Professionally scripted Xiangqi Set (Chinese Chess)

Xiangqi is Chinese Chess (not to be confused with Chinese Checkers, which is a different game entirely). It is one of the most popular board games in the world, and is played throughout China and other Asian countries. It is played to a lesser extent in Europe and America, particularly amongst the Chinese community.

Xiangqi and Western Chess share many features, and almost certainly have a common ancestry. There are a variety of different types of piece, each of which can move in a particularly way, and pieces may also "take" opposing pieces, thus removing them from the board. However, there are a number of important differences, as explained below.

Features

- Each piece is a single prim.
- Low prim count of only 37 prims for the entire set, including the table and chairs.
- Players can choose whether to sit at the table or not.
- Control Panel allows game to be restarted and other functions.

Xiangqi Rules

The following is a brief outline of the rules of Xiangqi. If you want more information, a much fuller description of the game is available on Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiangqi

The board has 10 rows and 9 columns. Unlike Western Chess, pieces are placed on the intersections, not within the squares. There are two special regions of the board. First, there is a gap between the 5th and 6th rows, called the River. Second, there is a 3x3 area in the centre near each player, called the Palace. This is marked by diagonal lines. Note that the lines do not mean anything about whether a pieces can move along them or not -- they just serve to mark the special areas.

Each player has 16 pieces. These are coloured red and black and have their name indicated by a Chinese character. Note that the names of the equivalent red and black pieces are different, but this does not change the way they can move. The pieces are as follows:

Marshal/General. Roughly equivalent to the King in Western Chess, it can move or capture one square vertically or horizontally but must stay within the Palace (with one exception explained later). As in Chess, if a General can be captured on the next move, it is in "check". If it cannot escape, it is in "checkmate" and the player will lose the game. However, unlike Chess, the other player may show mercy and choose not to capture an opposing General. Also, it is legal (but stupid!) to move your General into check. Finally, the exception to the rule that the General must stay within the Palace is known as the Flying General rule. If there are no pieces between a General and its opposite number on the other side of the board, it may "fly" across and capture it (thus winning the game).

Advisor/Guard. Moves or captures one square diagonally only, and must stay within the Palace. It is thus confined to 5 squares.

Minister/War Elephant. Moves or captures exactly two squares diagonally and cannot jump over intervening pieces. It also cannot cross the river.

Horse/Cavalry. Moves or captures like a Chess Knight, except that it cannot jump. If the square next to its starting square is occupied, it cannot move that way.

Chariot/Rook. Moves or captures exactly like a Chess Rook, and thus can go any number of squares vertically or horizontally.

Cannon/Catapult. Unlike any piece in Western Chess, it moves like a Rook, horzontally or vertically. However, it captures by jumping over exactly one piece (friendly or enemy). The piece jumped over is called the Cannon Platform, and this must either be next to the Cannon's starting square or the target square (i.e. the piece being captured).

Private/Soldier. Roughly equivalent to a Pawn in Western Chess, it moves AND captures by going one square forward. Also, after it has crossed the River, it can move or capture one square to the right or left. There is no concept of promotion once it reaches the opposite side, so when this happens it can only move sideways.