi aka Chinese Chess? A friend of mine, orignally from Hong Kong, told me about it after he learned that I had a chess addiction. In fact, he's given me a set. I know next to nothing about it.

It is intriguing though. I mean, they have elephants and catapults!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiangqi

Is it as different from chess as chinese checkers is from checkers?

Originally posted by tomtom232
Is it as different from chess as chinese checkers is from checkers?

No. I think it is more similar to chess than chinese checkers. It has pieces that are in a similar layout to chess and the object is to capture the general which is more or less the same as checkmate.

I used to play a few games some years back...and it was really funny(at our level)...very tactical and very difficult to defend...everything on attack...

elephant = bishop, you move diagonally 2 squares...but cannot across the river

the catapult capture pieces by jumping another piece, but it moves like a rook.

no castling/en passant/promoting

pawn move/capture forward, but when it crosses the river, it can go horizontally, also capture horizontally too

king can only be inside the 3x3 sq, it can only move vertical and horizontally

guards can only be inside the 3x3 sq, but it moves diagonally.

and finally knight cannot jump over pieces (tricky)

I was reading up on opening strategies for this game and it's interesting to note that they highly recommend developing the strongest piece on the board (the chariot) as early as possible. This is in stark contrast to standard chess opening principles where you avoid taking the queen out early. Apparently the chariot is safer early in the game because there aren't as many pieces developed on the board yet that can pose a threat to it.

Originally posted by clarencecuasay
I was reading up on opening strategies for this game and it's interesting to note that they highly recommend developing the strongest piece on the board (the chariot) as early as possible. This is in stark contrast to standard chess opening principles where you avoid taking the queen out early. Apparently the chariot is safer early in the game because there aren't as many pieces developed on the board yet that can pose a threat to it.

That must be why I kept losing. I was thinking western.
I was taught by some Chinese when I worked in Thailand. The Thai's have their own version of chess too, more like ours, 8X8 board but the pieces are more like Shogi. Knight and rook are the same, that's about all. They solved the problem of getting the pawns to the 4th rank by simply moving the whole pawn rank from the second to the third rank. That way there is no one or two move push with the pawn, only a one move push to the 4th rank. It's a lot slower a game than western chess. It's called Mok Luk.

Originally posted by MrHand
No. I think it is more similar to chess than chinese checkers. It has pieces that are in a similar layout to chess and the object is to capture the general which is more or less the same as checkmate.

Also, Chinese chess is in fact both Chinese and a form of chess. "Chinese checkers" is neither Chinese nor checkers; it's halma.

Richard

It is very popular where I'm from. I play it but not very well. The strategies and tactics are completely different despite some pieces having some similarities. My uncle plays it extremely well (master level equivalent) and blows me out of the water. However, I can destroy him at western chess so there you go.

And yeah, the chariot (rook) is good to develop early even in open space, but it's actually an anchor to funnel the other pieces into battle and to tie down enemy pieces. I was told that in order to be good, you MUST know how to play well with and be able to deliver checkmate with only your knight, cannon (minor pieces) and pawns (cross river).

The pieces all look the same to me.

Originally posted by ketchuplover
The pieces all look the same to me.

That is one of my stumbling blocks in learning. I look at the chinese characters and my eyes glaze over and I start contemplating the lint in my navel.

I'm intrigued by the game, but I'm half tempted to make stick figure drawings on the pieces for my simpleton brain.

Originally posted by MrHand
That is one of my stumbling blocks in learning. I look at the chinese characters and my eyes glaze over and I start contemplating the lint in my navel.

I'm intrigued by the game, but I'm half tempted to make stick figure drawings on the pieces for my simpleton brain.

There are alternatives to buying sets that use pieces with written characters on; they can be found in most tourist (and plenty of non-tourist) markets in China.

Have a look on http://tinyurl.com/5zl6x3 if you're struggling.

It can seem strange to people not used to reading Chinese characters, especially given the differences between the two colours (a red piece may not have the same symbol as the same black piece) and usually the variation between different sets, but I would have to recommend giving it a try. To me, it feels a lot more rewarding playing with the "real" pieces and I would bet that you would open yourself up to a much broader range of opponents.