Piece’s Power
I – Rook (俥,車) – Moves and captures like the western Rook: slides orthogonally over an unlimited number of squares (intersection-points)
..........Class – Battlefield, Major Powerpiece
II – Mammoth-Mastodon (猛,獁) – Moves and captures by sliding diagonally, always skipping odd-numbered squares
(Note – Due to the dimension of the board and the Mammoth-Mastodons placement, enemy Mammoth-Mastodon’s can never be a threat to one another; since they will never land on the same square as the opponent’s!)
(Clarification – Mammoth-Mastodon cannot leap; will be blocked by intersecting pieces, even those that are standing on a skipped square.)
The Mammoth-Mastodon can perform Trample Capture (Read more in the “Trample Capture” Subsection of “Special moves”.)
..........Class – Battlefield, Minor Powerpiece, Auxiliary
III – Serpent (蛇, 它) – Capturing power varies slightly from moving power –
- Moves by sliding orthogonally 1 square and then as far as 2 more square diagonally outwards
- Captures like moving power, but additionally may capture by leaping 1 more square even further diagonally outwards from as far as its moving power can reach.
(Clarification – Cannot leap, like the Knight in FIDE chess; intervening pieces will block Serpent’s further movement; except for capturing at range 4.)
..........Class – Battlefield, Moderate Powerpiece
IV – Immortal Priest (仙, 山) – Moves and captures within his own Kingdom by leaping diagonally over an unlimited range of squares
..........Class – Sentinel, Minor Powerpiece
V – Guardian Advisor (仕, 士) – Moves and captures within his/her Palace by sliding 1 square diagonally
..........Class – Castle wall, Basic
VI – Cannon (炮, 砲) – Capturing power varies slightly from moving power –
- Moves by sliding orthogonally over an unlimited range of squares
- Captures by leaping orthogonally over exactly 1 intervening piece
(Clarification - As demonstrated in the above example, never may a Cannon ever leap over a piece to move onto that square; there must always be an enemy piece there for capture. Likewise, the Cannon may not simply take an enemy piece on its orthogonal path; there must always be exactly 1 piece obstructing the path between Cannon and the target enemy piece.)
..........class – Battlefield, Moderate Powerpiece
VII – Battering Ram (鎚, 錘) – Capturing power varies slightly from moving power –
- Moves by sliding orthogonally over as many as 3 squares
- May optionally capture 1 square forward from final destination
(Clarification – Any piece being captured will never be on the same square which the Battering Ram lands. Also, if an enemy piece occupies a square that’s orthogonally adjacent to the Battering Ram, the Battering Ram may capture it without having to move!)
..........Class – Battlefield, Moderate Powerpiece
VIII – Terracotta Soldier (俑,雕) – Capturing power varies slightly from moving power –
- Moves by sliding diagonally over as many as 3 squares
- Captures like moving power, but additionally may capture by leaping exactly 4 diagonal squares
..........Class – Battlefield, Minor Powerpiece
IX – foot-soldier-private (卒, 兵) – (Unlike the pawn in FIDE chess) Moving and capturing powers are the same: moves and captures forward 1 square
When crossed into his/her opponent’s Kingdom, foot-soldier-private additionally has the power to move/capture one square sideways.
(Clarification – Like FIDE chess, pawn can never retreat backwards; always moves forward.)
Foot-soldier-privates have the ability to Transform. (Read more in the “Transformation” subsection of “Special Moves”)
..........Class – Battlefield, Basic
X – Qilin (麒,麟) – Moves and captures within its own Kingdom by leaping orthogonally over an unlimited range of squares
..........Class – Sentinel, Moderate Powerpiece
XI – General-Officer (帥,將) – Moves and captures within his Palace by sliding 1 square orthogonally
Rules of check/checkmate apply.
“Flying General” Rule – In the theoretical situation where two Kings stand in the same file without any pieces in-between them on that file, the Kings are considered to be in check by each other: The King to move would be able to orthogonally cross the board on that file to ‘defeat’ the enemy King. Since Kings can never be in check with each other, the Kings are never allowed on the same file without at least one intervening chessman on that file!
..........Class – Castlewall, Basic, Indispensable
XII – Phoenix-Empress (媓,凰) - Moves and captures within her own Kingdom by leaping diagonally or orthogonally over an unlimited range of squares.
Phoenix-Empress appears on the board through combining two pieces. (Read more in “Queen Aggregation (Chengfoecklohng Kei Version)” subsection of “Special Powers”.)
..........Class – Sentinel, Moderate-Major Powerpiece, Latter
XIII – Dragon (龍,龖,龘,𪚥) – All Dragons’ capturing power varies slightly from their moving.
- Base Dragon (龍) –
- Moves by sliding as far as 3 squares orthogonally or diagonally
- Captures like moving power, but additionally may capture by leaping exactly 4 squares orthogonally or diagonally
..........Class – Battlefield, Moderate Powerpiece, Latter
- 2-Strong Dragon (龖) –
- Moves by sliding as far as 6 squares orthogonally or diagonally
- Captures like moving power, but additionally may capture by leaping exactly 7 squares orthogonally or diagonally
..........Class – Battlefield, Major, Latter
- 3-Strong Dragon (龘) –
- Moves by sliding as far as 9 squares orthogonally or diagonally
- Captures like moving power, but additionally may capture by leaping exactly 10 squares orthogonally or diagonally
..........Class – Battlefield, Major, Latter
- 4-Strong Dragon (𪚥) –
- Moves by sliding as far as 12 squares orthogonally or diagonally
- Captures like moving power, but additionally may capture by leaping exactly 13 squares on a file, whenever it is on a border rank
..........Class – Battlefield, Major, Latter
Dragon Chess: Game of Conquer
(征服龍棋 - "Chengfoecklohng Kei")
(The following instructions guide will utilize Western transfiguration pieces and chessboard for instructional diagrams, rather than the original Xiangqi design; I've developed both designs, but haven't had the chance to use the Western figurines that I've spent so much time creating!)
Introduction
This Xiangqi variant introduces a series of new chessmen, mainly the Dragon piece. (龍)
Unlike in standard Xiangqi, the Knight (傌,馬) and Elephant (象, 相) pieces are replaced with upgraded, stronger versions of themselves: The Serpent (蛇, 它) and Mammoth-Mastodon (猛, 獁), respectively. (Unlike the Elephant, Mammoth-Mastodons are no longer restricted to their own Kingdom.) Also, as Xiangqi was focused much on Orthogonal movement, Chengfoecklohng Kei re-introduces the substantiation of diagonals as an equal to orthogonals, as seen in western FIDE chess.
Many new concepts which are foreign to Xiangqi and FIDE chess are utilized to enhance gameplay, including the concept of Trample Capture, Transformation and Rank-Placement Empowerment.
The Dragon is a powerful piece, resembling a much-loved piece found in western FIDE chess!
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Board Anatomy and Gamestart Positions
I - Components of the Board
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II - In Chengfoecklohng Kei (ver. 2c), players may choose from 3 different options for starting positions in which to play a match.
Rules of the Dragon
(The most important section of this instructional guide!)
Dragons do not appear at game-start. Rather, they come into play during a player’s turn.
I - Appearance of Egg
(Clarification: the same player can cross the same chessman out and back into enemy Imperial Borders again, repeating the process as many times as desired; each time the chessman does, a new Egg is added into player’s territory.
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II - Appearance of Dragon
................*Ranks 10 and 11 for Black/Player II..............**Rank 9 for Black/Player II..............***Rank 8 for Black/Player II
....................(The powers of the Dragon is described in “Piece’s Power” section.)