Chinese Chess (xiangqi) Lesson #1

[Halokid998]

Western chess disliked this 5 times. thanks for teaching me how to play xianqi!

[CeeEmmz]

this is the only board game i dont get hehehe... tanx for the help dude :)

[fangchengchen]

i'm chinese and i freaking like you, because you introduce chinese culture to people

[ElephantChess]

@fangchengchen

Thanks - that means a lot to me!

[fangchengchen]

@ElephantChess No, thank you :)

[RYANMOW]

wtf where u get those pieces lol double sided? lmao

[spicytuna64]

wherever you got the fact that the cannon maintains the 5-point piece value is incorrect. the cannon relies on pieces as screens, so it can attack. as the game progresses, more and more screens or pieces disappear, weakening the cannon. the horse is the exact vice versa, and this contrast, in my opinion is the most interesting think in xiangqi.

[Scythemeup]

general! two people died for calling it king

[ElephantChess]

@Scythemeup

Interesting comment!  Could you tell us the story about the people who died for calling the piece a king? Maybe it would have been better to have called it a general, but I used king just to make the instructions easier for western chess players. I called "xiang" elephant for both red and green, but red xiang might better be translated as advisor. Anyway, I think the important first step is to learn how to play. The minutiae can come later. What do you think?

[Scythemeup]

@ElephantChess basically, they used to used to use emperors (kings), but a chinese emperor found out and executed them. thus the "king piece" became general.

[purespirit9]

Interesting!

[noobsdumb]

xiang qi, shoqi, and chess are really similair!

[Siryphas]

I like how you can see him reading the manual to explain the movements lol! But good video anyways!

[hydro0228]

that is a wierd board, i got mine back in vietnam and it is black and white pieces with some sort of chinese letters, and it doesnt says river on it, it is made out of rock and me and my dad still playing with it :) chinese chess is actually fun

[tatomuck18]

Which game is better? Chinese Chess or regular Chess?

[Techno2790]

@tatomuck18 actually GO is the best ,because it's the most complicate game ever,NO COMPUTERs can play it well. you can check on WIKI,and there also GO videos on youtube,

[WarBaboon]

@Techno2790 What's your point ? I'm a 5k go player, and yet I wouldn't say it's best, nor worse : they're simply very different games. Players should try go (weiqi for the Chinese), xiangqi, western chess and even shogi. Having a taste of each one, decide which one you find is the most fun and simply go with it.

[Techno2790]

@WarBaboon I‘m Chinese,and I do play all these games,my point is for different people have different fun,But Go is the most complicate of all

[ihateuutube]

The values are not 'arbitrary'. They are relative values based on assigned a soldier that has not crossed the river a value of 1. A car/rook has a value of 9, not 10 (you must have a bad board). Horses/knights gain value from about 4 to 5 as pieces are removed from play because there are fewer obstructions for them. Cannons start at 5 and lose value to 4 as pieces are removed because there are fewer platforms to jump over. This is why people do not trade cannon for horse at the very first move.

[ElephantChess]

Thank you for the clarification and excellent explanation. Poor word choice on my part.

[wnsk]

I was not aware there was a points-system to evaluate the relative strength of the pieces, so that's interesting to me. In my experience, a cannon is powerful in the beginning but weaker towards the end (because there are less pieces to jump over.)

[jakrueg2pbg]

cool, I'd like to try this, I think you would like the 2-player boardgame "Relapse"

[ElephantChess]

Are there any xiangqi clubs out there? I would like to hear from you. Please contact me by email.

[lilmonkeymagic666]

umm ur values u say...are very different to ones i have learnt...the ones i learrnt were umm

Rook 10 | Cannon 7 | Knight 3

(this is viet btw xD)

The saying i learnt in vietnamese was

xe 10 pháo 7 ngưa 3 ...you can ask a vietnamese and they will tell you that probs :S

[lilmonkeymagic666]

Ngựa***

[ElephantChess]

Hey-

Thanks for your input. I got the values from Lau's book, which is considered one of the important, and few, xiangqi books in English. I know that the Korean version is different from the Chinese version of xiangqi. How about the Vietnamese version? Is it the same as the Chinese version? What do you think - would you trade two knights for a cannon? I feel that a knight is about equal to a cannon, but the values change over the course of the game. Anyway, thanks for your input!

[lilmonkeymagic666]

THe vietnamese version is the same and chinese. After all we were dominated by them for thousands of years - Hopefully. But trading 2 knights for 1 canon is not worth it to my idea. It just Depends on what type of pairs you use to cast checkmate i guess. ie Chariot + Chariot | Chariot + Canon etc etc

But once lost a canon the opponent will be greatly weaker to be able to cast check

[danpt2000]

Edit: Han Dynasty around 200 BC

[ElephantChess]

Also, if memory serves, I think cannons and rooks can move diagonally within the fortress, is that right?

[danpt2000]

huh... Not sure which game you're refering to. but those moves are not in Chinese Xiang Qi.

[ElephantChess]

I'm talking about the Korean version of xiangqi. I included the rules in the instruction manual, but I've never played the game and it's been a while since I looked at the manual.

[danpt2000]

A traditional XiangQi set would have the words "Chu He, Han Jie" written along the River, Translated as Chu River, Han Boundary, in reference to the Chu Han War that finally resulted in Liu Bang establishing the Han Dynasty around 200 AD. Pawns never move backwards, cannot move diagonal.

[danpt2000]

There are some similarities between XiangQi and Int'l Chess. Both have Rooks (called Chariot in XiangQi) and Knights (horsemen in XiangQi). 5 Pawns each side in Xiang Qi instead of 8. No queen in XiangQi. Elephants move and attack like Bishops, but they cannot cross the River, thus are only for defence. The King & 2 Guards are confined to the "Palace". Kings move/attack orthogonally, Guards move/attack diagonally. The Cannon piece is unique to XiangQi. It moves like a rook, but "Jumps" to atk.

[davidnalba]

In the tournaments which kind of pieces are used?.

[CUB3FR34K]

Thanks , only good tutorial on Youtube... I bought a xianqi set at a local store.

[ElephantChess]

Thank you.

[64miguel]

@ElephantChess can u please tell me where u got your board? a website perhaps? id like to get one with the univeral symbols on the pieces but without the word "river" in english just in chinese:)

[ElephantChess]

You can buy the set from my website or some other retailers that I supply. Set #202 has a plastic board and wooden pieces. If you want a wooden board without English you can buy one online at any other business that sells traditional Chinese chess sets.

[xiaocurrypuff]

i didnt know western peolpe plays chinese chess

[danpt2000]

Xiang Qi is Chinese, Viets play this game too. Shoqi I think, is the Japanese version of this, very similar, maybe with different rules, I'm not sure. Koreans also have a version of Xiang Qi.

[KOGR11]

shogi is quite different but its shares the smae basic idea and origin..

[naldchow]

Korean janggi is almost identical to chinese chess, except that they don't have river, the elephant moves by 2x3 rectangle, Cannons don't move like rook, they jump even without capturing, pawns can move sideway without crossing the river. However SHOGI is totally different. Check out HIDECHI's video on that.

[comicaluv]

There are 2 board games that I don't really comprehend nor played b4: 'GO' & 'Shogi'. Hope I can play after watching ur videos! Cheers! ^ ^ Oh is there any recommended online sites that can play these games? Thanks.

[KOGR11]

you can try downloading a free verison of shogi around, search in the google using "shogivar". xiangqi also has a freeware system, search for qianghong xiangqi.

[Takumi0justifaiz]

well i play Xiang qi everyday at school during recess cuz ther eis a board game corner..

well i'm a average player and i always lose to my family members except my grandmother

[ElephantChess]

Thank Heavens for grandmothers!

;-)

[oakenguitar3]

i play shogi, western chess, and xiangqi and i like all 3 games for different reasons. i've been playing chess longer so i'm better at it. i like shogi becuase it seems like you can use paratroops. i like chess because it has more long range units and i like xiangqi, the board effects the game play such as the palace and the rivier. i want to learn how to play go. i think xiangqi is the most played game in the world but chess is more known throughout the world and shogi is more popular in japan

[Slingtownpics]

Thank you!!

Your video was so helpful!! I have bought the game for my son (he's learning chess now, too). I look forward to more videos about strategy techniques! Do you have a website?

Excellent stuff!!!

[Pepper500]

Hey man im personally a go player I started playing it just about a month ago and the board I got for go actually has a Chinese chess board on the back so I went threw to look at some videos and found your great videos on it. The game seems to complected for me personally for now at least but I can see my self playing it latter on in my life. And also your shoji video was also very good as well. Any ways great videos very informative and easy to understand make some more when you can.

Blaze

[ElephantChess]

Hi Blaze,

Your comments mean a lot to me. It makes me very happy to know more people are getting into these games. I am sure that you will enjoy playing xiangqi and shogi in the future.

Best wishes for the New Year of the Ox.

Mike

[TheJokerRiq]

I know many people who are very good at chinese chess who switch to chess.

[ElephantChess]

Hi TheJokerRiq,

Do you play both games? I would be interested in reading your impressions as to how the two games compare to each other. I hope more chess players will give xiangqi and shogi a try.

Thank you for your comment.

Mike

[TheJokerRiq]

Xiangqi is defiitely not the most famous board game. Chess is definitely much more famous.

[ElephantChess]

Hi JokerRiq,

You may be right. I think chess may be better known throughout the world. I just think that xiangqi is actually played more than any game. I've read that xiangqi is the most popular game, and I think the article refers to actual play. However, with the growing popularity of computer games, this may be changing.

[castq3]

but chinese chess is played in china that has over 3,000,000,000 citizens. not all may play but that's where it came form so it probably has a lot more players for the same player:population ratio. so it's probably close.

[ElephantChess]

I have received requests for strategy instruction. Unfortunately, I am not a great player, but I am in the process of making a larger magnetic xiangqi board and I hope to put some more videos up soon.  If you have some strategies you could share, please contact me with algebraic notation and comment, and I will try to post your game or moves.

Thank you!

[nproject]

do you know of a good over-the-internet XiangQi program?

[PoliomanGamer]

search for something in flash

[ElephantChess]

Check out the Xie Xie website for a free download.

[htxiang]

well done！~

[furrer08]

It isnt the worlds most popular board game I thought. Most players can play backgammon (one way to count popular), and chess is the game played the most on competive level.

[ElephantChess]

Interesting comment. As you point out, there are many ways to consider popularity. Of the dozens of articles about world board games I've read, most mention xiangqi as the most played. An estimated 500 million people play actively, and personally, I've never met any Chinese adult or youth who didn't know how to play the game. I don't know how to rate competitiveness, but I believe the Asian Xiangqi Federation is the organization which sponsors the most universally recognized competition.

[ElephantChess]

I invite viewers to submit statistics or sites that have more information about popularity of board games, their competitions, and other such information. Thank you for the though-provoking comment!

[doromamire]

I have a chinese chess set but none of friends know how to play chinese chess.

[ElephantChess]

Check out the internationalized version of xiangqi on my website. It is much easier to learn using symbols.

[doromamire]

Thank you for your reply.

My xiangqi set is in traditional chinese version.

[marcel4a4]

eh cause its chinese chess...thats why...but eh tis 3 videos can still help people learn how to play cc....so good job overall...u should make more...

[ElephantChess]

I will try to put up a few more videos this summer. Thanks for the positive feedback.

Mike

[marcel4a4]

eh why do u put the pieces in the international side instead of the chinese words....thats weird....

[ElephantChess]

Why do you think it's weird?

[nguyen0169010]

most popular board game in the world? no kidding?

[Santazclausz]

DUDE!! 1.48 i saw u holding a piece of paper...

are u new to chinese chess?

[ElephantChess]

Hi Santaclausz,

Thank you for your comment. Actually, I was holding the manual I wrote ~10 years ago. I wanted to get the relative values of the pieces correct.

Thank you for your comment.

Mike