Beginners Guide to Dynasty Chess

[eamtan]

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Topics covered under this posting

(1) Objective Of The Game
(2) The Board And Location Of Each Piece
(3) Basic Movement Of Each Chess Piece
(4) How To Read The Movement Chart



:kiss: (1) Objective Of The Game (1) :kiss:

The main objective of Dynasty Chess (象棋) is to capture the General to win the game. An opponent's chess piece is captured and remove from the board when an opponent's chess piece replace/overtake it's current position.

The two Generals are not suppose to face each other vertically without any chess piece blocking in between. If this happen, any party can exercise the 'Flying General'* by clicking on his General to capture the opponent's General and the game is won.

The game is also won if the opponent do not have any valid move available.

* refer to Q1 of Posting on 'Dynasty Chess Frequently Asked Questions' by Admin



:kiss: (2) The Board And Location Of Each Piece (2) :kiss:

The board is divided by a river into two kingdoms. ( 楚河漢界 )
There is a 3x3 castle housing the General and the two Advisors at the bottom centre of each kingdom.

The Soldier/Pawn ( 卒 or 兵 , S1, S3, S5, S7 and S9)
These are the five chess pieces with a knife, a shield and a straw hat all line-up one hex from the river that divide the map into two.

The Cannon/Catapult ( 砲 or 炮 , C2 and C8)
These are the two chess pieces with a cannon nearest to the Soldiers.

The rest of the chess pieces are all line-up at the bottom row of each kingdom (from outermost to centre)

The Rook/Car/Chariot ( 車 or 俥 , R1 and R9)
These are the two chess pieces with a 'chanko' stick in their hand at the two extreme corners.

The Horse/Cavalry ( 馬 or 傌 , H2 and H8)
These are the next two chess pieces with a horse.

The War Elephant/Minister ( 象 or 相 , E3 and E7)
These are the next two pieces with a headband and a stick in their hand position just outside the 3x3 castle.

The Advisor/Guard ( 士 or 仕 , A4 and A6)
These are the two pieces with a face mask and also a stick in hand beside the fat general in the castle.

The General/Marshal ( 將 or 帥 , G5)
This is the fat bum with a ponytail at the centre of the bottomline.

* The alphabet and number in the bracket represent the symbol for that chess piece and the vertical start location of each piece on the board respectively. The vertical column 1 to 9 starts from the right to left for each kingdom.



:kiss: (3) Basic Movement Of Each Chess Piece (3) :kiss:

All chess pieces are place on intersection of the grid on the board (hereby refer to as hex)

The General moves one hex at a time, either horizontally or vertically. The General must always stay within the castle,
which is a 3x3 square at the bottom centre of each kingdom. There are altogether 9 possible resting point for the General.

The Advisor move diagonally one hex at a time. Similarly to the General, the Advisor must always stay within the castle. There are altogether 5 possible resting point for the Advisor.

The Elephants move two hex diagonally on each move (i.e. 2 hex left/right with 2 hex up/down in a single move). They can only move within their own kingdom and can never cross the river. If there is a piece in the midpoint of the diagonal move, the Elephant is blocked and the move is not permitted. There are altogether 7 resting point for the Elephant.

The Horse move two hex horizontally follow by a one hex vertically in each move. (or 2 hex vertically follow by a one hex horizontally in each move.) It always move two straight hex BEFORE a one hex 90 degree turn. If there is a chess piece NEXT to the horse in the outward movement, the Horse is blocked and the move is not permitted.

The Rook move horizontally or vertically (one hex or more hex) provided that all hex between the start and the intended end point are not blocked.

The Cannon move horizontally or vertically similiar to that of a Rook. To capture an opponent piece, there must be one chess piece in between the start point and the intended end point (as if for it to jump over).

The Soldier move forward one hex at a time towards the river. Once it has crossed the river, it can move forward vertically and sideway horizontally. The Soldier is not permitted to move backward/retreat.



:kiss: (4) How To Read The Movement Chart (4) :kiss:

The board is divided into 9 column with numeric 1 to 9 starting for right to left for each kingdom.

Each move is make up of 4 characters
1. The first alphabet denote the chess piece.

2. The second numeric number represent the column on the board for the initial start point of that chess piece

3. The third character represent a horizontal movement symbolise by :
- a postive sign ( + ) denote a forward movement,
- a negative sign ( - ) denote a backward movement,
- a dot sign ( . ) denote a level movement.

4. The fourth numeric number represent the column on the board for the final end point of that chess piece. For some chess pieces that make vertical movement, the numeric number represent the vertical hex movement of that piece.

[xFate]

did you copy this from somewhere? lol
i read this somewhere similar too.

anyways thanks for the guide!

[Shuying00]

Hahhah, thanks cos idk how to play.

[eamtan]

Tranfer to 1st posting.

All feedback to improve the posting are welcome.

[eamtan]

Transfer to 1st posting

[eamtan]

Hi xFate,

Of course it is quite similiar; all the rules and name of each chess
piece are all the same for chinese chess with maybe the only exception of the 'flying general' tactic which is new to me.

[eamtan]

Possible reasons for losing

1) Repeated checking of the general are limited to :-
up to 3 checks from 1 chess piece
up to 5 checks from 2 diff chess pieces
up to 7 checks from 3 or more diff chess pieces

A player will lose if he exceed the above number of checks.

[xFate]

may i sugest u collate everything into first post.
informations scattered around here very messy.

[eamtan]

Thanks xFate for your feedback.
Have arrange all facts on Dynasty Chess onto 1st posting. Hope it looks less messy now

[Dziwei183]

Good job, nice guy

[brian96]

gud gud...nice information^^but it easy

[xFate]

don't you think that i should be credited for the 4th part of this guide? -.-

straight leeching from my thread with no credits.. wow..

[bbqfish1234]

real good job of explaining thnks needed it

[BabyBoizx]

Abit confuse...

[Capricorn_King]

.....Hahahahaha...eantam...why u block me???