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                            Chinese Chess FAQ
                       Viewable in Shift-JIS Format
                           For the NES/Famicom
                      Version 1.0 (Created 2/15/2010)
                             By Devin Morgan

     This file is Copyright (c)2010 Devin Morgan. All rights reserved.

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Table of Contents

1. What's New
2. Introduction
3. Controls
4. Overview
5. Copyright Notice

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-=  1. What's New -=
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Version 1.0 (2/15/10): The first version.

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-=  2. Introduction -=
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Chinese Chess is a game for the Famicom, where you play games of Chinese
Chess (also known as Xiangqi - 象棋) against the computer or another player.
It bears a lot of similarities to regular chess; of course there are new and
different pieces and what they do, but the general idea is the same - capture
the enemy's General piece to win. If you are up for a different version of
the classic war game you grew up knowing, I would recommend trying this out!

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-=  3. Controls -=
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Control Pad: Move cursor

A: Select piece to pick up/place

Start: Pause/resume game

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-=  4. Overview -=
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==========
Game Modes
==========

When you start the game, you can choose the difficulty of your opponent from
Easy, Normal, and Difficult. You can also play against a human player in VS.
Mode.

In the game itself, you will have a control panel on the right side, plus you
can move the hand cursor to the piece you want to pick up (press A), then
place it where you want it (assuming it is a legal move, of course). The
panel on the right will allow you to Quit (Q), view a move Hint (H; can only
use five times a game), take back a move (B), or switch the orientation of
the board (arrow buttons). There is also an "L" button with no apparent use
(if there is one, let me know).


===========
How to Play
===========

Board Setup
-----------

The typical Chinese Chess board is set up as follows, with each side's pieces
facing towards the opponent to signify which pieces belong to which side
(your pieces are red, and the opponent has blue pieces). On an actual board,
the pieces are positioned on corners, but due to convenience, the corners are
shown as boxes. The 3x3 region in each player's area called the Palace is
shown by "X". Also, the horizontal rows are called "ranks" and the vertical
rows are "files". Depending on if you are red or blue, the symbols on each
piece will be different (see below; the Horse and Chariot have different
symbols as well but they are not in the Japanese language).

___ ___ ___XXXXXXXXXXXXX___ ___ ___
| C | H | E X A | G | A X E | H | C |   G = General (帥 or 将)
|___|___|___X___|___|___X___|___|___|   A = Advisor (仕 or 士)
|   |   |   X   |   |   X   |   |   |   E = Elephant (相 or 象)
|___|___|___X___|___|___X___|___|___|   H = Horse (馬)
|   | P |   X   |   |   X   | P |   |   C = Chariot (俥)
|___|___|___XXXXXXXXXXXXX___|___|___|   P = Cannon (砲 or 炮)
| S |   | S |   | S |   | S |   | S |   S = Soldier (卒 or 兵)
|___|___|___|___|___|___|___|___|___|
|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
|xxx|xxx|xxx|xxx|xxx|xxx|xxx|xxx|xxx|
|___|___|___|___|___|___|___|___|___|
| S |   | S |   | S |   | S |   | S |
|___|___|___XXXXXXXXXXXXX___|___|___|
|   | P |   X   |   |   X   | P |   |
|___|___|___X___|___|___X___|___|___|
|   |   |   X   |   |   X   |   |   |
|___|___|___X___|___|___X___|___|___|
| C | H | E X A | G | A X E | H | C |
|___|___|___XXXXXXXXXXXXX___|___|___|

Between the middle two rows is a divided area, known as the Chu River. This
point is designated by the line of "x" on the game board above. On the board,
it separates the two players' sides, but certain pieces are affected by it.


Game Pieces/Movement
--------------------

General: You only get one of this piece, and it is your most important piece!
        If your General is captured, the game is over. It can only move in
        the four main directions (up, down, left, right) and not diagonally.
        It also can NOT leave the Palace box.

Advisor: There are two of these, and they stand on both sides of the General.
        Like the General, they can not leave the Palace box. As for movement
        within the box, they can only move diagonally.

Elephant: You get two of these pieces, and they are next to the Advisors in
         the back row. They can move two spaces in any direction diagonally,
         but that is it. They are NOT allowed to cross the Chu River, so
         they are restricted on your half of the playing field.

Horse: You get two of these pieces, and they are in the second and eighth
      spots in the back row. They can move one space horizontally or
      vertically, immediately followed by one space diagonally.

Chariot: Like the Rook in regular chess, these pieces are in the back corners
        initially. They can move vertically or horizontally for as many
        spaces as they want, capturing any enemy piece in the way.

Cannon: You also have two of this unit, positioned in the second and eighth
       spots in the third row. They move similarly to the Chariots, but can
       jump over a single unit in its way to reach its target. This makes it
       a very effective long-range unit.

Soldier: You get five of these, lined up across the fourth row. They can only
        move forward one spot a turn initially. However, if a Soldier gets
        across the Chu River, they can move horizontally as well. The only
        drawback is that Soldiers can not move backward.

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-=  5. Copyright Notice -=
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This file is Copyright (c)2010 Devin Morgan. All rights reserved. Please view
the following URL to see the list of sites that are allowed to post my work:

http://www.freewebs.com/dbmfaqs/allowlist.html

This list is comprised of sites I know and trust well. If your site is not on
the aforementioned list, you are currently not allowed to post any of my
files on your site. Please respect my work and do not steal it or post it
without my permission. I only want my most recent work to be available and I
do not feel that can be achieved if others take from me without my knowledge
or permission.

If you are writing a FAQ for this game as well, and would like to use some
information, credit me for what you use. Please do not rip me off, as that is
blatant plagiarism and such will not be tolerated.

If you wish to contact me, do so at dbmfaqs(at)gmail(dot)com. Please only
contact me if there are corrections to be made to information that's
currently included. Thanks!

http://www.gamefaqs.com/features/recognition/3579.html

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