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Games

Xiangqi

Xiangqi, Chinese chess, on an inked wooden board with the river and the two palaces, played with turned boxwood pieces whose names are cut into them in red and in black: the general and his advisors keep to the palace, the elephants to their side of the river, the horse is stopped at its leg, the cannon takes by jumping a screen, and the generals may not face each other; stalemate and perpetual check lose. Play the computer at five levels, from a beginner who leaves pieces hanging to a searcher that looks many moves deep, play a friend, or watch a demo game.

By Mykhailo Makarov

Xiangqi — Actual application image
Actual application image

What happens

The rules of xiangqi in full. The general steps one point along a line and the advisors one point diagonally, both inside the palace; the elephant goes two points diagonally, keeps to its side of the river and is stopped by a piece on the point between; the horse goes one point straight and one diagonally outward and is stopped by a piece next to it the straight way; the chariot runs any distance along a line; the cannon moves like the chariot but takes only by jumping exactly one piece; the soldier steps forward and, once across the river, sideways too. The generals may not face each other on an open file, and no move may leave one's own general attacked. Mate wins and so does stalemate. A side that checks with every move while a position comes round a third time loses; any other third repetition is a draw, as are sixty moves each without a capture and a board where nobody can cross the river. Moves are in WXF notation: the piece, its file from the mover's right, + forward, - back or = across, then the file reached or the ranks moved. The computer searches with alpha-beta, a transposition table and a quiescence search; the weaker levels choose among moves close to the best.

Try this

Click a piece, then the point to move it to. The right mouse button turns the table, the wheel zooms.

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Snooker — Actual application image

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Durak — Actual application image

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