Game of the Three Kingdoms ( Chinese: ,

Pinyin Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally written in Chinese fo ...

: ''Sān-guó-qí'' ; also called Sanguo Qi, Three Kingdoms Chess, or Three-Handed Xiangqi) is a three-player variant of the game

xiangqi ''Xiangqi'' (; ), also called Chinese chess or elephant chess, is a strategy board game for two players. It is the most popular board game in China. ''Xiangqi'' is in the same family of games as '' shogi'', '' janggi'', Western chess, '' ...

("Chinese chess"). The game symbolizes the

Three Kingdoms period The Three Kingdoms () from 220 to 280 AD was the tripartite division of China among the dynastic states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. The Three Kingdoms period was preceded by the Eastern Han dynasty and was followed by the We ...

war (221–264) between the rival states

Wei Wei or WEI may refer to: States * Wey (state) (衛, 1040–209 BC), Wei in pinyin, but spelled Wey to distinguish from the bigger Wei of the Warring States * Wei (state) (魏, 403–225 BC), one of the seven major states of the Warring States per ...

, Shu, and Wu, each vying for control of China after the fall of the

Han dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by th ...

History

The period of origination of Sanguo Qi is disputed and either belongs to the

Southern Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the res ...

(1127–1279) or the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

(1644–1911). The two original Chinese texts which described the game are lost. O. von Möllendorff reported on the game in

erman Erman Rašiti may refer to: Given name * Erman Bulucu (born 1989), Turkish footballer * Erman Eltemur (born 1993), Turkish karateka * Erman Güraçar (born 1974), Turkish footballer * Erman Kılıç (born 1983), Turkish footballer * Erman Kunter (b ...

"Schachspiel der Chinesen" (English: "The Game of Chess of the Chinese") in the publication ''Mittheilungen der deutschen Gesellschaft für Natur- und Völkerkunde Ostasiens'' (English: "Journal of the German Society for Natural and Cultural Science of East Asia"), Leipzig, 1876. Möllendorff depicts a

hexagon In geometry, a hexagon (from Greek , , meaning "six", and , , meaning "corner, angle") is a six-sided polygon. The total of the internal angles of any simple (non-self-intersecting) hexagon is 720°. Regular hexagon A '' regular hexagon'' has ...

al gameboard comprising three xiangqi half-boards ( intersection points each). The board displays the traditional xiangqi "river", but with three arms separating the three opponent confrontations. Subsequent to Game of the Three Kingdoms, similar three-player xiangqi variants emerged utilizing half-boards but with different center-connecting geometries and corresponding rules. One of these is Game of the Three Friends ( Chinese: ,

: ''Sān-yǒu-qí'' ; also called Sanyou Qi or Three Friends Chess) invented by Zheng Jinde (Chinese: , ''Zhèng Jìndé'') during the

(1661–1722).

Game overview

The three kingdoms ''Wèi'' (魏), ''Shǔ'' (蜀), and ''Wú'' (吳) are represented by colors blue, red, and green, respectively. Each player controls all the standard xiangqi pieces, with each general represented by the letter of its respective kingdom. In addition, each player controls two ''bannermen'' pieces: "flag" for Wei/Blue, "fire" for Shu/Red, and "wind" for Wu/Green. The use of bannermen is optional—Game of the Three Kingdoms is also played without them. A bannerman moves like extended xiangqi

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million yea ...

: two steps orthogonally, then one step diagonally outward, with no jumping.

Checkmate Checkmate (often shortened to mate) is any game position in chess and other chess-like games in which a player's king is in check (threatened with ) and there is no possible escape. Checkmating the opponent wins the game. In chess, the king is ...

and other conventions are the same as in xiangqi, except that after a checkmate occurs, the mated general is removed from the game, and the player who delivered the checkmate appropriates the mated player's remaining pieces for his own use. The last surviving kingdom (general) is the winner.

Play conventions

It may be necessary or desirable to add further play conventions for completeness: * Shu/Red moves first. Then turns alternate counterclockwise around the board. * A

chariot A chariot is a type of cart driven by a charioteer, usually using horses to provide rapid motive power. The oldest known chariots have been found in burials of the Sintashta culture in modern-day Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, dated to c. 2000&n ...

cannon A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...

that reaches a central triangle point when traveling along a , may cross the river in either of two directions and continue along the file of another kingdom. * After a checkmate, removal of the mated general and army appropriation is done in a separate turn. The piece delivering mate replaces the enemy general on its square. *

Stalemate Stalemate is a situation in the game of chess where the player whose turn it is to move is not in check and has no legal move. Stalemate results in a draw. During the endgame, stalemate is a resource that can enable the player with the infer ...

results in the same army appropriation as described for checkmate. If two players' pieces cooperate in stalemating the third player, the player making the move that completed the stalemate condition is the player who appropriates the stalemated player's army.

Notes

References

Bibliography