Toby Time Part 4 "Chinese Chess"

I was not sure how Toby transversed time and space to make it to the playing arena of the Chess Master, but the Chess Master was appeased! Toby was proving himself to being quite a formidable opponent.

For most of us! The rules of the Chinese Chess go like this!

Rules of the game

The Board;

Xiangqi is a common pastime in Chinese cities such as Beijing
Xiangqi is played on a board that is 9 lines wide by 10 lines long. In a manner similar to the game go, the pieces are played on the intersections, which are known as points. The vertical lines are known as files, while the horizontal lines are known as ranks. With a few awkward substitutions, it is possible to play this game using a standard chess set.
Centered at the first through third ranks of the board is a square zone also mirrored in the opponent's territory. The three point by three point zone is demarcated by two diagonal lines connecting opposite corners and intersecting at the center point. This area is known as gōng (listen), the palace or fortress.
Dividing the two opposing sides (between the fifth and sixth ranks) is hé, the river. The river is often marked with the phrases chǔ hé (listen), meaning "Chu River", and (in Traditional Chinese) or (in Simplified Chinese) hàn jiè (listen), meaning "Han border", a reference to the Chu-Han War. Although the river provides a visual division between the two sides, only a few pieces are affected by its presence: soldiers are promoted after crossing, and elephants cannot cross the river.
The starting points of the soldiers and cannons are marked with a small cross.

The Pieces;

The two players take command of pieces on either side of the river. One player's pieces are usually painted red (or, less commonly, white), and the other player's pieces are usually painted black (or, less commonly, blue or green). Which player moves first has varied throughout history, and also varies from one part to another of China. Some xiangqi books state that the black side moves first; others state that the red side moves first. Also, some books may refer to the two sides as north and south; which direction corresponds to which color also varies from source to source. Generally, red goes first in most modern formal tournaments.[1]
Xiangqi pieces are represented by disks marked with a Chinese character identifying the piece and painted in a colour identifying to which player the piece belongs. Modern pieces are usually made with plastic, though some sets use pieces made of wood, and more expensive sets may use pieces made of jade. In more ancient times, many sets were simple unpainted woodcarvings; thus, to distinguish between the pieces of the two sides, most corresponding pieces use characters that are similar but vary slightly between the two sides.
The oldest Xiangqi piece found to date is in Henan Provincial Museum - a piece.
In Mainland China, most sets still use traditional characters for the pieces.

The General/Marshal
General and advisors
The generals are labelled with the Chinese character (trad.) / (simp.) jiàng (listen) (general) on the black side and (trad.) / (simp.) shuai (listen) (marshal) on the red side. These pieces are equivalent to the kings of Western chess. Legend has it that originally the pieces were known as emperors, but when an emperor of China heard about the game, he executed two players for "killing" or "capturing" the emperor piece. Future players called them generals instead.
The general starts the game at the midpoint of the back edge (within the palace). The general may move one point either vertically or horizontally but the general may not move diagonally. The general cannot leave the palace under any circumstances; thus, the general can only move to and stay on the 9 points within the palace.
When a general is threatened by an enemy piece, the general is said to be "in check." When the general is in check and unable to escape check on the player's move, it is said to be checkmated, and the player loses the game. A player also loses when his general is not in check, but he can make no legal move that doesn't put the general in check; a stalemate rule does not exist. However, there is no requirement to tell a player that he is in check, and he is required to spot it for himself. If he fails to spot the danger, his opponent may take his general and win the game. Likewise, if a player moves into a check position and his opponent fails to notice, the game continues.
If a player makes a move that leaves the two generals facing one another on the same file with no other pieces placed in between, then the general is in check. This is a very important feature of the Xiangqi game and is often forgotten by new players of the game. It is important because the general often plays a role in enforcing checkmate, especially when many of the other pieces have been taken and the board is wide open. Indeed, a win remains possible as long as a player has at least a single horse, chariot, or soldier not on the last rank. If a player forgets this rule and moves a piece that exposes a clear line between his general and his opponents, he loses the game if his opponent notices what has happened.

The Advisor/Mandarin

The advisors (also known as guards or ministers, and less commonly as assistants, mandarins, or warriors) are labelled shì (listen) ("scholar", "gentleman", "officer") for black and shi (listen) ("scholar", "official") for red. Some sets use the character for both colours, but this is rare.
While their origin is probably the same as that of the queen in Western chess (from the mantri in Chaturanga), their powers are decidedly distinct from those of the queen (but similar to that of the mantri).
The advisors start to the sides of the general. They move one point diagonally and may not leave the palace. This effectively means they can only move to five of the points within the palace. They serve to protect the general/marshal.

The Elephant/Minister

The elephants are labelled xiàng (elephant) for black and xiàng (minister) for red. They are located next to the advisors. These pieces move exactly two points diagonally and may not jump over intervening pieces. They may not cross the river; thus, they serve as defensive pieces. There are only seven possible points on the board to which they can move.
Because of an elephant's limited movement, it can be easily trapped. A chariot can trap one just by moving to a space where all spaces available to the elephant are threatened. Since one elephant could be easily captured, it depends on the other for protection.
The Chinese characters for "minister" and "elephant" are homophones (listen) and both have alternative meanings as "appearance" or "image". However, both are referred to as elephants in the game.

The Horse/Cavalry

The red horse may take the black horse, but the black horse cannot take the red horse because its movement is obstructed by another piece

Green moves are legal; red ones are illegal because another piece is obstructing the movement of the horse
The horses are labelled mǎ (listen) for black and mà (listen) for red in sets marked with Traditional Chinese characters and mǎ (listen) for both black and red in sets marked with Simplified Chinese characters. Some traditional sets use for both colours. They begin the game next to the elephants. It moves one point vertically or horizontally and then one point diagonally away from its former position. It is important to note that the horse does not jump. Thus, if there were a piece lying on a point one point away horizontally or vertically from the horse, then the horse's path of movement is blocked and it is unable to move in that direction. Note, however, that a piece two points away horizontally or vertically or a piece a single point away diagonally would not impede the movement of the horse. The diagram on the left illustrates the horse's movement.
Since horses can be blocked, it is sometimes possible to trap the opponent's horse. It is possible for one player's horse to attack the opponent's horse while the opponent's horse is blocked from attacking, as seen in the diagram on the right.

The Chariot/Rook

The chariots are labelled for black and for red in sets marked with Traditional Chinese characters and for both black and red in sets marked with Simplified Chinese characters. Some traditional sets use for both colors. It is possible for a simplified set to use, but this is very rare. All of these characters are pronounced as jū (listen), although the everyday pronunciation of all three is chē (listen). Capturing and moving in a straight line either horizontally or vertically, the chariot moves and captures vertically and horizontally any distance. The chariots begin the game on the points at the corners of the board. Their placement and movement is similar to that of a rook in western chess.
The chariot/rook piece is considered to be the strongest piece in the game.

The Cannon/Catapult

The cannons are labelled pào (listen) for black and pào (listen) for red. They are homonyms.
pào means a "catapult" for hurling boulders. pào means "cannon" [4]. The radical of means 'stone', and the part of means 'fire'. However, both are referred to as cannons in the game.
In Xiangqi, each player has two cannons. The cannons start on the row behind the soldiers, two points in front of the horses. Cannons move like the chariots, horizontally and vertically, but capture by jumping exactly one piece (whether it is friendly or enemy) over to its target. When capturing, the cannon is moved to the point of the captured piece. The piece over which the cannon jumps is called the bāo tái — "cannon platform". Any number of unoccupied spaces may exist between the cannon and the cannon platform, or between the cannon platform and the piece to be captured, including no spaces (the pieces being adjacent) in both cases. Cannons are powerful at the beginning of the game when platforms are plentiful, but lose value rapidly with attrition.

The Soldier/Private

Each side has five soldiers, labelled zú (listen) for black and bīng (listen) for red. Soldiers are placed on alternating points, one row back from the edge of the river. They move and capture by advancing one point. Once they have crossed the river, they may also move (and capture) one point horizontally. Soldiers cannot move backward, and therefore cannot retreat; however, they may still move sideways at the enemy's edge.

The Approximate relative values of the pieces
Piece
Point(s)
Soldier before crossing the river
1
Soldier after crossing the river
2
Advisor
2
Elephant
2
Horse
4 - 5
Cannon
4 - 5
Chariot
9
It is to be noted that these are advisory values and that the piece values do not take into account positional advantages. Often a piece is more powerful at a certain intersection as compared to another intersection. The chariot at the corner in the beginning of the game is not very useful, but it can be moved to points where it affects the game much more. Also, the value of a cannon drops as the game goes on due to having fewer platforms for use in capturing, while the value of the horse increases slightly due to fewer obstructions. Despite the chariot having the highest value of 9 points, it should be pointed out that often, players will, at certain game scenarios, value a cannon/horse on or exceeding the level of a chariot due to the piece's unique attack style.

Ending the game

"Checkmate!" (assuming the cannon is safe) Note that the horse is not actually needed for this to be checkmate.
The game ends when one player successfully takes the general, or checkmates the other player — that is, when one player successfully threatens the opposing general with a piece and the player with the threatened general has no legal moves which would prevent the general from being threatened.
There is no stalemate as in Western chess — the player who has no legal moves loses the game, instead of draws.
In Chinese, to say check, one says (trad.) / (simp.) jiāng (listen), and to say checkmate, one says (trad.) / (simp.) jiāngjūn (listen). The two calls are sometimes interchangeable. There is no requirement to tell the other player that you have them in check as it is their responsibility to see the danger, but many players do still say check throughout the game.
In Xiangqi, a player (often with material or positional disadvantage) may attempt to check or chase pieces in a way so that the moves fall in a cycle, forcing the opponent to draw the game. The following special rules are used to make it harder to draw the game by endless checking and chasing (regardless of whether the positions of the pieces are repeated or not):
The side that perpetually checks with one piece or several pieces will be ruled to lose under any circumstances unless he stops the perpetual checking.
The side that perpetually chases any one unprotected piece with one or more pieces will be ruled to lose under any circumstances unless he stops the perpetual chasing. Chases by generals and soldiers are allowed however.[2]
If one side perpetually checks and the other side perpetually chases, the perpetually checking side has to stop or be ruled to lose.
When neither side violates the rules and both persist in not making an alternate move, the game can be ruled as a draw.
When both sides violate the same rule at the same time and both persist in not making an alternate move, the game can be ruled as a draw.
The above rules to prevent perpetual checking and chasing are popular, but they are by no mean the only rules. There are a large number of confusing end game situations.

Hope this wasn't to dry? It does give you the layout of what the Game Master and Toby are playing!

Game Master; Thank you for relaying the rules of this facinating game, Toby! I have been around for a long time and I can't believe that I nevere heard of this game before, but I believe I am winning?

Next Time; Toby Time Part 5 "Ending the Game"!

Peace!

Keith