A Beginners Guide to Xiangqi Chinese Elephant Chess covers the play & details of China's most popular board game. The layout of the playing board, movement and capturing tactics of the Xiangqi pieces, 2 standard example games, Do's and Don't of opening play, Checkmate methods and Glossary of terms.

Chinese Chess or Xiangqi (Elephant chess in Chinese) is an ancient board game popular in China for centuries. In recent times, its popularity has exploded with millions of international players and a world tournament with millions in cash prizes. Reinventing the traditional Chinese chess game, the author incorporates innovative strategies of defense and offense on a repositioned game board. This new game system will inspire traditional players and entice novice ones. Written with over five hundred diagrams with detailed illustrations and easy-to-read language, the reader will enjoy the creative presentations. This is a must read for players of all levels and is a fresh adaptation of an ancient game. The author: Norman L. Chan New York City, New York United States of America Mailing address: Post Office Box 640696 Oakland Gardens, New York New York, USA 11364 Email address: [email protected]

Chinese Chess, or Xiangqi which is the preferred official term, is the most played board game or form of chess in the Orient. Xiangqi is the Hanyu Pinyin for Elephant Chess (xiang and qi respectively) in Chinese. Yet despite its popularity inside Asia, it pales in comparison in the West. Understanding the Elephant: A Xiangqi Primer is a series of books aimed at promoting the game to the West. Many have heard about the story of the blind men touching different parts of an elephant before giving a description of what the thought an elephant would look like. They were all correct and yet they were all wrong at the same time. Understanding the Elephant would hope to take away that blindfold, to allow the reader to see Xiangqi in its full splendour. It also represents the books or information that the author wished he had when he first started learning the game decades ago. In the second part of the series, there will be two sections. The first section is a detailed explanation of the basics of Xiangqi (which is the preferred term for Chinese Chess) can be found. Detailed explanations of the basic terms used in everyday play has been provided with figures wherever possible. The reader would learn basic terminology like the various names of important intersections on the board, the horses when attacking, the names of the different formations involving the cannons, various defensive formations et cetera. Notation is also covered in great detail in the same chapter. The second section would be devoted to the basic kills in Xiangqi. The author has classified over thirty different basic kills for the reader to master. The names of the basic kills, how they are done and examples of the basic kills in actual games by Xiangqi masters and grandmasters have also been collected. There are over a hundred examples with hundreds figures showing different positions with detailed explanations to guide the reader. The original Chinese phrases with Hanyu Pinyin has also been added wherever possible so that interested readers can do their own study. The entire book contains well over four hundred figures. After going through the explanations and examples, the reader should be able to grasp the basics of the game and lay a firm foundation for future play.

Learn the ancient and fascinating game of Chinese Chess with this expert guide. 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. A great way to learn Chinese Chess, this book is simple enough for Chess beginners but contains a wealth of information and tips that experienced players will find useful as well. In Chinese Chess, author H.T. Lau explains the game's fundamentals--the rules, the board, and the basics with dozens of insightful diagrams. With the aid of 170 diagrams, Chinese Chess walks players through the board, the movement and values of the pieces, basic rules for capturing and defeating an opponent, techniques and game-winning tactics. Once he's covered the basics, Lau introduces advanced tactics, methods for escaping difficult positions, and cunning strategies for winning. This book includes eighty mid- and end-game exercises designed to sharpen playing skills and strategy and 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.

Learn the ancient and fascinating game of Chinese Chess with this expert guide. 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. A great way to learn Chinese Chess, this book is simple enough for Chess beginners but contains a wealth of information and tips that experienced players will find useful as well. In Chinese Chess, author H.T. Lau explains the game's fundamentals—the rules, the board, and the basics with dozens of insightful diagrams. With the aid of 170 diagrams, Chinese Chess walks players through the board, the movement and values of the pieces, basic rules for capturing and defeating an opponent, techniques and game-winning tactics. Once he's covered the basics, Lau introduces advanced tactics, methods for escaping difficult positions, and cunning strategies for winning. This book includes eighty mid- and end-game exercises designed to sharpen playing skills and strategy, and 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.

Chinese Chess or Xiangqi (Elephant chess in Chinese) is an ancient board game popular in China for centuries. In recent times, its popularity has exploded with millions of international players and a world tournament with millions in cash prizes. Reinventing the traditional Chinese chess game, the author incorporates innovative strategies of defense and offense on a repositioned game board. This new game system will inspire traditional players and entice novice ones. Written with over five hundred diagrams with detailed illustrations and easy-to-read language, the reader will enjoy the creative presentations. This is a must read for players of all levels and is a fresh adaptation of an ancient game. The author: Norman L. Chan New York City, New York United States of America Mailing address: Post office box 640696 Oakland Gardens, New York New York, USA 11364 Email address: [email protected]

When you think of chess, you probably think of the strategy game played throughout Europe and the Americas. There is another kind of chess played throughout the world by probably more people than any other strategy game. That game is Chinese Chess. The "Elephant Game" as it is called by the Chinese, dates back more than 2000 years. A cousin of Western Chess, its unique style of play results in a wide-open, quick-moving and aggressive contest. Chinese Chess for Beginners explains both the rules and the strategies of the game clearly and in detail so that you can start playing right away. It covers everything from the opening through the endgame. The book includes a set of paper chessmen that you can cut out and begin to play right away.