544: Chapter 544 Kings Never Meet!

"Good!"

After nodding, Zhao Fusu did not refuse and began to explain the rules of Xiangqi to them.

Zhao Fusu's grandfather was a master of Xiangqi. He often visited his grandfather's house to play, and through constant exposure, he was very familiar with the rules.

"The Horse moves in a 'ri' shape, the Elephant flies in a 'tian' shape, the Chariot moves in straight lines, and the Cannon leaps over mountains. The Guard moves diagonally to protect the General, and the Pawn never turns back. The General moves horizontally or vertically within the Nine Palaces, one step at a time, never leaving the area."

Whether it was Zhao Xuan, Tian Feng, Han Zhao, First Emperor, or General Wang Jian, they all listened very attentively.

"The Xiangqi board consists of 9 vertical lines and 10 horizontal lines intersecting to form 90 intersection points, where the pieces are placed."

"The empty space in the middle without vertical lines is called the Chu-Han Border, which divides the board into the Red and Black opposing territories."

"The base line for each side, the horizontal line closest to oneself, and the third horizontal line inward, form the Nine Palaces—a grid marked by four diagonal lines. The General and the Guard can only move within the Nine Palaces."

"There are 16 pieces for both the Red and Black sides. The Red side moves first, and both sides take turns. Each move consists of moving only one piece, and different pieces have different movement rules."

"The General can only move one step at a time along the vertical or horizontal lines within the Nine Palaces; they cannot move diagonally."

"The Red General and the Black General cannot face each other directly. That is to say, when there are no other pieces blocking them on the same vertical line, they cannot occupy the same vertical line."

"This is what is known as 'Kings Cannot Meet'!"

"Oh, I see!"

Listening to Zhao Fusu explain the rules of Xiangqi, everyone nodded thoughtfully.

"This Chariot represents the war chariots on the battlefield."

With this description from Zhao Fusu, an image immediately formed in the minds of First Emperor, General Wang Jian, and the others.

"The Chariot is one of the most powerful offensive pieces in Xiangqi."

"The Chariot moves along vertical or horizontal lines without a limit on the number of steps; it can advance or retreat freely as long as there are no pieces blocking its path."

"The Horse represents cavalry. It moves in a 'ri' shape: first one step straight or sideways, then one step diagonally. It can also be viewed as moving two steps horizontally plus one step vertically, or two steps vertically plus one step horizontally."

"If there is another piece at the first step of the Horse's path, whether it is your own or the opponent's, it is called 'hobbling the Horse's leg,' and the Horse cannot move in that direction."

"The Cannon represents the artillery we use. When not capturing a piece, its movement is exactly the same as the Chariot, moving along vertical or horizontal lines without a step limit."

"When capturing a piece, it must jump over exactly one piece—either your own or the opponent's—to capture an opponent's piece."

"The Red side uses the Minister, while the Black side uses the Elephant. They move in a 'tian' shape, taking two steps along a diagonal. They cannot cross the Chu-Han Border and can only move within their own territory."

"If there is another piece in the center of the 'tian' shape, it is called 'blocking the Elephant's eye,' and the Minister or Elephant cannot move in that direction."

"The Guard can only move one step diagonally within the Nine Palaces; it cannot leave the Nine Palaces nor move in a straight line."

"Before crossing the Chu-Han Border, the Pawn or Soldier can only move one step straight forward. After crossing the Chu-Han Border, it can move one step forward, left, or right, but it cannot retreat."

"When your piece moves to an intersection point occupied by an opponent's piece, you capture that piece, and the captured piece is removed from the board."

"If a player makes a move that puts the opponent's General in an inescapable state of attack—meaning it would be captured on the next turn and the opponent has no way to resolve it—that player wins."

"If a player makes a move and the opponent has no legal moves left—even if the General is not checkmated—but all pieces are unable to move, that player wins."

"If neither side has a possibility of winning, such as when both sides only have the General, Guard, or Minister/Elephant left, with no offensive pieces."

"One side proposes a draw, and the other side agrees."

"If the same board position occurs three times in a row, with the same side to move each time, it can be declared a draw."