What are the most commonly played rules in Taiwan for this Chinese chess variant? The rules described at chessvariants.org are quite different from those I
I thought you meant that game where they use half of the board and flip pieces. The game above makes no sense to me…
OK, I (tried) to read the whole thing and it looks like you’re talking about the half-board flip chess.
I’m not sure how to write the rules, but here we go…
[ul]
[li]Mix all the pieces and places them face down on the board.[/li]
[li]Someone flips one and that is their color.[/li]
[li]The power of pieces is King, Palace Guard, Elephant, Chart, Horsy, [/li][li]Pawn (and paws and eat only kings and other pawns).[/li]
[li]Canons are different because they can kill anything, but they MUST jump (and can jump any distance).[/li]
[li]All the pieces move one space at a time[/li][/ul]
And that’s about it. That’s how all the people I’ve met here play. Maybe China has some other stuff going on.
Some kids showed me the continuous eating thing (when one eat a piece you can move again). They also showed me the attacking an unflipped piece variation. And there’s a variation when you can do both (continuously eat and attack unflipped pieces). But I have a feeling that’s for “kids”.
I’d always watch people play in the park in front of the FAP station (they play for money there so they take it pretty serious, it’s kind of fun to watch). If you go to an arcade or a gambling place they also have that game on those touch screen machines (that’s how I learned how to play).
Thanks for your input Miltownkid. I learned the continuous eating game from an elementary school kid! They invent all the best games don’t they?
I was also kind of assuming that people who had played the game before would know the basic rules of set up. I was really trying to establish the most commonly played ‘pecking order’ (so to speak) and the special rules.
How about favourite versions? I personally don’t like the Cannon rule you mention because when it can eat at any distance it’s too powerful and just gobbles everything up. I prefer ti when it just jumps to two squares away.
My favourite variation is where the pieces start off the board, then you turn and place them where you like. It adds another dimension and reduces the element of luck. This version is seldom played though, unfortunately.
But the great thing with banqi is that you can play a bunch of games and agree upon different rules for each game. I think this is why banqi is so much more popular than regular Chinese chess.
The canons jumping far is the only way I’ve seen it played. I think the luck element is what makes it fun, and doubly so when money is envolved.
I do know there’s a lot more skill to it than meets the eye from waching people play at the arcade by my house. You get a little dot on the top of the screen every time you win (in a row) and I’ve seen people with at least 50 dots up there.
I don’t know what the difficulty setting is like on those machines, but I was never able to to reach even ten dots. But the game is timed, so it may be more about being able to think fast than skill, but quick thinking is a skill too.
Some of those variations sounds cool. I’ll have to try them at Game Club one day.
On the mainland cannons cannot jump. Here they can. A lot of people in China also call it fan (flip) chess.
TaipeiApple, where do Cannons fit in the heirarchy between general and soldier, as played in China? In other words what pieces can a Cannon take and what pieces can take a Cannon? Perhaps you can tell me the entire order that is most often played over there.
Thanks!
cannons are just above zu/bing, zu/bing can kill a general if they attack first.
The order is general, shi, xiang, ju, ma, pao, zu/bing.
So does this imply that generals can take zu/bing if they get the chance?
So does this imply that generals can take zu/bing if they get the chance?[/quote]
Yes, it can get to be a bit of a dance at the end.