
Chinese Chess: A Re-visit
This is a short blog post about my favorite childhood game, Chinese Chess. This blog was written for Swinburne Chess Club as Chinese New Year is closing by.
Chinese Chess
Chinese Chess, also known as Xiangqi (象棋), is a board game that shares similarities with Western Chess. The main objective of both games is to capture the opponent’s king or general. Chinese Chess was popular way before China was born. It is believed to have originated back around 2200 years ago (200 BC), like Western Chess, derived from Indian Chess (Chess History - Ancient Chess - How to Play - Xiangqi - Shogi - Shatranj, no date).

But recent research suggests that Chinese Chess might have existed way before that. This brings us to the meaning behind the words 象棋. In the current day, 象 can mean elephant, constellation, figure while 棋 can mean chess. When put together, a common interpretation is the ‘elephant game’. These two characters could be found in several older Chinese literature dating back to the age of the legendary Shennong 神農 that reigned from 2737 BC to 2697 BC (FACTS ON THE ORIGIN OF CHINESE CHESS (XIANGQI 象棋), no date). It is also said that Chinese Chess might have evolved from another game known as Liubo (Deason, no date).
Key Differences from Chess
These are some differences I find the most interesting from chess. Firstly, the larger board size. Chinese Chess is played on a 9 x 10 board while Western Chess is played on an 8 x 8 board. Two special regions consisting of nine points with marked with diagonal lines are also present, they represent the red palace and black palace which restricts the movement of the King (将 / 帅) and the two Advisors (士 / 仕) to their own palace (Chinese chess | board game, no date).
The second major difference is regarding the rules of Chinese Chess, you cannot check your opponent continuously by moving the same piece to the same squares. If you check more than three times in a row using the same piece, you lose the game. In Western Chess, this is resolved as a draw instead (Chinese Chess, no date). A stalemate is also considered a win in Chinese Chess.
The third major difference is the presence of ‘defensive’ chess pieces. I call them defensive because those pieces cannot cross to the opponent’s side of the board such as the Advisor and Minister. As mentioned earlier the Advisor (士 / 仕) can only move diagonally in their own palaces, and the minister (相 / 象) can only move two squares diagonally not crossing the ‘river’ that separates the board.
The fourth major difference is the unique cannon piece. The cannon (炮 / 砲) moves like a Rook, while capturing by ‘jumping’ over a piece. There is also no piece equivalent to the Queen piece from Western Chess in Chinese Chess.
These differences allow for different approaches to be applied when playing Chinese Chess. You could play aggressively by moving your Cannon to the middle and keep attacking your opponent or choose to set up your pieces defensively by moving your Minister to the middle, waiting for your opponent to make a mistake, then capitalizing on that mistake to win the game. The bigger board also allows for more opportunities to penetrate the opponent’s defenses. The restricted King movement also makes the endgame quite different from Western Chess.
My Experience
Coming from a Chinese vernacular primary school, I picked up Chinese Chess when I first saw my classmates playing it after class. As a turn-based game lover, I was intrigued by the game and immediately got my dad to teach me the game when I got home. Down the line, I would often play the game with my classmates and my dad. This continued with middle school, there were lots of people familiar with the game back then, and there was even a Chinese Chess Club. I adopted a defensive playstyle as it seemed easier for beginners at first. I received the opportunity to participate in an inter-school team chess tournament and it was super fun. There were fewer resources about Chinese Chess online compared to English Chess back in the day, so I would usually just play end-game puzzles with an app on my phone.
After entering Swinburne University, I quickly realized that Western Chess was more popular here and that the players here did not take Chinese Chess competitively. What a bummer, I had to study Western Chess instead. The game was fun too, the members of the Chess Club were warm to teach newcomers. If you enjoy playing Western Chess, I highly encourage you to give Chinese Chess a go!
References
Chess History - Ancient Chess - How to Play - Xiangqi - Shogi - Shatranj (no date). Available at: http://www.ancientchess.com/page/05.htm (Accessed: 31 January 2021).
FACTS ON THE ORIGIN OF CHINESE CHESS (XIANGQI 象棋) (no date). Available at: http://www.banaschak.net/schach/origins.htm (Accessed: 31 January 2021).
Deason, R. (no date) A Brief History of Chinese Chess, Culture Trip. Available at: https://theculturetrip.com/asia/china/articles/brief-history-chinese-chess/ (Accessed: 31 January 2021).
Chinese chess | board game (no date) Encyclopedia Britannica. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/sports/Chinese-chess (Accessed: 31 January 2021).
Chinese Chess (no date). Available at: http://en.chinaculture.org/library/2013-11/21/content_496587.htm (Accessed: 31 January 2021).