Rules of Chinese Chess Vs Western Chess - Ifay Chang

  1. King and the two Royal Guards are confined in the Castle which is located in the lower center of the board. King can move vertically and horizontally one step at a time whereas the royal guards can only move diagonally one step at a time. In King's and royal guard's move, an enemy piece can be captured if the enemy is in its way. The corresponding piece in western chess for royal guard is the bishop, however, the bishop is not confined to the castle and it can move diagonally more than one step at a time.
  2. There are two palace guards called elephants in Chinese. They can only move diagonally two steps at a time but not allowed to cross the dividing river. Their corresponding pieces in western chess are also the bishops. The western chess pieces are placed in the squares of the 8 by 8 chess board marked with squares marked in two different colors whereas the Chinese chess pieces are placed on the intersection of lines on the 8 by 9 chess board where there is a river dividing the two 4 by 8 halves.
  3. There are two knights in Chinese chess almost equivalent to the knights in the western chess. Remember the Chinese knights are placed on line intersections and move semi-diagonally in two steps. The Chinese knights can be blocked from movement by a piece (friend or foe) located next to the knight at the starting point (not the destination point) of the knight's movement. Western knights have no such restriction. They can move to the destination square either by capturing its opponent or if the square is unoccupied.
  4. There are two chariots in Chinese chess (called vehicle in Chinese) which can move freely either vertically or horizontally and they are allowed to capture their enemy at their destination points. Correspondingly, there are two rooks in western chess which can move in the similar manner except in squares rather than on lines.
  5. There are five foot soldiers in Chinese chess placed up front one line before the river divider on alternate vertical lines. These foot soldiers are allowed to move one step forward until they cross the river then they may move horizontally still one step at a time. Whereas in western Chess, there are eight foot soldiers called pawns placed immediately above the king's royal forces. They do block the movement of the king's royal pieces except the two knights. Therefore, one must strategically move the pawns to allow the royal forces to get out. The Chinese 'pawns' do not block the movement of the other pieces as much as in the western chess, therefore the opening move in Chinese chess is not necessarily a pawn move like in the Western chess. The pawns in western chess can become a royal force when they reach the base square of the enemy side. Usually people would like to make them queens since the queen is the most powerful piece in western chess. The Chinese 'pawns' can only go forward and not allowed to move backward.
  6. There is no queen in Chinese chess but the queen in western chess can move and capture freely along vertical, horizontal and diagonal in any color square, hence it is the most powerful piece.
  7. The second important difference in Chinese chess is that there are two cannons in the royal forces initially placed on B3 and H3 on the red side (or white side) and on B* and H8 on the black side as counted from the red (white) side. These position notations are important for chess learners so they could write their moves and study them later to find mistakes or winning moves. Obviously it is less confusing if one set of coordinate notation is used. It is generally agreed that the red (or white) side will make the first move, therefore the coordinates on their side will be used for recording all the moves. The cannons can move freely like the chariots except they can only strike or capture the enemy piece in a hopping move resembling a cannon shoot on the target over a obstructive object.
  8. Rules on Players are very simple:
  1. The red (or white) makes the first move and the black (or blue) follows until one side is defeated or resigned or both sides agree to a draw.
  2. No chatting during the game
  3. No taking back (or undoing) moves once the player's hand leaves the piece that is played.
  4. The game can be played with limited time monitored by a clock or referee. Further rules may be imposed by the referee.
  1. Strategies for winning
  1. There are only two ways to win. One is to win by strategy and making smart moves and the other is to win by recognizing your opponent's mistakes.
  2. There are also only two ways to lose. One is losing by making mistakes and the other is losing to opponent's smart moves.
  3. Win or lose one can learn through the mistakes and the smart moves. So the object of playing chess is to learn and become a better player. If one can become a better player by losing to stronger opponent is no worse than keep winning by beating a weak opponent.
  4. There are numerous strategies and moves in both Chinese and western chess. The only way to master them is by playing and learning.
  1. In Chinese chess the king is confined but in western chess the king can make a move called castling, moving with his rook at the same time in a cross movement to land the king in a more secure position.
  2. In western chess, the pawn can make an en passant move (diagonally to behind the enemy) by capturing the opponent pawn when it makes a two step move trying to sneak by his side.
  3. Chess Nomenclature:
  1. Since the Chinese chess and western chess are both interesting strategic board games, we will try to use a consistent nomenclature so we can learn the two games simultaneously.
  2. We will use a similar nomenclature for recording movements. The two diagrams attached show the numbering system for the two chess games for your references. The rows of lines in Chinese chess is numbered from 1 to 10 and the vertical lines are named A to I whereas the rows of squares in western chess is number from 1 to 8 and the columns of squares are named from A to H.
  3. The Chinese chess pieces are :

    4. 1 King, 2 Royal Guards, 2 Elephants, 2 Horses (Knights), 2 Vehicles (Chariots), 2 Cannons and 5 Foot Soldiers (Pawns).

  4. The western chess pieces are :

    5. 1 King, 1 Queen, 2 Bishops, 2 Knights, 2 Rooks and 8 Pawns.

  5. Example of movement: RC: B3 to E3 (moving Red Cannon from B3 to E3) This is one of the typical opening move in Chinese Chess. BH: B1 to C3 (moving black horse from B1 to C3). This is a typical defense move to protect the center pawn when the opponent moves the cannon to the center.

 

 

 

These instruction sheets are prepared by Ifay Chang for Northern Westchester Chinese School. Copy Right Reserved 2002.