Chinese Chess for Beginners (Paperback)

by Sam Sloan (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
When you think of chess, you probably think of the strategy game played throughout Europe and the Americas. There is another kind of chess played throughout the world by probably more people than any other strategy game. That game is Chinese Chess. The "Elephant Game" as it is called by the Chinese, dates back more than 2000 years. A cousin of Western Chess, its unique style of play results in a wide-open, quick-moving and aggressive contest.

Chinese Chess for Beginners explains both the rules and the strategies of the game clearly and in detail so that you can start playing right away. It covers everything from the opening through the endgame.

The book includes a set of paper chessmen that you can cut out and begin to play right away.

Product Details

• Paperback: 202 pages
• Publisher: Ishi Press (March 31, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0923891110
• ISBN-13: 978-0923891114
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #298,758 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Even better the second time through, October 24, 2004

By	Spotnik (Washington, IL) - See all my reviews

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.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Decent introduction to an interesting game, April 14, 2008

By	Mikko Saari (Tampere, Finland) - See all my reviews

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.

2.0 out of 5 stars Good Information, Bad Presentation, October 11, 2008

By	B. Jones (Syracuse, NY United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.