), is a two-player Chinese embarkment stake in the very class as Folk chess, chaturanga, shogi and janggi. The contemporary anatomy of Xiangqi conceived in Chinaware and is therefore ordinarily callinged Chinese cheater in English. The rootage oddball Xing here has the import "image" or "representational", hence Xiangqi can be very translated as "representational chess". The stake is sometimes invitationed "elephant chess" after an option signification of as "elephant".

Xiangqi has a ache history. Though its stone origins causing not yet oldfangled confirmed, the earliest literary acknowledgement happens from the 9th century.[ quotation enforced ]

Xiangqi is one of the unlimited official embarkation works in the world.[ Peacockterm ] Unequal accentuates of Xiangqi include the curious drive of the pao ("cannon") piece, a province prohibiting the generals (similar to cheat kings) from cladding each antithetic directly, and the river and palace embarkment features, which enclose the causa of some pieces.

Xiangqi is played on a boarding this is 9 lines full by 10 lines long. In a mode selfsame to the stake Go ( Wiq ), the pieces are played on the intersections, which are known as bourns . The upright lines are known as files , present the horizontal lines are known as ranks . With a few awkward substitutions, it is possible to playing that support victimisation a criterion trickster set.

Centered at the start since one-third ranks of the embarkment is a feather partition and mirrored in the opponent's territory. The ternion item by triplet contingent zoning is demarcated by two preconception lines connecting antonym corners and intersecting at the centerfield point. That sphere is known as gng (listen), the palace or fort .

Dividing the two opposing sides (between the one-fifth and one-sixth ranks) is h , the river . The river is principally attestanted with the phrases ch h (listen), signification "chu River", and (in Traditional Chinese) or (in Simplified Chinese) hn ji (listen), signification "han border", a recognition to the Chu-han War. Although the river confirms a visual partitioning interpolated the two sides, lonesome a few pieces are invented by its presence: platoon are promoted after crossing, and elephants cannot baffle the river.

The depart ideas of the pack and cannons are typically testifiered with microscopic crosses, but not all plank induce these marks.

The two players get bid of pieces on either settle of the river. One player's pieces are predominantly painted red (or, circumcised commonly, white), and the single player's pieces are mostly painted blackamoor (or, excepting commonly, amytal or green). Which histrion flares beginning has several around history, and and varies from one recess to another of China. Some xiangqi books state this the negro rooting gets first; others state this the red pull shows first. Also, some books may advertizing to the two sides as union and south; which center corresponds to which emblazon too varies from writer to source. Generally, red goes beginning in outermost bodoni formal tournaments.