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                    A SIMPLIFIED HALF-BOARD GAME
                     USING A CHINESE CHESS SET
                         BY ROLEIGH MARTIN
                           CIS 71510,1042
                         5511 Malibu Drive
                           Edina MN 55436
                              1-18-94
      
      I received an interesting Compuserve (CIS) email from a
      downloader of an earlier upload of CCHESS.ZIP from Dave
      Franz (CIS ID 71172,2115).  I am reproducing relevant
      parts from his email.  It shows how to play another
      game with Chinese Chess that might be easier to teach
      newcomers.  I've known Chinese mothers and young kids
      to play this game quite enjoyably.  According to Dave
      Franz, a lot of Chinese men play this game too.  I
      haven't played it myself though.  It is reproduced here
      to achieve written (in English) posterity.
      
      
      To: Roleigh H. Martin > [71510,1042]
      #: 67 S0/CompuServe Mail  [MAIL]
          05-Jan-94 09:52 CST
      Sb: XiangXi half-board chess
      Fm: Dave Franz [71172,2115]
      
      
      I was wondering if you knew of the half-board version
      of this game.  I learned it in Taiwan from Taxi
      drivers.  (It is played on half the board, with all the
      pieces turned down, in the center of the squares.  A
      move consists of flipping a piece over or moving a
      piece... well hopefully you know all of this.)
      

• * *

      To: Roleigh Martin > [71510,1042]
      #: 68 S0/CompuServe Mail  [MAIL]
          06-Jan-94 15:38 CST
      Sb: XiangXi half-board chess
      Fm: Dave Franz [71172,2115]
      
      First to answer your questions, I downloaded your
      upload from IBMNEW forum.  I was taught how to play the
      full board version once, but that was long ago, and I
      never practiced enough to retain the knowledge.  I
      haven't played the half board game in two years now, so
      I'm also getting rusty at that.  In this game, there
      are two players, and the game is very fast and
      exciting.  Kind of a mix-up of Checkers, Chess, Stratego
      and Poker.
      
      
                              PRE-GAME
      
      All pieces are turned upside down, mixed up, and placed
      in the center of the squares of a half board (on a 4x8
      grid).
      
      
                              STARTING
      
      CAI CHUAN (paper-rock-scissors) determines who will
      turn over the first piece to see who makes the first
      move (turns the first piece.)  The color of the first
      piece is played by the turner of that piece.
      
      
                                PLAY
      
      A move is either (1) turning over a piece, (2) moving a
      piece one square horizontally or vertically (not
      diagonally) to another blank square, or (3) capturing
      another piece.  Obviously, at first, most of the moves
      are turning over pieces.  The object of the game is to
      eliminate all the tiles of the other player.
      
      
                         HIERARCHY OF PIECES
      
      The general can take a knight, can take a elephant, can
      take a chariot, can take a horse can take a pawn.
      Pawns can take a general, but generals can't take
      pawns.  Any piece just mentioned can capture its own
      kind or below (except general to pawn).  Cannons can
      take anything, but only by jumping over another piece,
      regardless of how far away the piece is, so long as
      there is only one piece.  (The piece captured is the
      one it lands on, not the one it jumps.)  When not
      capturing, cannons can move to adjacent free squares
      just like any other piece.  Further, cannons can be
      taken by anything but a pawn.  Capturing takes place
      for any other piece by moving to an adjacent square.
      
      
                              COMMENTS
      
      Stalemates are possible.  The end of the game can get
      very strategy oriented.
      
      Games are not based entirely on strategy, sometimes a
      game can be won by the luck of the draw (the luck of
      the turn).
      
      Cannons tend to be the most interesting pieces in the
      game.
      
      The rules I just laid out are subject to wide
      variations.  Some of my favorite:  Cannons can jump
      consecutively, taking many pieces in one move.  Various
      pieces can move on the diagonal.  Horses can only move
      two up one over (like in regular chess).  Various
      pieces can move on the diagonal (or can move only on
      the diagonal).  Turn all pieces up at start.  etc. etc.
      etc.  Half-board Xiang Xi works like poker, when the
      dealer calls the game (ie, 7stud, draw, etc.).
      
      Well I hope this gives you a better idea of the game.
      I just wrote this on the fly, so it may not be a very
      good description.