1. Chinese Chess 象棋 xìang qí

2. History Evolved from another game: Liubo, which was invented about 3500 years ago Xiangqi emerged around the Tang dynasty (at that time called Xiangxi) In the Bei Zhou dynasty, Emperor Wu improved Xiangxi, and presented it around 568 A.D. to his officials Foundations of modern Xiangqi laid around the Song dynasty

3. Gameplay The goal is to Checkmate your opponent's general OR create a stalemate for your opponent Board is a grid of horizontal and vertical lines o Gap in the middle of the board - river o Pieces move across intersections - points o Two palaces at each side of the board Rules o Red moves first o Cannot force a piece to move back and forth between two spaces o The game is a draw when neither side can force a checkmate or a stalemate

4. Pieces Chariots/Rooks o Can move exactly the same as the Rook in Chess o Straight line (horizontally/vertically) across empty spaces o Character: 車 chē, means chariot/car Horses/Knights o Can move the same as the Knight in Chess, but cannot leap over pieces o Character: 馬 mă, means horse/mare

5. Pieces Minister/Elephant o Moves 2 spaces in the same diagonal direction o Cannot move over occupied spaces o Confined to their "own side" of the river o Character: For red, 相, means minister - For black, 象, means elephant - both pronounced xíang Advisors/Guards o Can move one space diagonally, but can't leave the palace o Character: 士 shì, means scholar, or literally, "one who knows all from one to ten"

6. Pieces General/King o Moves one space orthogonally (horizontally or vertically) o Cannot leave the palace o Character: For red, 帥 shuái, means commander - For black, 將 jiáng, means "will" or "going to" Cannon o Moves the same as the chariot when not moving to capture o When capturing, must hop over a single "intervening" piece o Character: For red, 炮 pào, means cannon - For black, 包 bāo/ 砲 pào, means package/cannon

7. Pieces Soldier/Pawn o Moves one space vertically forwards o Upon crossing the river, can also move one space sideways o Character: For red, 兵 bing - For black, 卒 zú, both mean soldier

8. Credits Content: http://www.chessvariants.com/xiangqi.html http://www.yutopian.com/chinesechess/history.html Images: http://abstractstrategygames.blogspot.com/2010/10/hex- xhiangqi.html http://chessvine.com/archives/279-Secret-of-Chess- XiangQi.html