-^-for posterity-^-

chinese chess.

in chinese chess, things are a bit different. there are two sides and both sides have different characters on their pieces, which are shaped like checkers. for example, there is a chinese character on the pawn of each side but neither character resembles one another.

i have a new founded respect for anyone who knows how to read mandarin. trying to remember the different symbols is a mystery to me. one must look at the character, which at first looks like a random assortment of lines and dots, and make sense of it all. one must look at the horse and find some characteristic that will remind them again of a horse. i tend to look at characters and remember them as the 'squiggly one with the box in the middle' or the 'one with long straight lines' or the 'one with the hook at the bottom.'

the pieces also move differently. the king is resigned to stay in a small box at the back of the board. he is flanked by two pieces that act as sentries. these two pieces also must stay in the same box as the king. that small space is fairly crowded. the piece to the left of the sentries works as a defensive piece. it is only allowed to move on your own side of the board. you see, the board is separated by a 'moat' and some pieces from either side are not allowed to cross this space. this defensive piece is only able to move in odd diagonal lines across ones own side of the board and seems to serve little purpose.

the knight is to the left of this defensive piece. the knight moves in the same way as a knight in western chess would move except it is not allowed to move when a piece is directly in front of it. the knight is able to cross the moat. to the side of the knight is the rook. the rook moves in the same way as a rook would move in western chess.

in front of the knight, off at an angle is the bishop. the bishop in chinese chess does not move as a bishop would move in western chess. it moves in straight lines just as the rook would but it can only attack when there is a piece between it and the victim. this makes the game quite confusing. normally, when a piece blocks the path of another piece, there is no way for it to attack. however, in chinese chess, when the bishop is blocked, it becomes dangerous.

in front of the bishop are the pawns. they are useless on one's own side but, when they cross the moat, they also become dangerous. they are able to move sideways and forward on the enemy's side.

all in all, chinese chess is quite different from western chess. i've seen many a game played between two very old, wrinkled men with cigarettes limply hanging from their mouths in a dank coffee shop. the game seems to more honestly depict an ancient battle. the king is not able to move from his strong hold. what sense does it make to have a king running all over the countryside with no support? surely a king would need an entourage. there are two definitive sides with a boarder running between. this would also be more accurate to an actual battle. also, there are some pieces that seem to have more use on ones own side as opposed to ones enemy's. this would make sense if you had a cook that didn't want to participate in battle but one who would gladly lay down the frying pan in order to defend his nation with a butcher's knife.