What is Chinese Chess?

Hello Everyone!

The recent rise of Chinese chess players has often been credited to the traditional Chinese Chess that is played in their country. Though, Chinese Chess has not gained as much international popularity as regular Chess - as we know it - it is quite a challenge to learn how to play it!

Chinese Chess (Xiangqi) is played on a board that has several intersecting lines with the intersection points marked for placing pieces. There are nine files and ten ranks. The space between the fifth and sixth ranks is called the river. Each side has a nine-point fortress, defined by diagonal lines. The men are shaped like draughtsmen, identified by characters on the face, and colored red for the player who usually moves first, and green or blue for the opponent, often called black. China exports beautiful sets to all over the world.

The rules are a little complicated but you can read all about Xiangqi here.

And, if you try playing it or learning it, do let me know.

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's

www.Chessblog.com

Also see my personal blog at

www.Chessqueen.com