Chess Games
Chess games var depending upon where they are played. There is the standard chess, which incorporates twenty four squares in a checkerboard pattern along with the standard sixteen pieces. One King and one Queen, two Rooks, Knights, and Bishops, and eight Pawns.
Xiangqi is the Chinese version of chess. This is also called elephant chess too. This version deals with lines. There are nine of them wide and ten of them long. Instead of using the square as western chess does, this version plays at the intersections of these lines. These intersections are called points, while the vertical lines are referred to as files and the horizontal lines are called ranks. There is something called a gong that is centered on each player's side. This gong is a three point by three point area which would connect its opposing corner if it was extended.
The colors of the pieces that are usually used in this game are red and black. Occasionally, white is substituted for the red. These pieces are discs instead of the standard pieces. These discs are marked by their character. The characters are known as the generals, The advisors, the elephants or ministers, the horses, the chariots, the cannons, and the soldiers or pawns. These pieces or characters move differently than the standard game. There are less pawns and the cannon character is allowed to jump when taking a piece. The general is only allowed to stay in the gong, which is considered to be the palace.
There are also many other nuances that are used with this version of the game and cannot be discussed in such a short article.
These Xiangqi chess sets are sometimes made from jade and can be quite expensive however, most are made from plastic or hand carved wood. The history of this specific version dates back to the forth century BC and is said to closely resemble actual war strategies.
There are also Japanese versions called Shogi, a Thai version known as Makruk, the Korean version known as Janggi, a Burmese version referred to as Sittuyin, and an Indian version called Chaturanga. All of these have different ways of playing as well as sometimes a different board.
These versions are basically completely different than the standard western versions. Their movements are different and some may feature special abilities such as the cannon in Xiangqi and its jumping ability. These are ancient games that have been developed over time and basically confined to their specific country of origin.
Therefore, when considering chess games, never think that there is only one way of playing the game. Although, when you are in the western hemisphere, they may, and usually are relatively the same. However, on the eastern side, there are many versions depending upon where you are.