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]

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.

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 (which would be the preferred name) has been around for hundreds of years. "The Chinese seem to possess of a great many ancient scriptures on the topic." --- HJR Murray. Before the Ming Dynasty, books about Xiangqi had already existed. Unfortunately, only a small fraction is still extant today. Ancient Xiangqi Classics is a collection of the ancient Xiangqi scriptures and manuals, that has been translated and presented in English. The main aim is to introduce Xiangqi to the Westerner, sharing and passing on the wisdom of the ancient Chinese. To this very day, the Elegant Pastime Manual is still one of the must-read classics in Xiangqi. It was edited and published in 1570AD by Xu Zhi. It was a selection of puzzles from an earlier book, Dreams of Divine Positions, which only a tiny fraction still exists. There are 550 Xiangqi puzzles in the ancient manual, all demonstrating brilliant kills, and tactical combinations. There were also some simple advice and pointers to play the game. The Elegant Pastime Manual is also very rich regarding Chinese culture. The title of each endgame composition is a short verse in Chinese. Each title name would have various implications, with references to numerous poems, stories, and historical incidents or other bits of Chinese culture. However, the titles have seldom been researched, even in Chinese publications of the book. The author has taken much effort to research the titles to help understand the implications of each position. Simple background knowledge to the titles would further assist in the appreciation of each puzzle. Immerse in this elegant pastime, enjoy the Elegant Pastime Manual!