象棋 Xiangqi (Chinese chess)

Xiangqi has a long history. It can be traced to Warring States Period, a period of battle between different states.

Xiangqi represents a battle between two armies, with the object of capturing the enemy's "general" piece.

Xiangqi is one of the most popular board games in China. Distinctive features of Xiangqi include the unique movement of the pao ("cannon") piece, a rule prohibiting the generals (similar to chess kings) from facing each other directly, and the river and palace board features, which restrict the movement of some pieces.

Each side has 16 pieces, each player in turn moves one piece from the point it occupies to another point. A piece can be moved onto a point occupied by an enemy piece, in which case the enemy piece is "captured" and removed from the board.

The game ends when one player captures the other's general or with a draw or a stalemate.

Xiangqi is making its Asian Games debut in Guangzhou Asian Games, 2010.

象棋起源于中國。遠在戰國時代，已經有了關于象棋的正式記載。1978年亞洲象棋聯合會成立，目前已經有中國、泰國、日本等16個會員。2010年廣州亞運會象棋將首次成為正式比賽項目。

象棋的棋盤由9條直線和10條橫線相交而成。棋子放在各條線的相交點上，并在線上移動。橫盤中間的一行沒有畫上直線，稱為“河界”。棋子的顏色通常分為黑色和紅色，雙方各有16支棋子。對一盤棋局來說，只要一方被“將死”或者“欠行”，又或者自動認輸，另一方即可得勝。