A SIMPLIFIED HALF-BOARD GAME
\n USING A CHINESE CHESS SET
\n BY ROLEIGH MARTIN
\n CIS 71510,1042
\n 5511 Malibu Drive
\n Edina MN 55436
\n 1-18-94<\/p>\n
I received an interesting Compuserve (CIS) email from a
\n downloader of an earlier upload of CCHESS.ZIP from Dave
\n Franz (CIS ID 71172,2115). I am reproducing relevant
\n parts from his email. It shows how to play another
\n game with Chinese Chess that might be easier to teach
\n newcomers. I’ve known Chinese mothers and young kids
\n to play this game quite enjoyably. According to Dave
\n Franz, a lot of Chinese men play this game too. I
\n haven’t played it myself though. It is reproduced here
\n to achieve written (in English) posterity.<\/p>\n
To: Roleigh H. Martin > [71510,1042]
\n #: 67 S0\/CompuServe Mail [MAIL]
\n 05-Jan-94 09:52 CST
\n Sb: XiangXi half-board chess
\n Fm: Dave Franz [71172,2115]<\/p>\n
I was wondering if you knew of the half-board version
\n of this game. I learned it in Taiwan from Taxi
\n drivers. (It is played on half the board, with all the
\n pieces turned down, in the center of the squares. A
\n move consists of flipping a piece over or moving a
\n piece… well hopefully you know all of this.)<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
To: Roleigh Martin > [71510,1042]
\n #: 68 S0\/CompuServe Mail [MAIL]
\n 06-Jan-94 15:38 CST
\n Sb: XiangXi half-board chess
\n Fm: Dave Franz [71172,2115]<\/p>\n
First to answer your questions, I downloaded your
\n upload from IBMNEW forum. I was taught how to play the
\n full board version once, but that was long ago, and I
\n never practiced enough to retain the knowledge. I
\n haven’t played the half board game in two years now, so
\n I’m also getting rusty at that. In this game, there
\n are two players, and the game is very fast and
\n exciting. Kind of a mix-up of Checkers, Chess, Stratego
\n and Poker.<\/p>\n
PRE-GAME<\/p>\n
All pieces are turned upside down, mixed up, and placed
\n in the center of the squares of a half board (on a 4×8
\n grid).<\/p>\n
STARTING<\/p>\n
CAI CHUAN (paper-rock-scissors) determines who will
\n turn over the first piece to see who makes the first
\n move (turns the first piece.) The color of the first
\n piece is played by the turner of that piece.<\/p>\n
PLAY<\/p>\n
A move is either (1) turning over a piece, (2) moving a
\n piece one square horizontally or vertically (not
\n diagonally) to another blank square, or (3) capturing
\n another piece. Obviously, at first, most of the moves
\n are turning over pieces. The object of the game is to
\n eliminate all the tiles of the other player.<\/p>\n
HIERARCHY OF PIECES<\/p>\n
The general can take a knight, can take a elephant, can
\n take a chariot, can take a horse can take a pawn.
\n Pawns can take a general, but generals can’t take
\n pawns. Any piece just mentioned can capture its own
\n kind or below (except general to pawn). Cannons can
\n take anything, but only by jumping over another piece,
\n regardless of how far away the piece is, so long as
\n there is only one piece. (The piece captured is the
\n one it lands on, not the one it jumps.) When not
\n capturing, cannons can move to adjacent free squares
\n just like any other piece. Further, cannons can be
\n taken by anything but a pawn. Capturing takes place
\n for any other piece by moving to an adjacent square.<\/p>\n
COMMENTS<\/p>\n
Stalemates are possible. The end of the game can get
\n very strategy oriented.<\/p>\n
Games are not based entirely on strategy, sometimes a
\n game can be won by the luck of the draw (the luck of
\n the turn).<\/p>\n
Cannons tend to be the most interesting pieces in the
\n game.<\/p>\n
The rules I just laid out are subject to wide
\n variations. Some of my favorite: Cannons can jump
\n consecutively, taking many pieces in one move. Various
\n pieces can move on the diagonal. Horses can only move
\n two up one over (like in regular chess). Various
\n pieces can move on the diagonal (or can move only on
\n the diagonal). Turn all pieces up at start. etc. etc.
\n etc. Half-board Xiang Xi works like poker, when the
\n dealer calls the game (ie, 7stud, draw, etc.).<\/p>\n
Well I hope this gives you a better idea of the game.
\n I just wrote this on the fly, so it may not be a very
\n good description.<\/p>\n
