CHESMAYNE

Korean Chess

Links: Korean chess: photo’s (2) Korean chess: photo’s Korean chess Korean chess Changgi: Korean chess http://www.janggidosa.co.kr/ Roleigh Martin's page on Chinese and Korean Chess Photo's of Korean Chess set Photo's of Korean Chess set: pieces and board

South Korean Won

below: Chinese chess - pieces numbered

R02	KN2	MR2	AD2	GE	AD1	MR1	KN1	R01

	CN2						CN1
FS5		FS4		FS3		FS2		FS1


FS1		FS2		FS3		FS4		FS5
	CN1						CN2

R01	KN1	MR1	AD1	GE	AD2	MR2	KN2	R02

below: Korean ‘initial starting position’ - ISP - same 9 x 10 board

KZ2	KH2	KP2	KA2		KA1	KP1	KH1	KZ1
				GE
	KX2						KX1
KS5		KS4		KS3		KS2		KS1


KS1		KS2		KS3		KS4		KS5
	KX1						KX2
				GE
KZ1	KH1	KP1	KA1		KA2	KP2	KH2	KZ2

GE General, KS Soldier, KZ Rook, KH Horse, KP Elephant, KA Adviser, KX Cannon.

Also known as ‘Changgi’. It probably has its origins in Chinese chess. Board 9 x 10 cells. There are 32 MPs/mps in a set (11 MPs and 5 mps per player).

There are a total of 16 MPs/mps per side in Korean chess.

Korean Folk Villager – Calligrapher

Starting position

Monogram, name and number

1 GE = General GE

2 KA = Korean Adviser KA1 and KA2

2 KZ = Korean Rook KZ1 and KZ2

2 KH = Korean Knight/Horse KH1 and KH2

2 KP = Korean Elephant KP1 and KP2

2 KX = Korean Cannon KX1 and KX2

5 KD = Korean Soldier KD1 to KD5

How to move the Korean Soldier

Monogram: Korean Pawn/Soldier (KS) KS1, KS2, KS3 etc.

First Move Option: (FMO): 1 cell forward or horizontal.

All Other Moves: (AOM): 1 cell forward or horizontal.

Capture: (*): 1 cell forward or horizontal.

Promotable: (#): No (horizontal on rank-10).

Special Move: Within opponent’s Palace can only move 1 cell diagonally (only forward).

How to place the MPs/mps on the Korean board, Initial Starting Position (ISP)

Below: Korean ‘initial starting position’ - ISP

KZ2	KH2	KP2	KA2		KA1	KP1	KH1	KZ1
				GE
	KX2						KX1
KS5		KS4		KS3		KS2		KS1


KS1		KS2		KS3		KS4		KS5
	KX1						KX2
				GE
KZ1	KH1	KP1	KA1		KA2	KP2	KH2	KZ2

GE General, KS Soldier, KZ Rook, KH Horse, KP Elephant, KA Adviser, KX Cannon.

How to move the Korean MPs/mps

01 The KG (General) moves 1 cell orthogonally within the Palace. The KG must remain within the palace. A-KG is placed on $E02. B-KG is placed on $E09.

02 The KA (Adviser) also moves 1 cell orthogonally within the Palace.

03 The KR (Rook) moves like a normal RO (Rook) but within either Palace the KR may also move 2 cells.

04 KH (Knight/Horse) moves as in Chinese chess (2 x 1).

05 KC (Cannon) moves like the Chinese CN but must jump over another MP/mp (called a ‘screen’) to move and to capture. Within the Palace the KC can jump from one corner to the other provided the central cell is occupied by a MP/mp. A KC (Cannon) is not permitted to jump over another KC or to capture a KC. This means that it is possible to evade a KC check by capturing your opponent’s screen with a KC. KCs (Cannons) cannot move in the ISP.

06 The KE (Elephant) moves 2 x 3 (L-shaped movement) but the intervening cells must be unoccupied.

07 The KS (Soldier) moves and captures 1 cell forward or horizontal. Inside the Palace a KS may move 1 cell diagonally forward. A KS may only move horizontally on rank-10.

Rules of Korean Chess

08 A player is permitted to pass on h/er turn to move. Because of this stalemate and zugzwang do not occur in Korean chess.

09 The side who is weaker materially is allowed to face his KG against the opposing KG directly or as a result of a capture, thus forcing the opponent to avoid the confrontation or accept a draw.

10 Perpetual check (+PC) and repeated moves are allowed. Some players follow the Chinese rules when these situations occur.

11 The KS (Soldiers) can offer mutual protection and block files.

12 The KEs are easily blocked.

13 The KRs (Rooks) = 8 points.

14 The KCs (Cannons) = 4 points.

15 The KHs (Knights/Horses) = 3 points.

16 The KAs (Advisers) and KEs (Elephants) are valued at 2 points.

17 The KSs (Soldiers) = 1 point.

18 The game normally starts with a KH (Knight/Horse) or KS (Soldier) move. The main purpose is to allow KC1 and KC2 to become active early.

19 Hangul: the Korean national phonetic alphabet. Hangul consists of 24 phonetic symbols and is considered one of the most ingenious writing systems ever devised.

Chinese and Korean Chess

Information on Two Player Chinese and Korean Chess

The Chinese name for its form of Chess that is a variation of International Chess is literally translated as Elephant Chess. (In ancient international Chess, the Elephant is often used in place of the Bishop.) It is conventionally written in English as Xiang Qi (pronounced “Shiang-Chi”) in Mandarin, or Jeuhng Keih (pronounced “Jung Kay”) in Cantonese. It is conventionally a two-player game and is played by more people than International Chess. This is because there are so many Chinese in the world and a higher percentage of the Chinese play the game avidly than do Westerners play Western Chess.

Korean Chess is historically derived from Chinese Chess and uses for all practical purposes the same board and pieces, but has different rules. Korean Chess is written in English as “Tjyang-keui” but pronounced as “Changgi.” Some modern players of the game write it as “Jangki.”

Chinese Chess is considered by some historians of chess the best game there is. Chinese Chess with its fewer pawns (only five per side), it’s river constraining the bishops, two cannons, no queen (two guards instead) and rules limiting the King and his guards to a 3 x 3 grid (the fortress or palace) on a larger board (90 locations) makes it a quicker and more unpredictable game than Western Chess. For adults who have grown bored of Western Chess for its lengthy openings and drawn out end games, Chinese Chess is the best substitute. Of all the popular Chess variations, Chinese Chess is the quickest and most exciting form of Chess.

Korean Chess, although considered by some wilder and more fun than Chinese Chess, takes a little more time due to the fewer restrictions on the Korean Chess pawns, guards, and king and additional restrictions on the Korean cannon. Together these two games are virtually guaranteed to reawake enthusiasm over board strategy games to adults who’ve become bored with Western Chess.

As with Western Chess, there are multi-player chess variations. There are four known variations of three-player Chinese Chess, three of which are displayed and briefly discussed in D. B. Pritchard’s fantastic book, The Encyclopedia of Chess Variants, 1994, Games and Puzzles Publications (see Appendix II for publishers addresses) and two of which are displayed and briefly discussed in the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about the game of Chinese chess (otherwise known as “Xiangqi” or “Elephant game” or “Co Tuong”) maintained by Stephen Leary at al269@yfn.ysu.edu for the Internet usenet news group, rec.games.chinese-chess.

Revisit this Web Page often for it will soon have much more information on multi-player Chinese and Korean Chess! Right now, it has extensive information on two-player Chinese and Korean Chess.

Concerning both forms: Chinese and Korean Chess

Internet Resources (FTP Files): (Files that can be downloaded)

I have been doing a quarterly online BBS magazine for Fidonet and Compuserve for five years, called ShareDebate International. For three straight quarterly issues, I have focused on Chinese and Korean Chess. Issue 17 provided public domain and freeware/shareware on Chinese Chess, Issue 18 provided same on Korean Chess, and Issue 19 provides software to enable users to create their own, real-life Chinese/Korean chess set board and pieces, with the option to have traditional Chinese style piece images or western style piece images (this kit requires users to have a printer and paper to create the board, Avery laser labels to create the sticky piece images, which can be placed in the center of ordinary red/white/blue plastic poker chips).

The filenames are dbate017.zip (Chinese Chess information and software), dbate018.zip (Korean Chess information and software), and dbate019.zip (board/piece maker software for either making a real-life Chinese and/or Korean Chess game). The files are: in the “/pub/software/dos/misc/” directory at ftp.ifcss.org and also in the “/pub/chess/Electronic_Magaizines/ShareDebate” directory at caissa.onenet.net. Yes the word “Magaizines” is mis-spelled, you have to type it the exact way and with the exact case (upper and lower case distinctions). The files can be tried to be gotten now but these ftp sites are very busy but here they are:

DBATE017.ZIP (at ifcss)_____ DBATE017.ZIP (at caissa)

DBATE018.ZIP (at ifcss)_____ DBATE018.ZIP (at caissa)

DBATE019.ZIP (at ifcss)_____ DBATE019.ZIP (at caissa)

In addition, the rec.games.chinese-chess FAQ (frequently asked questions) can be ftp’d from three different sites. Click one of these three pointers to get the rec.games.chinese-chess FAQ:

Compuserve Resources: (Files that can be downloaded)

Issues 17 through 19 of ShareDebate International (see above) are also in the POLITICS forum file library #2 under the names, si_017.zip, si_018.zip, and si_019.zip.

Two-Player Chinese Chess:

Bibliography

Constantino, B., 1988. Let's Play Chinese Chess. Book Marketing Ltd., North Point Industrial Bldg., 499 King s Road, 17/F., Flat A., North Point, Hong Kong. Phone number: 5-620121. $22.00 (Hong Kong $).

Gollon, John E., 1973. Chess Variations: Ancient, Regional & Modern. 28 South Main Street, Rutland, Vermont 05701: Charles E. Tuttle Co. ISBN: 0-8048-1122-9. Toll Free Order Number: 1-800-526-2778. Other phone number: 802-773-8930. Fax: 802-773-6993. (As of 1995, this book is out of print.)

Lau, H.T., 1985. Chinese Chess. 28 South Main Street, Rutland, Vermont 05701: Charles E. Tuttle Co. ISBN 0-8048-1675-1. Toll Free Order Number: 1-800-526-2778. Other phone number: 802-773-8930. Fax: 802-773-6993. $9.95.

Pritchard, D.B., 1994. The Encyclopedia of Chess Variants. PO Box 20, Godalming, Surrey, United Kingdom: Games and Puzzles Publications. ISBN: 0-9524142-0-1. 21.99 pounds (British price).

Sloan, Sam, 1989. Chinese Chess for Beginners. 76 Bonaventura Drive, San Jose, CA 95134: Ishi Press International. Toll Free Order Number: 1-800-859-2086. Other phone number: 408-944-9900. Fax: 408-944-9110. $12.95.

Internet Resources (Web Pages)

Xiangqi (Chinese-chess) Home page

This is the best page on Chinese Chess there is! Thanks, Peter Sung!

New Internet Information on Chinese Chess:

To see a Chinese Chess set, it’s normal pieces, and pictures of the most expensive Chinese Chess set you’ll ever see, and information on dedicated Chinese Chess computers, check this page that I’ve authored out!

Asian Xiangqi Federation Rules
Hans B.'s Chess Variants Page This and Val’s pages are superb chess variant Web pages!
Val Kartchner's Game Room
Ishi Press Rules on Chinese Chess
Ishi Press Home Page

Ishi Press sells Sam Sloan’s book, Chinese Chess for Beginners, as well as Chinese Chess Sets. I recall reading that Ishi Press sells Xian for Windows (it’s not mentioned on their web page however) - this is considered the best Windows-based program to buy for beginners in Chinese Chess. I bought my Xian from a mail order company (Tommy Sager at Tsoft Development, PO Box 3642, Odessa, TX 79760; Phone: 915-366-2168).

Yutopian Enterprises (email)

You can also buy Xian for Windows and Xian for DOS (great for HP Palmtops!) from Yutopian Enterprises, 1-800-Yutogo-3 or 1-510-659-0138 as well as four other brands of Chinese Chess software (Chinese Chess Master III, Uncle Wang, World Chess Series I: Chinese Chess, and Battle Chess II) from Yutopian. They also sell Chinese Chess sets, including expensive Jade sets.

XiangQi and WeiQi

Resource Commentary

Constantino’s book is the easiest book to learn the rules and basics for Chinese Chess. I learned the game from this book but it may be hard to order in America--I bought my copy in Hong Kong. Sloan’s book is a great book for beginners. Some experienced Chinese Chess players dislike the book but nevertheless in America this book is easy to order and does cover the rules and basics and contains plenty of nicely narrated Chinese Chess puzzles with plenty of illustrations. I personally recommend this book for beginners along with Constantino’s however Constantino’s does little more than present the bare fundamentals of the game but that it does superbly well. If you can buy both, read Constantino’s first--it only takes about 2-3 hours. You can then comfortably play the game especially if you have any Western or International Chess experience. I won my first Chinese Chess game after only reading Constantino’s book! Next, read Sloan’s book - it will take days to read but you’ll have a good strategy introduction to the game. Lau’s book is less fun to read and more for experienced players but better than Lau’s book would be to get Peter Sung’s CHVIEW program and to visit Sung’s web pages to learn how to use CHVIEW to view the multitude of recorded games by contemporary Chinese Chess masters that he makes available through his web pages.

Two-Player Korean Chess:

For the Internet’s best Web Page on Korean Chess, select this web page!

To go to our other Web pages:

· New Internet Information on Chinese Chess

· Korean Chess

· Return to beginning of this page.

· Return to Applied Foresight, Inc. Home Page.

· ShareDebate International & Imprimis Online

To contact Applied Foresight, Inc., write the editor (and President), Roleigh Martin, at 5511 Malibu Drive, Edina MN 55420 USA, or email him at Compuserve ID: 71510,1042 --- Internet: 71510.1042@compuserve.com

The Rules for Korean Chess

Draft by Roleigh Martin

Copyright 1994,1995

All Rights Reserved

11/12/1994

Hi! My wife is Chinese and after playing Chinese Chess and falling in love with the game, I learned about Korean Chess which is virtually identical in board and piece lay-out but different in move-rules. There is very little English literature on Korean Chess—I’ve found 2 chapters in English on the game. I have posted this document on the Internet to find out if anyone in this group can verify if I have the complete rules to Korean Chess. Please reply if I have made any mistakes or if you know that my rules are correct and complete. Please correct this document if it is wrong or incomplete.

I also wish to find out if there is any other software: public domain, freeware, shareware, or commercial ware on Korean Chess for MS-DOS computers. I have obtained and make available for others to immediately ftp the file, JANGKI.ZIP (100KB). Can you please inform me of any such software and how I may obtain it (BBS phone numbers, FTP site names/directory/filename, or ordering address)? Thanks!

Last, is there any internet mailing list groups on Korean Chess? Is there any English language books or magazines on Korean Chess? Thanks again!

Distribution Policy

This document is copyrighted. It can be distributed electronically for non-commercial use as long as nothing is altered in this document. I am working on a book on Chinese and Korean Chess and intend to build upon this document for the chapter on Korean Chess.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Young Won, Compuserve ID 75541,2100 for his FLEFO forum message who confirmed this document with his message “It has been 10 years since I have played my last Korean Chess game. I briefly read the rules you posted (not line-by-line, though), and they seem to be in line with what I remember.” In addition, he provided the Korean names and meanings of each piece which I’ve incorporated in this updated version of this document.

Thanks to J. Kim of HANAnet Operating Center (KTRC) (Internet address: jskim1@soback.hana.nm.kr) who pointed me to a public domain Korean Chess game, JANGKI.ZIP (100KB). (Jang-gi V1.0, 1991.1.26) by Hak Jong Lee of Daejon, Korea, from kids.kotel.co.kr. There is a tiny README file but no copyright or distribution restrictions documented with the ZIP file--hence by inference it is in the public domain. (My FTP program could not access this using this hostname, but J. Kim informed me correctly of it’s IP address: 128.134.2.51.) This file was found at one time (but no more) in the directory, /pub/games. (That is why it is now available via my web site.) I got this feedback via the USENET group, soc.culture.korean.

JANGKI is a great DOS-based Korean Chess game. It does support CGA through VGA and it does work on ordinary MS-DOS computers as well as a HP100/200 palmtop. After FTPing JANGKI.ZIP and UNZIPping it in any directory you want (preferably, it should be a new one), change to this directory, and run the program, JT.EXE.

This program, JT.EXE, is quite nice as it allows human to play human or against the computer.

BACKGROUND COMMENTARY AND BIBLIOGRAPHY

Korean Chess can be played with a Chinese Chess Set - same pieces and board - but different rules. Actually quite fun! Very few Chinese people know this game - if you find yourself loosing to Chinese friends in Chinese Chess, play them a game of Korean Chess - you might win!

The below resource by Culin is still in print and has an entire chapter on Korean Chess - it is the best known English-language source on Korean Chess. Other resources are included.

Culin, Steward, 1991 reprint of an 1895 original. Korean Games: With Notes on the Corresponding Games of China & Japan. 180 Varick Street, New York, NY 10014: Dover Press. ISBN 0-486-26593-5. Toll Free Order Number: 1-800-223-3130. $9.95.

Gollon, John E., 1973. Chess Variations: Ancient, Regional & Modern. 28 South Main Street, Rutland, Vermont 05701: Charles E. Tuttle Co. ISBN: 0-8048-1122-9. Toll Free Order  Number: 1-800-526-2778. Other phone number: 802-773-8930. Fax: 802-773-6993. (As of 1995, this book is out of print.)

Horne, Malcolm, January 1992, April 1993, April 1994. Chinese Chess/Korean Chess News. Newsletter published by author. These 3 issues cover the rules, sample games, and interesting  tidbits as well as a citation of a German book on Korean Chess by David Wurman. Write: Malcolm Horne, 10B Windsor Square, Exmouth, Devon EX8 1JU, England.  Telephone: 0395-270280.

Pritchard, D.B., 1994. The Encyclopedia of Chess Variants. PO Box 20, Godalming, Surrey, United Kingdom: Games and Puzzles Publications. ISBN: 0-9524142-0-1. 21.99 pounds (British price).

Wurman, David, 1991(?).  Chinesisches Schach/Koreanisches Schach.  (German; 345 pages; cost: DM48 (about $34.01) including postage and is available from China Schach Spielerkreis, Postfach 6530, D-6300 Giessen, Germany.

Your library should be able to get the Gollon book through interlibrary loan. Also, I have been suggested to try (but did not, as the library succeeded): Howard Frisch, New and Antiguarian Books, Box 128, Village Station, New York City, NY 10014. The library actually got me the hard cover book, which was published in 1968. Instead of an ISBN number, it had only a Library of Congress Catalog Card Number, No. 68-11975.

NAMING CONVENTION

Korean Chess derives, historically, from Chinese Chess. Since the pieces in Chinese Chess have been given official English names by the international Chinese Chess Association, I will use the same English names for the Korean Chess pieces.

BOARD LAYOUT

The pieces are placed on the board gridlines not inside the squares as in Western Chess. The board has 9 columns (also called files or aisles) and 10 rows. The 9 columns are labeled A-I. The 10 rows are labeled 0-9.

Left to right on the rear row, the pieces are called:

Rook, Knight, Bishop, Guard, [empty], Guard, Bishop, Knight, Rook.

A picture of these pieces can be viewed now: CPIECES.GIF - 20KB GIF file The Westernized Chinese Chess images include some depictions taken, with permission, from the game pieces from Xian for MS Windows, software copyrighted by Leong Jacobs Inc., 2729 Lury Lane Annapolis, MD 21401. The author of Xian is Nick Jacobs (njacobs@bix.com), to whom thanks is due. Nick’s game, Xian, is the most beginner-friendly Windows-based program of 2-player Chinese Chess in existence.

Note: the Knight and Bishop can, as a setup option (not a move), be transposed on either or both sides or neither side. (The game JANGKI calls this a Pozin change and the default setup shown is to have the bottom side’s righthand Bishop and Knight transposed and the top side’s lefthand Bishop and Knight transposed.)

The second row only initially holds the king, abbreviated as (k), in the center of the row.

The third row only initially holds the two cannons, abbreviated as (c), each cannon being in the 2^nd column from the edge.

The fourth row only initially holds the five pawns, abbreviated as (p), starting with a pawn on each edge column and then every OTHER column.

The initial board looks like the below (remember the knight and bishop can be transposed as a setup option). If you transpose the knight and bishop to just one side of the lineup, then the four pieces (your 2 knights and 2 bishops) can theoretically hit every spot on the board (not each piece but together the 4 pieces can “hit” every spot on the board granted enough moves are made). This setup transposition option doesn’t count as a move.

In real life, the colors of the two pieces are either Black and Red, Green and Red, or Blue and Red.

(FIG 1: Knight and Bishop are not transposed.)

     9 [r][n][b][g]-+-[g][b][n][r]

     .  |  |  |  | \|/ |  |  |  |

     8  +--+--+--+-[k]-+--+--+--+   Note: the pieces are put

     .  |  |  |  | /|\ |  |  |  |   down on the gridpoints of

     7  +-[c]-+--+--+--+--+-[c]-+   board -- not inside the

     .  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |   squares as in Western Chess.

     6 [p]-+-[p]-+-[p]-+-[p]-+-[p]

     .  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |

     5  +--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+

     .  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |

     4  +--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+

     .  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |

     3 (P)-+-(P)-+-(P)-+-(P)-+-(P)

     .  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |

     2  +-(C)-+--+--+--+--+-(C)-+

     .  |  |  |  | \|/ |  |  |  |

     1  +--+--+--+-[K]-+--+--+--+

     .  |  |  |  | /|\ |  |  |  |

     0 (R)(N)(B)(G)-+-(G)(B)(N)(R)

     .  A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I

(FIG 2: One Knight and Bishop are transposed - this is the default setup shown in the JANGKI software version of Korean Chess; one is allowed to change this setup, but this is the default setup.)

     9 [r][n][b][g]-+-[g][n][b][r]

     .  |  |  |  | \|/ |  |  |  |

     8  +--+--+--+-[k]-+--+--+--+

     .  |  |  |  | /|\ |  |  |  |

     7  +-[c]-+--+--+--+--+-[c]-+

     .  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |

     6 [p]-+-[p]-+-[p]-+-[p]-+-[p]

     .  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |

     5  +--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+   Note:

     .  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | <-This row is the "river"

     4  +--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+   in Chinese Chess and on

     .  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |   a Chinese Chess board,

     3 (P)-+-(P)-+-(P)-+-(P)-+-(P)  the middle 7 vertical

     .  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |   lines of this single row

     2  +-(C)-+--+--+--+--+-(C)-+   are not painted on a

     .  |  |  |  | \|/ |  |  |  |   Chinese Chess board.

     1  +--+--+--+-[K]-+--+--+--+

     .  |  |  |  | /|\ |  |  |  |

     0 (R)(N)(B)(G)-+-(G)(N)(B)(R)

     .  A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I

A picture of the game setup can be viewed now. The image is a snapshot taken from the program, JANGKI (see above reference). KCHSET.GIF - 11KB GIF file

One inevitably asks the question: “If your opponent transposes the knight and bishop on his left side, do you normally transpose your bishop and knight on your right side or left side?” The software program, JANGKI defaults to doing the same on the same columns - even though the user has the choice to do otherwise. What little advice is available on the game suggests doing a pozin-transposition on just one side and to do it on the same columns as your opponent does his.

On the board are two fortresses (also called castles) which is a 3 x 3 grid in the center of the 1^st 3 rows of both sides, in which the king and his two guards must remain - they can not leave the fortress - however, as will be explained below, the king can perform a check against the other king from within the fortress. Inside the fortress, there are diagonal lines that form a big “X| inside the fortress.

On a Chinese Chess Board, there is a river that “exists” in the middle row of the board; it does not exist in Korean Chess. If one plays Korean Chess with a Chinese Chess board, one ignores the “river” of the Chinese Chess board.

A picture of what a Chinese Chess game looks like in comparison to Korean Chess can be viewed now. This image is taken per permission of Nick Jacobs (njacobs@bix.com), to whom thanks is due. Nick’s game, Xian, is the most beginner-friendly Windows-based program of 2-player Chinese Chess in existence. Note: this picture shows the Chinese Chess setup with the King on the home row instead and the knight and bishop in their symmetric position similar to what’s used in International chess. CCHSET.GIF - 13KB GIF file

In both Korean and Chinese Chess, one has to move a full step to move across the center row, regardless of whether it’s called a “river” or not (as in Korean Chess). Bottom line: in Korean Chess and Chinese Chess, there are 10 rows. In Chinese Chess, moving from the 5^th to the 6^th row is “moving across the river” where the pawns gain the power to move one step sideways - and where the Bishops can not move across. In Korean Chess, the pawns can move sideways one step immediately and the Bishops can move anywhere on the board that is legal for a given move.

Actually, the real Korean Chess set uses 8-sided pieces not round pieces as in Chinese Chess. Also not all the pieces are the same diameter as they are in Chinese Chess. The red pieces are 100% identical but the blue have four pieces that use brush/script style Chinese calligraphy and the pieces are difficult to translate - I had to ask a Korean shopper in the Korean Grocery store that I found the set at to identify the blue pieces. (My Chinese Chess friends recognize these four different charactered Blue pieces.) The board doesn’t have a blank (no vertical lines) river across the middle of the board as in Chinese Chess – that’s because there is no promotion or barrier concept in Korean Chess as there is in Chinese Chess. Again, you can play Korean and/or Chinese Chess with either country’s pieces/board. One thing nice, the Korean Grocery store had the pieces for only $4 and a nice wooden board for only $10.

Each piece is inscribed with a corresponding Chinese character. However, on the King pieces, “Han” is inscribed on the red team, and “Cho” is described on the blue (or green) team. Han and Cho are names of two dynasties (or kingdoms) that were at war with each other. (Note: “Han” and “Cho” is not what you call the individual King pieces - these names refer to the “team names” - the actual King piece names are shown below.)

I do not know the OFFICIAL conventional English spellings of the Korean names for these pieces. Below I re-describe these pieces per their Chinese names as well as the Korean spellings I’ve been given by one Korean Chess player who has not played in 10 years (see Acknowledgement section above).

QUESTION TO ANY EXPERIENCED KOREAN CHESS PLAYER:

Can anyone in this group provide me with confirmation or correction of the below Korean names as they are spelled out in English? Thanks! In particular, are the Korean names for the Red and Blue King correct or should they be transposed (if so, the Korean Jang would be very close to the Pinyin Jiang).

                                     CANTO-

COORDINATES    COLOR  ENGLISH PINYIN NESE   KOREAN

A0,I0,A9,I9    both   Rook    Ju     Kui    Cha or Tcha

B0,H0,B9,H9    both   Knight  Ma     Ma     Ma

C0,G0          Red    Bishop  Xiang  Sheung Sang or Syang

C9,G9          Blue   Bishop  Xiang  Cheung Sang or Syang

D0,F0,D9,F9    both   Guard   Shi    See    Sa

E1             Red    King    Shuai  Sui    Jang*

E8             Blue   King    Jiang  Cheung Wang*

B2,H2,B7,H7    both   Cannon  Pao    Pow    Po or Hpo

A3,C3,E3,G3,I3 Red    Pawn    Bing   Ping   Byung or Pyeng**

A6,C6,E6,G6,I6 Blue   Pawn    Zu     Tsut   Jol or Tjol**

Note: the Korean names first spelled out are those obtained from Korean Chess player whom I’ve corresponded with on Compuserve, Young Won. The two chapters on Korean Chess, cited above, provide the “or...” variation. For the King (*), they provide two alternate names, neither depicting color specific names. Koung or Tyang is what John Gollon provides; Tjyang or Koung is what Stewart Culin provides. The Koung, Culin, explains is the generic term for both - as it is similarly pronounced in Chinese Chess by the Cantonese - meaning “general.” For the Pawn (**), Culin provides the Pyeng to be the Red, and Tjol to be the Blue. Gollon provides the same two spellings but does not tie them to a color.

Sometimes you’ll hear Chinese Chess players translate the chess pieces to different English names - the ones above are the “official” English names - the ones below are others you might hear and they are presented here for you to maintain understanding in real life play:

        OFFICIAL

        ENGLISH   ALTERNATE ENGLISH NAMES GIVEN THESE PIECES

        Rook      Car              Chariot         Tank

        Knight    Horse

        Bishop    Prime Minister   Elephant        Minister

        Guard     Counsellor       Advisor

        King      General          Emperor

        Cannon    Catapult

        Pawn      Soldier          Foot Soldier

TRANSLATION TIDBITS

The Arabic name for “Chariot” is pronounced “Rook.” The Chinese symbol for Chariot is now used for the symbol for a car.

In the traditional Chinese Character for the Knight, the “Ma” -- which means “horse”, you’ll note the four depicted legs in the red character (the pieces in real life are like Checkers but with the Chinese character written on top of the piece) - these are the horse’s legs.

The historical reason the pieces are depicted differently for both sides (although modern sets use the same depiction for the Rook, Knight and sometimes the Cannon), is that players could tell whose piece was whose even if the colors wore out. For instance, Red has as it’s bishop the Chinese Character for Prime Minister, while Blue (or Green or Black) has as it’s bishop the Chinese Character for Elephant. They both have identical powers however.

THE OBJECT OF THE GAME

The object of the game is identical to Western and Chinese Chess: to checkmate the enemy king - that is, to place the enemy king in a position of entrapment from which it can not save itself. A stalemate is possible where neither side recognizes that neither side can win by checkmate.

THE PIECE MOVEMENT RULES

1.  The rook moves identical to the Western Chess and Chinese Chess rook, with one exception:

    a.  for movement, it can move as far horizontally or vertically as it has clear passage to move.  The movement for one move must be that of one single straight line.

    b.  in addition, for movement, the rook can move as far down a fortress single diagonal line as long as there is clear passage and the movement remains that of a single straight line (this means the starting position has to be in one of the corners or the center of the fortress).

    c.  for capture, the rook during it’s normal movement, can take any enemy piece that it first bumps into (there must not be any intervening same-side piece).

2.  The knight ends up moving identically to the western knight, and it moves identical to the Chinese Chess knight.   The knight however must make its move by first moving one step  vertically or horizontally and then one outward diagonal step and in this movement, there must be clear passage.   Thus, the initial two places that the knight at B0 can move to are A2  or C2.   It cannot initially move to D1 because the Bishop at C0 is in the way.

3.  The bishop, unlike its Chinese Chess “cousin”, is like a giant knight.   It moves 3 positions away from itself: first by going one step horizontally or vertically and then TWO outward diagonal steps and there must be clear passage.  Thus in Figure 2 above, the Bishop at C0 can not move as it is blocked, but it does protect the center Pawn.   The Bishop at H0 can move to F3.

    As mentioned above, unlike Chinese Chess, the Bishop is not only a defensive piece, it can move onto the enemy’s side of the board and be an offensive piece (as is true for both Chinese and Korean Chess for all other pieces but the King and Guards).

    (For the curious, the Chinese Chess Bishop is a defensive piece, and can only move two diagonal places at a time (not any more nor less; and the passage must be clear) and the Chinese Chess Bishop can not cross the “river| - it must stay within the 1^st 4 rows of it’s home side.)

    A picture of how the Korean bishop can move can be viewed now.   The image is a snapshot taken from the program, JANGKI (see above reference).   The grayed-circled positions show where the bishop at the center-bottom-side can move.   There are grayed-circled out empty spaces it can move to as well as two grayed-shaded enemy pieces that it can capture.   The  pointed-finger on the bishop under discussion is the mouse cursor for the software program so ignore that.

    KBISHMV.GIF - 11KB GIF file

4.  The Guard and King move identical to each other.  They are both limited to the center 3 x 3 fortress that resides in the 1^st 3 rows of one’s home side.   Each piece can only move 1 step down any painted straight line whether or not the line is a vertical, horizontal, or diagonal line.  This is different than Chinese Chess wherein the Guard can only move diagonally and the King can only move horizontally or vertically.

5.  The cannon, with several restrictions named below, moves and captures by making one jump during a single straight line move.  The straight line move can be down a single vertical line, a single horizontal line, or a single diagonal line in either fortress (provided the cannon’s starting position is on a fortress border gridpoint).

    Note: a fortress canon diagonal move can’t start from the dead center of the fortress but a canon can land in the fortress dead center from a normal vertical or horizontal move or jump.   But once inside the center of the fortress, the canon can make a move or jump away by going horizontally or vertically.

    The canon, when it moves, has to jump over a single non-canon piece, regardless whether the jumped-over piece belongs to his side or the enemy side.   When making a move (not a capture), the canon can land on any empty gridpoint that exists on the other side of the jumped-over piece.  That landed-onto (previously) empty gridpoint can be immediately on the other side of the jumped-over piece or several gridpoints beyond that jumped-over piece.

    The canon, when it captures, has to jump as in a normal move, but instead of landing onto an empty gridpoint, it has to land onto an enemy piece that it encounters in, what would otherwise be a normal jump-type-move.   The jumped-over piece is not captured - it is that second piece encountered in the jump that is captured.  Remember, the 1^st piece can be of  either color; the 2^nd piece - that is jumped-onto (not over) has to be that of the enemy.

    The cannon can’t jump over a cannon (either color).

    The cannon can’t capture a cannon.

    The cannon can not make the first move in a game (unlike Chinese Chess).

    Note: the Korean canon is very different than the Chinese Chess canon wherein the Chinese Chess canon moves like a rook but jumps like a Korean Chess canon (but unlike the Korean canon, the Chinese Chess canon can jump over or jump onto another canon).

6.  The pawn moves the same way it captures: it can move either one step forward or one step sideways.  It can never move backward. It can move forward down a diagonal line in the  enemy’s fortress.   If during that one step move, it moves onto an enemy’s occupied, position, it is a capture of that enemy piece.

    If the pawn makes it to the last row, it can only move sideways then.

    For the curious, the Chinese Chess pawn is different; it can’t move sideways until after getting to it’s 6^th row (called after crossing the river) and it can’t move down the diagonal line in the enemy's fortress.

7.  Special end game notes:

    a.  Neither side ordinarily want to allow the two kings to face each other naked (in Chinese Chess but not Korean Chess, the side that causes this to happens loses the game).  Facing each other “naked,” means that there are no intervening chess pieces.

        If you cause this to happen in Korean Chess, you are placing the other King in check in a desperate last chance move on your part for you irreversably forsake the right to checkmate the other side - you are hoping for a stalemate, which would be the case if the other side can not get out of that desperate check.

        This is the case even if the game continues for many moves and even if otherwise the game could have gone into a good checkmate, the side that initially caused the two kings to be naked can at best only obtain a stalemate.

        I call this (I do not claim originality though) the “Kings Naked Rule.”

    b.  Gollon adds the rule (page 159, hardbound edition) that “If in mating, the mating piece is defended by only the allied ‘king’--i.e., if the piece is on an open file occupied by its ‘king’ and therefore cannot be captured by the checked king because of the above rules, the game is only drawn.”

        This is the different in Chinese Chess; for there one frequently will use one’s King to protect a piece who is making check and who otherwise would be captured by the King being checked - in Chinese Chess, that is considered successful checkmate - it is a win, not a draw.

    c.  Unlike Chinese Chess, if you have no other move to make, except to put your King in check or checkmate, you can “pass.”   In other words, your King can stand still, if it stays in safety and there are no other pieces it can move at all (regardless if those other pieces would be captured or not) and if it would otherwise (if a move had to be made) cause the king to move into check or checkmate.   Gollon states that one declares his pass by turning his King over, upside down, on the same spot.

8.  As a reminder, the pawn, cannon, and rook get to treat the diagonal lines in either fortress (except the pawn can only get to the enemy fortress) as ordinary straight lines that they can move on - except the pawn can only move to the side or forward - but the pawn can move forward to the rear line down the diagonal.

9.  Unlike Chinese Chess, the double cannon lineup against a king poses no immediate threat - the rear cannon can’t jump over the front cannon, remember.  (In Chinese Chess, if the farthest away canon from the enemy king is safe and if no opponent’s piece can intervene between the two canons, the game is over if the King is unable to move sideways, which can often be the case.)

To go to our other Web pages:

· Chinese and Korean Chess

New Internet Information on Chinese Chess

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· Return to Applied Foresight, Inc. Home Page.

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To contact Applied Foresight, Inc., write the editor (and President), Roleigh Martin, at 5511 Malibu Drive, Edina MN 55420 USA, or email him at Compuserve ID: 71510,1042 - Internet: 71510.1042@compuserve.com

Changgi, also written as Janggi or Jangki or Tjyang Keui, is the Korean Chess, the Chess played in Korea.

It presents many likenesses with Chinese Xiangqi and there is no doubt that both are closely related.

The first known mention of Changgi in Korea is due to Chang Yu (1587-1638). At this late period, the game is already identical to the one played today. Therefore, all is still to be done for writing the history of Changgi.

The very first author who made Changgi known to westerners has been Stewart Culin in 1895. It has been reprinted and is highly recommendable for those who love board games with very precious observations.

Changgi doesn’t have the same prestige than its Chinese or Japanese counterparts, even in Korea where Patok (Korean name of Go) is preferred. The first association has been founded in 1956.

(Photograph Hans Bodlaender)

The red pieces bear their name written with a Chinese ideogram while the black ones have a cursive lettering.

DIFFERENCES WITH CHINESE XIANGQI

· The board has 9 x 10 intersections without any river as in the Chinese game.

· The pieces are often tokens with an octogonal form. They come in 3 sizes : the largest is the General, the smallest are the Guards and the Soldiers and all others have a medium size.

· Before the game starts, the players have the possibility of switching Horse and Elephant on one or both sides.

· The General is placed in the center of the 3 x 3 palace, therefore on the second row.

· The General moves within the palace, 1 step in every marked directions, including diagonals. (Same move as FIDE King if the line is effectively marked).

· The Guards move exactly moving like the General.

· The Elephant is very specific. It moves 1 step orthogonally then 2 steps away diagonally (as an elongated Horse step). All intermediate intersections must be free. It can go everywhere all over the board since there is no river to restrict its move.

· The Soldier can move and take 1 step beside as well as 1 step forward since the beginning of the game. Then, there is no promotion possible. This also is a consequence of the absence of river.

· The Canon must jump over a piece to move as well as to capture. It cannot jump over an other Canon, it cannot capture an other Canon neither.

· It is forbidden to start the game by moving the Cannon.

· Within the palace, Chariot, Canon and Soldier are allowed to move along the marked diagonals.

Move of the Elephant

	Find the rules of Changgi, the Korean Chess, on chessvariants.com
	Retrouvez les règles du Changgi, les Echecs coréens, dans le Guide des Echecs exotiques et insolites

DISCUSSION

Without any doubt, Changgi may be considered as a Xiangqi variant. The most probable is that Changgi had evolved from Xiangqi. (The opposite is less likely to be true: it is difficult to believe that the Changgi board would have been the primitive one, that a river was added latter on somewhere and then generalized to all China).

Without the river, there was no reason to forbid the Elephant to go on the other side. With the Chinese move - 2 steps diagonally - this man could only get to 12 intersections, none of them common to both players. This is probably the reason than motivated the change: the Korean Elephant can land on every intersection on the board.

General and Guards, confined in their palace have got some increased power. In Changgi, the General can move diagonally and the Guards can move orthogonally - well, on marked lines only. Consequently, both present the same move there. Again, it is difficult to imagine an evolution towards Xiangqi leading to different moves. Moreover the Chinese move of the Guard is the same than the Vizir in Persia/India. Definitely, the Korean Chess is younger than the Chinese one.

Surprisingly, the Canon doesn’t confirm to this trend. In Korea, its move is restricted: it has to jump to move as well (as to capture). What is the rationale for that? It could be a desire of logic: move = capture for all pieces. Or, it could be that both Chess separated when the Canon’s move was still in its youth. We do believe that the primitive move of Canon in Xiangqi was different from what it is today. Could it be confirmed, the Changgi Cannon would be an interesting case.

You can get a Korean Changgi board and set on this place.

Reference:

Culin, Steward, 1991 reprint of an 1895 original: “Korean Games. With Notes on the Corresponding Games of China & Japan”. Dover Press. ISBN 0-486-26593-5.

Back to Chess in Asia

Changgi

Korean Chess

Changgi (or Jangki or Tjyang Keui) is the Korean Chess, a variant of chess played in Korea.

Editor’s note: a reader from Korea (Seongmo Yoon) has noted the following: Janggi is correct both by Korean government’s guideline for translation and by convention in Korea.

It is widely accepted that Changgi derives from an old variety of the Chinese Xiang-Qi.

Material

The Board is a 9 x 10 intersections like for Xiang-Qi but there is no river and it is wider in relation to its length so it looks like a rectangle. The pieces are put on the intersection of the lines.

The pieces are wooden disks with the symbol of the piece printed on it. They are green or blue and red, and have an octogonal shape and come in three sizes: the large is the General (King), the medium are the Chariots (Rooks), Canons, Horses (Knights) and Elephants, and the small are the Guards and the Soldiers. The person playing the green or blue pieces moves first.

The Korean Chess can be played with a Chinese Chess Set, pieces and board are similar, but with rules are different.

The opening setup is as follows…….

Each player has the following pieces…….

2 Chariots (Rooks)
2 Horses (Knights)
2 Elephants
2 Guards
1 General (King)
2 Cannons or Catapults
5 Soldiers (Pawns)

Seongmo Yoon (a reader from Korea) writes…….

Korean chess permits several combinations of initial positions of Horse and Elephant.

“Han” (Red Army) players put peaces on board first. They can choose one among these.

1. Elephant-Horse Elephant-Horse

2. Elephant-Horse Horse -Elephant

3. Horse-Elephant Horse-Elephant

4. Horse-Elephant Elephant-Horse

Now , it is turn for “Cho” (Blue Army) to choose their opening. Likewise…….

1. Elephant-Horse Elephant-Horse

2. Elephant-Horse Horse -Elephant

3. Horse-Elephant Horse-Elephant

4. Horse-Elephant Elephant-Horse

Rules

The piece movement:

01. The Chariot moves identical to the orthodox chess Rook and Chinese Chess Chariot, with one exception:

a. for movement, it can move as far horizontally or vertically as it has clear passage to move. The movement for one move must be that of one single straight line.

b. in addition, for movement, the Chariot can move as far down a fortress single diagonal line as long as there is clear passage and the movement remains that of a single straight line (this means the starting position has to be in one of the corners or the center of the fortress).

c. for capture, the Chariot during it’s normal movement, can take any enemy piece that it first bumps into (there must not be any intervening same-side piece).

02. The Horse move is identical to the Chinese Chess Horse. The Horse must make its move by first moving one step vertically or horizontally and then one outward diagonal step and in this movement, there must be clear passage. In other words, the Horse can not jump like a western Knight does.

03. The Elephant, unlike its Chinese Chess “cousin”, is like a giant Horse. It moves 3 positions away from itself: first by going one step horizontally or vertically and then TWO outward diagonal steps and there must be clear passage.

As mentioned above, unlike Chinese Chess, the Elephant is not only a defensive piece, it can move onto the enemy’s side of the board and be an offensive piece. (Remember that there is no river in Changgi).

04. The Guard and General move identical to each other. They are both limited to the center 3 x 3 fortress that resides in the 1^st 3 rows of one’s home side. Each piece can only move 1 step down any painted straight line whether or not the line is a vertical, horizontal, or diagonal line. (This is different than Chinese Chess wherein the Guard can only move diagonally and the General can only move horizontally or vertically).

05. The Cannon, with several restrictions named below, moves and captures by making one jump during a single straight line move. The straight line move can be down a single vertical line, a single horizontal line, or a single diagonal line in either fortress (provided the cannon’s starting position is on a fortress border gridpoint).

Note: a fortress canon diagonal move can’t start from the dead center of the fortress but a canon can land in the fortress dead center from a normal vertical or horizontal move or jump. But once inside the center of the fortress, the canon can make a move or jump away by going horizontally or vertically.

The canon, when it moves, has to jump over a single non-canon piece, regardless whether the jumped-over piece belongs to his side or the enemy side. When making a move (not a capture), the canon can land on any empty gridpoint that exists on the other side of the jumped-over piece. That landed-onto (previously) empty gridpoint can be immediately on the other side of the jumped-over piece or several gridpoints beyond that jumped-over piece.

The cannon, when it captures, has to jump as in a normal move, but instead of landing onto an empty gridpoint, it has to land onto an enemy piece that it encounters in, what would otherwise be a normal jump-type-move. The jumped-over piece is not captured--it is that second piece encountered in the jump that is captured.

The cannon can’t jump over a cannon (either color).

The cannon can’t capture a cannon.

The cannon cannot make the first move in a game (unlike Chinese Chess).

Note: the Korean Cannon is very different than the Chinese Chess Cannon wherein the Chinese Chess Cannon moves like a Rook but jumps like a Korean Chess canon (but unlike the Korean canon, the Chinese Chess canon can jump over or jump onto another canon).

06. The Soldier moves the same way it captures: it can move either one step forward or one step sideways. It can never move backward. It can move forward down a diagonal line in the enemy’s fortress. If during that one step move, it moves onto an enemy’s occupied, position, it is a capture of that enemy piece.

If the Soldier makes it to the last row, it can only move sideways then.

For the curious, the Chinese Chess Soldier is different; it can’t move sideways until after getting to it’s 6^th row (called after crossing the river) and it can’t move down the diagonal line in the enemy’s fortress.

Other rules

07. Special end game notes…….

a. Neither side ordinarily want to allow the two kings to face each other naked (in Chinese Chess but not Korean Chess, the side that causes this to happens loses the game). Facing each other “naked”, means that there are no intervening chess pieces.

If you cause this to happen in Korean Chess, you are placing the other General in check in a desperate last-chance move on your part for you irreversably foresake the right to checkmate the other side - you are hoping for a stalemate, which would be the case if the other side can not get out of that desperate check.

This is the case even if the game continues for many moves and even if otherwise the game could have gone into a good checkmate, the side that initially caused the two kings to be naked can at best only obtain a stalemate.

b. Gollon adds the rule (page 159, hardbound edition) that “If in mating, the mating piece is defended by only the allied ‘General; - i.e., if the piece is on an open file occupied by its ‘General’ and therefore cannot be captured by the checked General because of the above rules, the game is only drawn”.

(This is the different in Chinese Chess; for there one frequently will use one's General to protect a piece who is making check and who otherwise would be captured by the General being checked--in Chinese Chess, that is considered successful checkmate--it is a win, not a draw).

c. Unlike Chinese Chess, if you have no other move to make, except to put your General in check or checkmate, you can “pass”. In other words, your General can stand still, if it stays in safety and there are no other pieces it can move at all (regardless if those other pieces would be captured or not) and if it would otherwise (if a move had to be made) cause the General to move into check or checkmate. Gollon states that one declares his pass by turning his General over, upside down, on the same spot.

08. As a reminder, the Soldier, Cannon, and Chariot get to treat the diagonal lines in either fortress (except the Soldier can only get to the enemy fortress) as ordinary straight lines that they can move on - except the Soldier can only move to the side or forward - but the Soldier can move forward to the rear line down the diagonal.

09. Unlike Chinese Chess, the double Cannon lineup against a General poses no immediate threat - the rear Cannon can’t jump over the front Cannon, remember.

A stalemate is possible where neither side recognizes that neither side can win by checkmate.

Komi

A komi (deduction) for Blue army is 1.5 points as the Blue army makes the first move and it is an advantage.

If Blue army captures (kills) King of Red army, Blue army wins. But, if a game becomes a draw game, each player adds up points of the remaining pieces on board to decide who wins the game. And in that case, blue army is supposed to deduct 1.5 points from his total points.

· cha (car) rook : 13 points

· poe cannon : 7

· ma horse knight : 5

· sang (elephant) xiang bishop : 3

· sah guard : 3

· byoung, chol pawn : 2

A player can make a draw request only when summation of points of each players is respectively less than 30 points (in a casual janggi game between friends, this pointing system is just ignored and not many Koreans have ever heard of it).

In a casual game, it is customary that older player takes Han (Red Army).

Books

The very first author who made Changgi known to westerners has been Stewart Culin. It has been reprinted and is highly recommendable for those who love board games with very precious observations.

Culin, Steward, 1991 reprint of an 1895 original: “Korean Games. With Notes on the Corresponding Games of China & Japan”. Dover Press. ISBN 0-486-26593-5.

More modern Chess Variant books including a section on Changgi are…….

Gollon, John E., 1973. Chess Variations: “Ancient, Regional & Modern”. Charles E. Tuttle Co. ISBN: 0-8048-1122-9.

Pritchard, D.B., 1994. “The Encyclopedia of Chess Variants”. Games and Puzzles Publications. ISBN: 0-9524142-0-1.

Wurman, David, 1991(?). “Chinesisches Schach/Koreanisches Schach”. (German) China Schach Spielerkreis, Postfach 6530, D-6300 Giessen, Germany.

Cazaux, J.-L., 2000. “Guide des echecs exotiques et insolites”. (French ) Chiron Editeur. ISBN: 2-7027-0628-2.

Links

· Roleigh Martin's page on Chinese and Korean Chess. (Link.)

· Photo's of Korean Chess set.

· Photo's of Korean Chess set: pieces and board.

Written by Jean-Louis Cazaux. Certain parts of the text were taken from Roleigh Martin and from David B. Pritchard. Seongmo Yoon wrote to us about the official name for Korean Chess (Janggi), optional setup positions, and Komi & piece values.

Edward Strickland

Korean Chess Variant

Here is a link to something that looks like a variant of Korean chess: http://dcslab.snu.ac.kr/~nirsys/field.htm

The link on the page generates a table of piece movements, but I found no written description of rules.