I've been futzing around with a computer version of xiangqi lately. It's like chess, only faster. By which I mean, it descended from the same ancient Indian board game that chess came from, but evolved differently: there are a couple different pieces, and there are a couple zones that only certain pieces can move through.
The board is divided by a river, and the king (who can only move one horizontal or vertical space) and his two advisors (who can only move diagonally) can never leave the three-by-three fortress area. Pawns don't become queens when they reach the back rank of the opposite side; they do, however, gain the ability to move one square horizontally once they cross the river. They also take pieces in a straight line, not diagonally or en passant.
The game is named for the xiang pieces, a word which means either "elephant" or "minister". They're largely useless -- can only move two diagonal spaces and can't cross the river.
No, the real joy is in riding the ma, or "horse" -- the equivalent of a knight, but unable to jump over other pieces (blockable) and in using the pao or "cannon". These are pieces that move like a rook, but can only take opponents' pieces when there's some other piece (called a "screen") in between. They make defense devilishly difficult.
End result is that, with the computer version I've been playing, a game can go by as quickly as 20 minutes, where a corresponding chess game would take 45-60. (This is partially a reflection of my "come butcher me, silicon brain!" style of play.)
I've been playing this free Windows version, but there's a free online version as well. There's also a couple listed at Yahoo games, although I think they pit you against human opponents (I've never really tried 'em). |
