Xiangqi

Cờ tướng (Tiếng Trung: 象棋), hay còn gọi là cờ Trung Hoa (Tiếng Trung: 中國象棋), là một trò playing trí tuệ dành cho hai người. Đây là loại cờ phổ biến nhất tại các nước như Trung Hoa, Việt Nam, Đài Loan và Singapore và nằm trong cùng một thể loại cờ với cờ vua, shogi, janggi.

The game represents a battle between two armies, with the object of capturing the enemy's general (king). Distinctive features of xiangqi include the cannon (pao), which must jump to capture; a rule prohibiting the generals from facing each other directly; areas on the board called the river and palace, which restrict the movement of some pieces (but enhance that of others); and placement of the pieces on the intersections of the board lines, rather than within the squares.

Board

Xiangqi is played on a board nine lines wide and ten lines long. As in the game Go (Wéiqí 圍棋/围棋), the pieces are placed on the intersections, which are known as points. The vertical lines are known as files (Chinese: 路; pinyin: lù; "road"), and the horizontal lines are known as ranks (traditional Chinese: 線; simplified Chinese: 线; pinyin: xiàn; "line").

Centred at the first to third and eighth to tenth ranks of the board are two zones, each three points by three points, demarcated by two diagonal lines connecting opposite corners and intersecting at the centre point. Each of these areas is known as 宮/宫 gōng, a castle.

Dividing the two opposing sides, between the fifth and sixth ranks, is 河 hé, the "river". The river is often marked with the phrases 楚河 chǔ hé, meaning "River of the Chu ", and 漢界 (in Traditional Chinese), hàn jiè, meaning "Border of the Han", a reference to the Chu–Han War. Although the river provides a visual division between the two sides, only two pieces are affected by its presence: soldiers have an enhanced move after crossing the river, and elephants cannot cross it. The starting points of the soldiers and cannons are usually, but not always, marked with small crosses.

Rules

The pieces start in the position shown in the diagram above. Which player moves first has varied throughout history and from one part of China to another. Different xiangqi books advise either that the black or red side moves first.[citation needed] Some books refer to the two sides as north and south; which direction corresponds to which colour also varies from source to source. Generally, Red moves first in most modern tournaments.

Each player in turn moves one piece from the point it occupies, to another point. Pieces are generally not permitted to move through a point occupied by another piece. A piece can be moved onto a point occupied by an enemy piece, in which case the enemy piece is captured and removed from the board. A player cannot capture one of his own pieces. Pieces are never promoted (converted into other pieces), although the soldier is able to move sideways after it crosses the river. Almost all pieces capture using their normal moves, while the cannon has a special capture move described below.

Quân Tướng đi từng ô một, đi ngang hoặc dọc và luôn luôn ở trong phạm vi cung, không được ra ngoài. Tính theo khả năng chiến competing thì Tướng là quân yếu nhất do chỉ đi nước một và bị giới hạn trong cung. Tuy nhiên trong nhiều tình huống, đặc biệt khi cờ tàn đòn "lộ mặt tướng" lại tỏ ra rất mạnh.

In xiangqi, a player—often with a material or positional disadvantage—may attempt to check or chase pieces in a way such that the moves fall in a cycle, forcing the opponent to draw the game. The following special rules are used to make it harder to draw the game by endless checking or chasing, regardless of whether the positions of the pieces are repeated or not:

Sĩ

A player who perpetually chases any one unprotected piece with one or more pieces, excluding generals and soldiers, will be ruled to have lost unless he or she stops such chasing.

Sĩ có chức năng trong việc bảo vệ Tướng, mất Sĩ được cho là nguy hiểm khi đối phương còn đủ 2 Xe hoặc dùng Xe Mã Tốt tấn công. Bỏ Each player controls an army of 16 pieces; the armies are usually coloured red and black. Pieces are flat circular disks labeled or engraved with a Chinese character identifying the piece type, and in a colour indicating which player has ownership. The black pieces are marked with somewhat different characters from the corresponding red pieces. ăn Sĩ rồi dùng 2 Xe hoặc dùng Xe Mã Tốt tấn công tấn công là đòn chiến thuật thường thấy. Khi cờ tàn còn Each player controls an army of 16 pieces; the armies are usually coloured red and black. Pieces are flat circular disks labeled or engraved with a Chinese character identifying the piece type, and in a colour indicating which player has ownership. The black pieces are marked with somewhat different characters from the corresponding red pieces. thì phải chú ý giữ Sĩ để làm ngòi cho Each player controls an army of 16 pieces; the armies are usually coloured red and black. Pieces are flat circular disks labeled or engraved with a Chinese character identifying the piece type, and in a colour indicating which player has ownership. The black pieces are marked with somewhat different characters from the corresponding red pieces. tấn công.

When neither side violates the rules and both persist in not making an alternate move, the game can be ruled as a draw.

When both sides violate the same rule at the same time and both persist in not making an alternate move, the game can be ruled as a draw.

Different sets of rules set different limits on what is considered perpetual. For example, club xiangqi rules allow a player to check or chase six consecutive times using one piece, twelve times using two pieces, and eighteen times using three pieces before considering the action perpetual.

Xe

The above rules to prevent perpetual checking and chasing, while popular, are not the only ones; there are numerous end game situations.

Pieces

Each player controls an army of 16 pieces; the armies are usually coloured red and black. Pieces are flat circular disks labeled or engraved with a Chinese character identifying the piece type, and in a colour indicating which player has ownership. The black pieces are marked with somewhat different characters from the corresponding red pieces.

In mainland China, most sets still use traditional Chinese characters (as opposed to simplified Chinese characters). Modern pieces are usually plastic, though some sets are wooden, and more expensive sets may use jade. In more ancient times, many sets were simple unpainted woodcarvings; thus, to distinguish between pieces of the two sides, most corresponding pieces used characters that were similar but varied slightly. This practice may have originated in situations where there was only one material available to make the pieces from and no colouring material available to distinguish the opposing armies. The oldest xiangqi piece found to date is a 俥 (chariot) piece. It is kept in the Henan Provincial Museum.

Cờ tướng cổ đại không có quân Each player controls an army of 16 pieces; the armies are usually coloured red and black. Pieces are flat circular disks labeled or engraved with a Chinese character identifying the piece type, and in a colour indicating which player has ownership. The black pieces are marked with somewhat different characters from the corresponding red pieces.. Các nhà nghiên cứu đều nhất trí là quân Each player controls an army of 16 pieces; the armies are usually coloured red and black. Pieces are flat circular disks labeled or engraved with a Chinese character identifying the piece type, and in a colour indicating which player has ownership. The black pieces are marked with somewhat different characters from the corresponding red pieces. được bổ sung từ thời nhà Đường. Đây là quân cờ ra đời muộn nhất trên bàn cờ tướng vì tới thời đó, pháo được sử dụng trong chiến tranh với hình thức là máy bắn đá. Bấy giờ, từ Each player controls an army of 16 pieces; the armies are usually coloured red and black. Pieces are flat circular disks labeled or engraved with a Chinese character identifying the piece type, and in a colour indicating which player has ownership. The black pieces are marked with somewhat different characters from the corresponding red pieces. (砲) trong chữ Hán được viết với bộ "thạch", nghĩa là đá. Cho đến đời nhà Tống, khi loại pháo mới mang thuốc nổ được phát minh thì từ Each player controls an army of 16 pieces; the armies are usually coloured red and black. Pieces are flat circular disks labeled or engraved with a Chinese character identifying the piece type, and in a colour indicating which player has ownership. The black pieces are marked with somewhat different characters from the corresponding red pieces. (炮) được viết với bộ "hỏa".

Generals (or kings) are labelled 將 (trad.) / 将 (simp.) jiàng ("general") on the black side and 帥 (trad.) / 帅 (simp.) shuài ("marshal") on the red side.

The general starts the game at the midpoint of the back edge, within the palace. The general may move and capture one point orthogonally and may not leave the palace, with the following exception.

Mã

The Indian name king for this piece was changed to general because of Chinese naming taboos; China's rulers objected to their royal titles being given to game pieces.

Advisor

Advisors (also known as guards or ministers, and less commonly as assistants, mandarins, or warriors) are labelled 士 shì ("scholar", "gentleman", "officer", "guardian") for Black and 仕 shì ("scholar", "official", "guardian") for Red. Rarely, sets use the character 士 for both colours.

The advisors start on either side of the general. They move and capture one point diagonally and may not leave the palace, which confines them to five points on the board. The advisor is probably derived from the mantri in chaturanga, like the queen in Western chess.

There is some controversy about whether "士" really is intended to mean "scholar", "gentleman" which would be "士人", or "guard", "guardian" which would be "衛士" (simplified Chinese: 卫士). To some, the latter seems more plausible because their functionality seems to be to guard/protect the general. The common Western translation "advisor" does not reflect this layer of meaning.

Trong khai cuộc, việc thí Tốt là chuyện tương đối phổ biến. Ngoại trừ việc phải bảo vệ Tốt đầu, các quân Tốt khác thường xuyên bị xe pháo mã ăn mất. Việc mất mát một vài Tốt ngay từ đầu cũng được xem như việc thí quân.

Đến cờ tàn, giá trị của Tốt tăng nhanh và số lượng Tốt khi đó có thể đem lại thắng lợi hoặc chỉ hòa cờ. Khi đó việc đưa được Tốt qua sông và tới gần cung Tướng của đối phương trở nên rất quan trọng. Tốt khi đến tuyến áp đáy, ép sát cung Tướng thì Tốt mạnh như Xe.