Game of the Three Friends ( 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-yǒu-qí'' ; also called Sanyou Qi or Three Friends Chess) 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"). It was invented by Zheng Jinde ( Chinese: , ''Zhèng Jìndé'') during 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 ...

(1661–1722 AD). 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 AD) 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 ...

Game overview

The Three Friends are represented by colors blue, red, and green, respectively. Each player controls all the standard xiangqi pieces, with each general represented by the character of its respective kingdom. In addition, each player controls two extra pieces: "flag" () and "fire" (). A fire moves like a forward-moving

ferz The ferz or fers is a fairy chess piece that may move one square diagonally.Piececlopedia: Ferz
at ''< ...

: one step diagonally forward, with no retreating, while a flag moves exactly two steps straight forward, until it crosses out of its own territory, after which it moves as a chariot.

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. The board includes spaces which restrict travel for certain pieces; these spaces are labeled "ocean" (), "mountain" () and "city" (). Chariot and horse pieces are not allowed to pass through the ocean space. Cannons are not allowed to pass through mountain and city spaces.

Play conventions

It may be necessary or desirable to add further play conventions for completeness: * Red moves first. Then move turns alternate counterclockwise around the board. * After a checkmate, removal of the mated general and army appropriation are done in a separate move turn. The piece delivering mate replaces the enemy general on its square.

References

{{reflist Chess variants Chinese ancient games Xiangqi variants

Game overview

Play conventions

See also

References