Customer Reviews

Chinese Chess for Beginners

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book was not only an excellent introduction to the game, but after playing a number of games (and even winning some!) I found that I learned almost as much the second time through. The chief value of the book is the annotated games, but there are also some basic mating exercises that are helpful as well. It is also helpful if you have played Int'l Chess before as Mr. Sloan addresses some of the issues those players might have making the transition (e.g. the relative weight of material superiority). Even if you splurge for David Li's "Syllabi" down the road, this is still a worthwhile investment for the absolute beginner.

Chinese Chess or Xiangqi is an interesting, fast-paced variant of Chess: similar enough to be fairly easy to learn, yet different enough to be interesting even to those thoroughly bored by Western Chess. It's clearly a game worth exploring, but books on the game are rather rare and hard to come by. Sloan's book is from 1980s and slightly dated, but the game hasn't changed, of course, so the lessons contained are still valid.

To be honest, the book could certainly be better. It does cover everything necessary: it introduces the pieces, explains the rules, explains strategy, has sample games... All good and well, yet the presentation could be clearer, the text a tad more captivating and I would really prefer if the sample games were included in their entirety. Still, it works, and to those who prefer reading books to reading web pages, this is still worth considering.

This is an indispensable book for all wishing to learn Chinese Chess or to improve their game. There are so few books on Xiangqi (also romanized as Xiang Qi or Hsiang-K'i)available in English that any serious American player will end up purchasing all of them eventually, but I'll bet none will subsequently discard their copy of "Chinese Chess for Beginners" by Sam Sloan. I was already an experienced player of Xiangqi when I came across a copy of Sloan's book, but there were enough eye-opening tidbits that I went through it again immediately--then promptly bought a second copy so I could lend "Chinese Chess for Beginners" to friends interested in learning to play Xiangqi, but keep a copy on hand for ready reference.

I notice that "Chinese Chess for Beginners" has received a couple of unfair, negative and uninformed reviews, which might discourage interested readers--readers who might really benefit from Sloan's book before they proceeded to one of the more comprehensive introductions to the game by H. T. Lau, David H. Li, or another overview such as Tony Hosking's. Rather than add to the book's already detailed positive reviews, let me address the most patently unfair criticisms.

First, even though it will be necessary for continuing players to learn the Chinese characters used on the pieces, most especially if they plan to play online, Sloan does NOT employ any Chinese characters, but uses standard Western abbreviations throughout--such as R for rook, K for king--in all his diagrams. The reviewer who was "not impressed" that "Chinese Chess for Beginners" demanded "a knowledge of the symbols used in Chinese Chess" was clearly confusing Sloan's book with another.

Secondly, the reviewer who complained about Sloan's "use of a notation system that relies on relative data" clearly has not pursued his study of Xiangqi beyond Sloan's book. It might seem regrettable, but actually most other books in English--and ALL books in Chinese--use the descriptive system disparaged here. Such an assessment is all the more unfair, since Sloan does discuss the relative merits of each notation system, and makes clear at the outset why he is embarking on a choice which might at first seem difficult, but is in fact the only way to prepare a beginner for future study of Xiangqi.

In the abstract I'd give it 4 stars, because the book does have its faults, which in my opinion are inconsequential weighed in the balance of its many merits. But I'm giving "Chinese Chess for Beginners" by Sam Sloan 5 stars here, to compensate for the mistaken or malicious ratings given to it on Amazon by other reviewers.

I taught myself to play Chinese Chess a couple of years ago after a visit to Philadelphia's Chinatown. My nephew (at that time 6 years old) was the only one brave enough to learn the Chinese characters with me, so I was looking for a book to help other friends and family members to learn the game. The presentation in this book is such that I cannot recommend it for that purpose.

The information in this book is good, it just isn't presented as well as the material deserves. If you just want to learn how the pieces move, check out the "xiangqi" (Chinese Chess) article on Wikipedia. That's how I learned, and it was much clearer and more concise.

The biggest problem for me was the use of a notation system that relies on relative data. Unlike the algebraic notation system I'm used to in Western Chess (which uses a letter to describe each file and a number to represent each rank, thus giving absolute grid reference locations,) the system Sloan employs uses an absolute number for each file and a second number (this one relative to the piece being moved) to describe rank positions and movement. This becomes confusing.

Originally published in the '80s (before desktop publishing) on a small scale, the layout of the book shows its age/budget. It looks like it was printed on a black and white newspaper press with very limited formatting options. More than merely aesthetically unpleasing, the limited formating sometimes makes it harder to parse out what the author is trying to get across. There's good information in the book, but you'll have to fight against the materials of the book to get it out.

I strongly recommend that you DO NOT follow the author's advice to just walk into any Chinese restaurant, demand to play a game against the employees, and refuse to take no for an answer. Contrary to the author, I don't think that "they" will always appreciate it, or that "they" are just being modest when "they" say, "No."

The set of paper chessmen that the book includes is nothing more than two regular black and white pages with the the Chinese piece characters printed on them. This was probably actually useful in the pre-Word Wide Web days that this book was first published, but now you can just print out some better, color "pieces" off of many web sites. That way, you can choose what paper stock to use and whether to use traditional or international pieces.

This little book is a great starter for beginners, even for people who never played a single game of chess (as we know it). It takes you right up to a level where you will be able to beat a moderatly experienced player of Chinese Chess. Sam Sloan's book is both exciting and funny. Also, the author Sam Sloan is an intriguing personality.

The author assumes that the reader has a knowledge of the symbols used in Chinese Chess. Not impressed.