Chinese Chess

(Courtesy of BoardGameGeek)

Chinese Chess is a classic. Besides its widespread history, Chinese Chess presents a few differences compared to Chess. First different feature is the Cannon. Cannon in Chinese Chess will take an opponent piece after jumping through another piece. This makes prediction difficult because moves become more varied. Next, the king or general is protected by two bodyguards. This makes checkmate difficult but can be made easier in certain circumstances.

Each side will have five soldiers, two cannons, two knights, two rooks, two elephant, two bodyguards and one general. Each side will be separated by a river. The pieces will move on lines. The bodyguards and general will be confined to a "palace" area within the side while the elephant will be confined to the player's own side(ie bodyguard, general and elephant cannot cross the river). The general can only move one step forward in any direction while the bodyguard can move one step diagonally in any direction. Each soldier can only move one space forward on his own side. After crossing the river, it can move one space in any direction except backward. Unlike chess, there's no such thing as promotion in Chinese Chess. Rook and cannon move the same way as rook in chess. However, cannon takes an opponent piece with the condition that another (any) piece must be located between them in a straight line. Knights move two step forward before one step to the left or right (ie L shape in chess). However, if there are any places blocking the two-space path, the knight cannot move in that direction. Likewise, if the knight is checking the general, but a piece is blocking the 2-space path, the check is considered null and void. The elephant moves 2-space diagonally ONLY in any direction. Taking displacement as zero after four moves, it will form a diamond shape movement. Bear in mind again that an elephant cannot cross a river.

The game ends when the general is checkmated. In the case of a stalemate, it is considered as a checkmate. Draw due to insufficient pieces is still possible but in most cases, the player with the most pieces left wins.

All in all, this is a wonderful game but its weakness is similar to chess. If both players play casually, I see few reasons for not enjoying the game.