Xiangqi

Western researchers ^{[ who? ]} Usually, Xiangqi is considered as one of the branches of the development of a class of games rooted in chaturanga , which appeared in India no later than the 5th — 6th centuries. It is believed that chaturanga is the common ancestor of all the chess-type games now known. Moving westward, chaturanga spawned an Arabic Shatranj , which became the ancestor of modern classical chess . Spreading to the east and entering China , chaturanga changed in accordance with Chinese traditions and turned into Xiangqi, which, in turn, became the basis for the chess-like game of shogi , still popular today in Japan . In Korea, the Xiangqi were modified and turned into a game of changi - it is played on a practically similar board, with the same set of figures, but with slightly different rules.

Some ^{[ what? ]} Chinese researchers strongly disagree with the theory of the origin of Xiangqi from chaturangi. Based on documents, the oldest of which date from the Han era, they argue that the game, which became the ancestor of syantsi, appeared in ancient China about 3,500 years ago ^{[to clarify ]} and was originally called anybody . In this game, chips were also moved around the board, among which were pawns and a general with different rules of the turn, but used the dice to determine the course, thus introducing an element of randomness into the game. Later, the bones were abandoned, having received the game geu or saichang . Considered ^{[by whom? ]} that the rules of this game were established by the emperor Han Wu-di .

In the Tang era, the rules of the game were modified, and the variety of figures increased, which led to the appearance of the rules of Xiangqi, which are close to modern ones. Fully proven ^{[ where? ]} that in the 8th century in China, the Xiangqi existed, two players played in them, the dice were no longer used, and the set of figures corresponded to the set of figures of chaturanga — the general (king), horse, bishop, chariot (rook), and soldiers (pawns). The moves of the figures are also very similar (taking into account the difference in the production of figures on the board - in chess, the figures are placed on the field, and in Xiangqi - at the intersection of lines). Hard to imagine ^{[to whom? ]} that such a similarity arose by chance, it seems more likely ^{[to whom? ]} that chaturanga, if not the “parent” of Xiangqi, then, in any case, greatly influenced that ancient Chinese game, from which Xiangqi originated. The name of the game, according to one of the versions ^{[ what? ]} , derived from the expression “ivory figurines” - it was from it that game figures were made, and, unlike modern, fairly simple, with hieroglyphic inscriptions, in ancient times, artwork figures depicting the corresponding characters — horses, elephants, chariots — were often used General's tent.

It should be noted that the documents, especially the most ancient ^{[ what? ]} , it is far from always possible to interpret unequivocally, so the question of the origin of Xiangqi can hardly be considered finally resolved.

The ancient party of the X century is famous, in which the Taoist hermit Chen Tuan defeated the emperor [1] .

In Europe, the game of Xiangqi was first introduced to engravers by John Ingram by Francois Boucher ’s drawing “The Game of Chinese Chess” , twice published in Paris between 1741 and 1763 (the figures on it are not Xiangqi figures with which the author apparently was not familiar enough ).

The strongest player in the Xiangqi in the XX century was Hu Ronhua , who became the champion of China in xiangqi 14 times. One of the strongest players in the Xiangqi in the XXI century - 5-time champion of China, Lu Qin .

Since the 1970s, books have been published in the USSR and sets of Chinese chess have been issued with the name Cho Hong Ki ^[1] .

Board

Xiangqi is played on a rectangular board, lined up vertically and horizontally. The size of the board is 9 × 10 lines, and, like in Go , the figures are placed at the intersection of the lines, and not on the cells. Between the two central contours is a river ( Kit. 河 , he ), which affects the movement of soldiers and elephants (see below).

The 3 × 3 squares marked with two diagonal lines are called palaces or fortresses . They can not leave the generals and advisers.

The initial arrangement of the figures is shown in the diagram.

Figures

Both players get the same set of pieces of a checkered form, which are traditionally wooden chips with Chinese characters . The image of identical figures for different sides may differ. Traditionally, one side has red shapes (less often white), and the other black (which can also be depicted in blue or green). In different regions there are different conventions about who makes the first move, but in most modern tournaments the red ones go first.

General / Marshal

Denoted whale. trad. 將 , exercise. 将 , pinyin : jiàng , "jiang", that is, "general" for blacks and whales. trad. 帥 , exercise. 帅 , pinyin : shuài , “shuai”, that is, “marshal” for the reds. This piece is similar to the chess king , that is, losing it means losing the game. A general can walk only within his palace (3 × 3) one square horizontally and vertically, but cannot walk diagonally. Also, generals cannot face each other face-to-face (when there are no figures along the vertical line), in this case, in response to the move that freed the line, the general can attack through the whole field and kill the enemy general with his “look”.

Advisor

Denoted by whale. 士 , pinyin : shì , “shi” - “official, warrior, scientist” for black and whale. 仕 , pinyin : shì , also “shi” - “scientist, official” for red. It can move within the fortress (palace) only diagonally, that is, it is limited to five points of the fortress.

Elephant

Denoted by China. 象 , pinyin : xiàng , "xiang" - "elephant" for black and Chinese, пин , pinyin : xiàng , "xiang" - "minister" for red. Walks diagonally at two points. Can not jump figures. Can not cross the river.

Cannon

Denotes whale. 砲 , pinyin : pào , “pao” - “catapult” ( key “stone”) for black and whale. 炮 , pinyin : pào “pao” - “gun” (key “fire”) for red. He walks like a chess rook . They capture enemy figures only if there is a third figure between it and the attacked figure, called the screen .

Chariot (rook)

Denoted whale. trad. 車 , exercise. 车 , pinyin : jū , ju for black and whale. trad. 俥 (車) , exercise 车 (伡) , pinyin : jū , “ju” for red. He walks like a chess rook.

Horse (rider)

Denoted whale. trad. 馬 , exercise. 马 , pinyin : mǎ , “ma” for black and whale. trad. 傌 (馬) , exercise 马 , pinyin : mà , “ma” for red. Goes one point vertically or horizontally, followed by (in the same course) moving a point diagonally. Unlike a chess knight , a knight in Xiangqi is an ordinary linear figure - during the course he does not “jump over” from the starting point to the final one, but moves in the plane of the board, first horizontally or vertically, and then diagonally. If at the intermediate point of the knight's move is his own figure or opponent's figure, then he blocks the corresponding move (see diagrams).

Warrior (pawn)

Denotes whale. 卒 , pinyin : zú , “zu” for black and whale. 兵 , pinyin : bīng , “bin” for red. Goes one point forward. On the territory of the enemy (across the river) has the additional ability to walk sideways, also at one point. Reaching the last line, goes only sideways.

Completion Party

A general’s shah is considered to be an attack of a general by any figure or the confrontation of two generals on the same vertical, if there are no other figures between them (therefore, one cannot make a move that leads to such confrontation). The player, whose general was under the check, is obliged to lead the general out of the check by his next move. No other moves can be done. If a player cannot take his general from the check, this situation is called “checkmate” and means the loss of that player.

To leave the check, the player can, as in classical chess, either move the general to another point of the playing field that is not under attack, or beat the attacking piece, or put his own in the way of the attacking piece, covering the general from attack. Due to the specifics of the Xiangqi moves, the player has two options for leaving the checker, which are absent in chess:

• It is possible to parry the check given by the horse. Since the knight does not “jump” over the cages, a pawn or a piece placed on a field adjacent to the knight, on its way to the general, covers the general from the check.
• In the case of a shah by a cannon, a player can defend himself by removing the screen or by entering another figure between the cannon and the general (since after two figures the gun does not attack).

The complexity of the Xiangqi is approximately 38 ⁹⁵ , which corresponds to 10 ¹⁵⁰ . This is more than ordinary chess , but less than the complexity of shogi and go . In 2006, the computer of the Chinese company Inspur won the match against five leading professional players from China: three games ended in victory, five draws, and only two were lost ^{[2] [3]} . The Taiwanese Chinese Chess Association qualified ELP and ShiGa computer programs at the 6th dan level in 2007 ^[4] .

• Xiangqi for three
• Changi
• Banzi
• Shogi

• Bell R. Chinese chess // Encyclopedia of board games of the peoples of the world / Trans. from English L.A. Igorevsky. - M .: Tsentrpoligraf, 2001. - pp. 108-112. - 318 s.
• Glazer S. Syantsi // Business - time, fun - an hour. - M .: Young Guard, 1962. - P. 39-41. - 63 s.

• Federation of Chinese Chess "Xiangqi"
• Site of the International Federation of Xiangqi (Eng.) (Whale.)
• Joint site of the German Federation of Xiangqi and the European Federation of Xiangqi (English) (German)
• Database with batches in Syangqi (English)