Chinese Chess
Chinese chess, or "elephant chess," has intrigued the powerful and the quizzical for centuries. Although its rules are similar to the well-known Western game, subtle and fascinating variations must be mastered in order to understand the strategies it requires.\ H. T. Lau breaks the silence of decades of publishing on this game and introduces Chinese chess to Westerners, discussing with the aid of 170 diagrams the board, the movement and values of the pieces, and basic rules for capturing and...
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Chinese chess, or elephant chess, has intrigued game lovers for centuries. Similar in form to its well-known Western cousin, the Chinese game requires players to master subtle and fascinating variations of strategy. H. T. Lau introduces Chinese chess to Westerners, discussing issues such as the board, the movement and values of the pieces, and basic rules for capturing and defeating an opponent with the aid of 170 diagrams. Suggested end games and opening strategies are given as required reading for the beginner. Finally, this artfully simple book concludes with two appendices devoted to the elegantly constructed games found in The Secret Inside the Orange and The Plum-Blossom Meter, two classic seventeenth-century works on Chinese chess.Author Bio: H.T. Lau has been an avid player of Chinese chess since his primary school days. Now a Ph.D. in computer science, he is a research scientist in that field in Quebec, Canada.
Introduction9Part 1The Basics1.The Board and the Pieces152.Rules of Play243.Values and Uses of the Pieces284.Notation31Part 2Playing the Game5.Opening of the Game37Lead Moves37Response Moves406.The Mid-Game44Guidelines for the Mid-Game44Sacrifice and Countersacrifice457.The End-Game56One Rook56One Rook and One Pawn69One Rook and Two Pawns73One Rook and One Knight74One Rook and One Cannon75Two Rooks78One Knight79One Knight and One Pawn83One Knight and One Cannon86Two Knights87Two Knights and One Cannon90One Cannon91One Cannon and One Pawn96One Cannon and Two Pawns98Two Cannons99One Pawn102Two Pawns102Three Pawns1048.Mid-Game and End-Game Exercises106Answers to the Exercises127Appendixes1.The Secret Inside the Orange1652.The Plum-Blossom Meter197
