Daniel Yin
English 1102 --- James Howard
9/9/15
Board Game Review: Xiangqi
The board game I will be reviewing today is called Xiangqi and is often referred to as
Chinese chess due to its usage of a similar board and playing pieces to western chess. In fact, many
of the fundamentals are quite similar to regular chess with the end goal being to “checkmate” the
enemy “king”. To play this game, one will need to purchase or create a board with the proper
layout as well as the playing pieces. The finished board and pieces should look somewhat like the
picture below.
Picture taken from Wikipedia-Xiangqi
Before diving straight into the review, I will describe each type of playing piece and their
rules of movement. There are 7 types of pieces in total and most should seem familiar to their
counterparts in western chess. However, there are still slight differences so a thorough description
of each piece is ideal.
The first pieces are the “kings” or generals. They are pronounced “jiang” for the black piece and
“shuai” for the red side. The “kings” are constrained to the squares cut with two diagonal lines on
opposite sides of the board. They are only allowed move 1 space orthogonally within their palace.
Diagonal moves are not allowed. However, in the rare event where the enemy “king” is exposed
and your “king” is in line with theirs, you may capture the enemy king by moving your “king”
across the entire board. “Kings” will look like the picture below.
Picture taken from Wikipedia-Xiangqi
The second type of piece is the advisor. They are the two pieces on either side of each “king”.
They are also limited to the central square. Unlike the king however, they may only move
diagonally one space at a time. They look like the picture below.
Picture taken from Wikipedia-Xiangqi
The third type of piece is the elephant. These pieces cannot cross over the river onto the opponent’s
side of the board (the horizontal rectangular strip in the middle represents the river). They may
only move two spaces diagonally. However, the first diagonal space must be clear for the elephant
to move. Otherwise it is blocked. They look like the picture below.
Picture taken from Wikipedia-Xiangqi
The fourth type of piece is the horse. These pieces have a similar playstyle to the knight in regular
chess. They are allowed to move on space orthogonally and then one space diagonally. However,
unlike regular chess, a horse can be blocked similar to an elephant if the space orthogonal to it is
occupied. These pieces are allowed to cross the river. They look like the following picture.
Picture taken from Wikipedia-Xiangqi
The fifth type of piece is called the chariot. These pieces behave just like the rooks in chess. They
can move any number of spaces orthogonally as long as they don’t jump over any pieces. They
can cross the river as well. Because of this freedom of mobility, they are very strong attacking
pieces. They look like the following picture.
Picture taken from Wikipedia-Xiangqi
The sixth type of piece is called the cannon. They have the same movement abilities of the chariot.
However, to capture an enemy piece, one requires another piece to be in between the two. In this
way, the piece “leapfrogs” over another to attack an enemy piece. This allows for unique gameplay
and complicated traps. This piece can also cross the river. They look like the following picture.
Picture taken from Wikipedia-Xiangqi
The final piece type is the soldier. These are the weakest piece and are mainly to pressure the
enemy, block enemy pieces, or serve as hopping stones for your cannons. They can only move one
step forward until they cross the river. After crossing the river, they gain the ability to move 1 step
horizontally as a choice. They cannot move back at all and therefore, once reaching the end of the
enemy board can only move sideways. They look like the following picture.
Picture taken from Wikipedia-Xiangqi
First and foremost, Xiangqi is a strategy game like western chess. Therefore, if you are
looking for a quick, easy to learn, and uncomplicated game, Xiangqi is probably not the right
choice for you. However, if you enjoy planning out not only your own moves but also the potential
moves of your opponent, Xiangqi might be the game to test your skills.
Xiangqi rewards strategy and punishes mistakes…provided your opponent can take advantage of
them. As such, this type of game caters to people who like to think ahead and formulate moves,
counters, and reverse counters. Much like chess, Xiangqi is a game where you are not necessarily
playing game as much as you are playing your opponent.
People who are avid players of western chess might find the game easy to catch on at first because
of the numerous similarities. Yet, they might suddenly find themselves rudely shocked by some
key differences.
Perhaps the most obvious difference such players would notice is the small playing area for their
“king”. Being such an important piece, it has such a small area in which it can move. Not only
that, two possible spaces are further occupied by his “advisors”. This tight constraint tends to
punish players who are unable to micromanage the space well to keep spaces open for the “king”
to flee to if it comes under attack.
Another troublesome area that might prop up is the inability to move the elephants across the river.
Unlike in western chess where bishops are allowed to traverse the entire board, the restricted nature
of the elephants will require new strategies from experienced western chess players.
Finally, the amount of pieces that can cross the river and actually attack the enemy is limited. This
means that any offensive move needs to be calculated and well planned for. Xiangqi punishes
players who throw away their chariots and cannons to the enemy. Once those powerful pieces are
lost, it becomes very difficult to check the enemy king or even attack. It is not uncommon for an
experienced player to quickly remove their opponent’s attacking pieces before picking off the
weaker ones and then finally trapping the enemy king in their square.
However, even with all these quirks that make Xiangqi a difficult game to get into, there are plenty
of rewarding aspects that can make Xiangqi a fun game to play. The existence of the cannon units
adds another layer of danger and excitement to each turn. Since the cannon can hop over a unit to
attack and has no range limitations, it is not uncommon to see a cannon piece jump across the
board, capture an enemy piece, and check the enemy king. These long range attacks allow players
to diversify their attacks beyond simple linear piece interceptions.
Another fun aspect is the flying general move. A high risk high reward tactic, this move has the
possibility of ending the game the next turn if the enemy doesn’t see it. Often used as a last moment
desperation move, with enough misdirection and a little bit of luck, the opponent won’t spot your
general in position to make a glorious charge down the battlefield. I have seen games where one
player having the supreme strategic advantage makes such a simple blunder and loses the game in
one fell swoop.
It is important to stress though, that smart play will bring about more success than reactionary play.
If you have read all the way to the end perhaps you are truly interested in this game and should
find a friend to try it out. However, before you do so, please consider these words of wisdom.
Any soldier can react to a situation on the battlefield. A general must plan ahead for any situation.
Battles are fought by soldiers but won by generals. Therefore, are you a soldier or a general?