Customer Reviews

Chinese Chess

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

 

 

The game of Chinese chess, or 'elephant chess' as it is known in Chinese, has been played for centuries. Since, naturally, most of the books heretofore published on this challenging game of strategy have been in the Chinese language, the present book by H. T. Lau renders a welcome service to another large group of game-lovers the world over. Explained with clear examples coupled with about 170 diagrams are the fundamental aspects of Chinese chess - the board, the mode of movement and values of the pieces, and the basic rules. The reader will note that there are interesting variations on the Western chess theme (although no prior knowledge of other forms of chess are necessary for an understanding of this book). Once the basics have been outlined, standard opening strategies are explicated, as are tactics for use once the game gets under way. Strategies used with various combinations of pieces commonly remaining toward the conclusion of the game are described in a chapter devoted to the end-game, which is perhaps the phase that the beginner should master first. This section shows how a player with seemingly few pieces left can win a game, and how a player in what looks like a losing situation can force a draw. Eightly mid- and end-game exercises designed to sharpen the player's skill are presented with answers at the end of the book. Finally, two appendixes are devoted to the elegantly constructed games found in two classic seventeenth-century works on Chinese chess. Here, then, is a book for both the novice and the chess fan who wants to add to his or her repertoire of fun.

Well, it's a good book such as it is. I wanted to give it 3.5 or even 4 stars. I just didn't feel it delivered what it advertised.

The *tons* of recorded games in the appendices are great. The total lack of annotation is terrible. Perhaps many or most people don't need annotation, but the book was advertised as a book for *beginners* and I am in fact a total beginner, and I found the lack of annotation to be extremely unhelpful. I can't understand why many of the moves are made - and there are even a few games which end in resignation in which I don't understand why the player resigned. Now, like I said, probably many people don't need this explained, but I do, and if you think you would need these kinds of things explained, then this is not the book for you.

On the other hand the explanations of the various openings (8 openings and 8 responses are discussed) are quite good. Again, they will seem high-level to a total beginner like me. There are a lot of things it is assumed you will understand which you might not understand. But still, if you have a board in front of you and play through the moves as you go through the discussion, you will be at least somewhat edified.

Unfortunately, the discussion doesn't really go in-depth. The openings and responses are given, and some comments like "red intends to attack the right side" or "blue is defending the central line" are given at the end of the listing, but no real discussion of the implications of the moves are given. Xianqui is a very tactical game - even more tactical than Western Chess because of the extreme importance of aggressiveness and sacrifice in the game. For that reason, I feel a more detailed discussion of the results of the various opening systems was in order.

So, all in all a decent book but it is quite scary if you aren't ready. Not *really* a beginner's book though I think it is trying to be one.

Here's what it is that bothers me - it reads like a textbook; as though it is assuming you have an instructor there with you to go over the text and to help explain the material. Unfortunately, of course, there is no such instructor so it's kind of like trying to learn the Chinese language by yourself out of a slightly outdated textbook with no access to native speakers to practice with or ask questions of.

But it *is* one of only *two* books on Xianqui strategy I can find anywhere on the net, so the final judgement is: buy it, but be prepared.

This is a beautifully bound book, well suited for beginners and intermediate players of Chinese chess.