Janggi
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''Janggi'' (including romanizations ''changgi'' and ''jangki''), sometimes called Korean chess, is a
strategy Strategy (from Greek στρατηγία ''stratēgia'', "art of troop leader; office of general, command, generalship") is a general plan to achieve one or more long-term or overall goals under conditions of uncertainty. In the sense of the "art ...
board game Board games are tabletop games that typically use . These pieces are moved or placed on a pre-marked board (playing surface) and often include elements of table, card, role-playing, and miniatures games as well. Many board games feature a comp ...
popular on the
Korean Peninsula Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...
. The game was derived from
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, '' ch ...
(Chinese chess), and is very similar to it, including the starting position of some of the pieces, and the 9×10 gameboard, but without the xiangqi "river" dividing the board horizontally in the middle. Janggi is played on a board nine lines wide by ten lines long. The game is sometimes fast paced due to the jumping cannons and the long-range elephants, but professional games most often last over 150 moves and so are typically slower than those of
Western chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to distin ...
. In 2009, the first world janggi tournament was held in
Harbin Harbin (; mnc, , v=Halbin; ) is a sub-provincial city and the provincial capital and the largest city of Heilongjiang province, People's Republic of China, as well as the second largest city by urban population after Shenyang and largest ...
,
Heilongjiang Heilongjiang () formerly romanized as Heilungkiang, is a province in northeast China. The standard one-character abbreviation for the province is (). It was formerly romanized as "Heilungkiang". It is the northernmost and easternmost province ...
, China.


Rules


Board

The board is composed of 90 intersections of 9 vertical files and 10 horizontal rows. The board has nearly the same layout as that used in
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, '' ch ...
, except the janggi board has no "river" in the central row. The pieces consist of disks marked with identifying characters and are placed on the line intersections (as in the Chinese games xiangqi and Go). Janggi pieces are traditionally
octagon In geometry, an octagon (from the Greek ὀκτάγωνον ''oktágōnon'', "eight angles") is an eight-sided polygon or 8-gon. A '' regular octagon'' has Schläfli symbol and can also be constructed as a quasiregular truncated square, t, whi ...
al in shape, and differ in size according to their rank. The sides are Blue (or sometimes Green), which moves first, versus Red. Each side has a ''palace'' that is 3 lines by 3 lines (9 positions) in the centre of their side of the board against the back edge. The palace contains four diagonal lines extending outwards from the centre, forming an "X" shape.


Pieces

The pieces are labelled with
hanja Hanja (Hangul: ; Hanja: , ), alternatively known as Hancha, are Chinese characters () used in the writing of Korean. Hanja was used as early as the Gojoseon period, the first ever Korean kingdom. (, ) refers to Sino-Korean vocabulary, wh ...
(; ''Chinese characters''). The characters on the red pieces are all written in the
regular script Regular script (; Hepburn: ''kaisho''), also called (), (''zhēnshū''), (''kǎitǐ'') and (''zhèngshū''), is the newest of the Chinese script styles (popularized from the Cao Wei dynasty c. 200 AD and maturing stylistically around the ...
(; ''Regular script'') while the blue/green pieces are all written in the
semi-cursive script Semi-cursive script (), also known as running hand script, is a style of calligraphy which emerged in China during the Han dynasty (3rd century BC – 3rd century AD). The style is used to write Chinese characters and is abbreviated slightly w ...
(; ''Running script'').


General

The pieces that are equivalent to the kings in Western chess are actually referred to as generals ( ''janggun'') in Korean. They are labelled with the
Chinese character Chinese characters () are logograms developed for the Written Chinese, writing of Chinese. In addition, they have been adapted to write other East Asian languages, and remain a key component of the Japanese writing system where they are k ...
''Han'' 한 (in 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 for ...
: ''Hàn''; ) on the red side, and ''Cho'' 초 (''Chǔ''; ) on the blue side. They represent the rival states of
Han Han may refer to: Ethnic groups * Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group. ** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...
and Chu that fought for power in the post-
Qin Dynasty The Qin dynasty ( ; zh, c=秦朝, p=Qín cháo, w=), or Ch'in dynasty in Wade–Giles romanization ( zh, c=, p=, w=Ch'in ch'ao), was the first Dynasties in Chinese history, dynasty of Imperial China. Named for its heartland in Qin (state), ...
interregnum period in China (see
Chu–Han contention The Chu–Han Contention ( zh, , lk=on) or Chu–Han War () was an interregnum period in ancient China between the fallen Qin dynasty and the subsequent Han dynasty. After the third and last Qin ruler, Ziying, unconditionally surrendered t ...
). In North Korea, the Chu–Han setup is not used; the red general there is called ''jang'' (, "general") and the blue general is called ''gwan'' (, "minister"). Both kings can also be referred to generally as ''gung'' (, "palace"). Janggi differs from its Chinese counterpart in that the janggi general starts the game from the central intersection of the palace, rather than from the centre intersection of the back edge. The general may move one step per turn along marked board lines to any of the nine points within the palace. There are four diagonal lines in the palace connecting the centre position to the corners. When the general is checkmated the game is lost. The general cannot leave the palace under any circumstances. If the generals come to face each other across the board, and the player to move does not move away, this is ''bikjang''—a draw. This rule is different from that of xiangqi where it is illegal for the generals to face. In janggi, a player may pass his turn, which is called "한수쉼 (han-soo-swim)". Unless the general is in check, there is no restriction on when or how many times one can pass during the game. The game ends up a draw if both side pass. Stalemate doesn't result in the end of a game in janggi. If a player has no legal move left, he is just forced to pass and the other player can still continue.


Guards

The pieces are labeled ''sa'' 사 () and are civilian government officials (i.e. council members serving the commander in chief). They are often called guards, since they stay close to the general. Other names are assistants or mandarins. The guards start to the left and right of the general on the first rank. They move the same as the general, one step per turn along marked lines in the palace. The guards are one of the weakest pieces because they may not leave the palace. They are valuable for protecting the general.


Horses

Called the horse or ''ma'' 마 (). The horse moves one step orthogonally then one step diagonally outward, with no jumping. If there is a piece on its first step (the red circles in the diagram), it's restricted to moving in that direction. This piece is exactly the same as the horse in xiangqi (i.e. A horse can be transposed with an adjacent elephant in the initial setup.


Elephants

The elephants or ''sang'' 상 () begin the game to the left and right of the guards. They move one point orthogonally followed by two points diagonally away from their starting point, ending on the opposite corner of a 2×3 rectangle. Like the horse, the elephant is blocked from moving by any intervening pieces (the red circles in the diagram). Unlike
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, '' ch ...
, which confines elephants to their own side of the board behind a "river", in janggi there is no river and elephants are not limited to one side of the board. The janggi elephant can therefore be used more offensively than the xiangqi elephant. An elephant can be transposed with an adjacent horse in the initial setup.


Chariots

These are labelled ''cha'' 차 (). Like the
rook Rook (''Corvus frugilegus'') is a bird of the corvid family. Rook or rooks may also refer to: Games *Rook (chess), a piece in chess *Rook (card game), a trick-taking card game Military * Sukhoi Su-25 or Rook, a close air support aircraft * USS ...
in Western chess, the chariot moves and captures in a straight line either horizontally or vertically. Additionally, the chariot may move along the diagonal lines inside either palace, but only in a straight line. The two chariots begin the game in the corners. The chariot is the most powerful piece in the game.


Cannons

These are labelled ''po'' 포 (). Each player has two cannons. The cannons are placed on the row behind the soldiers, directly in front of the horses (if the horses are put on the file next to the chariots). The cannon moves by jumping another piece horizontally or vertically. The jump can be performed over any distance provided that there is exactly one piece anywhere between the original position and the target. In order to capture a piece, there must be exactly one piece (friendly or otherwise) between the cannon and the piece to be captured. The cannon then moves to that point and captures the piece. They may also move or capture diagonally along the diagonal lines in either palace, provided there is an intervening piece in the centre (i.e. it can only happen if the cannon is at a corner of the palace) They are powerful at the beginning of the game when "hurdles" are plentiful, but lose value rapidly with attrition. The other piece over which the cannon jumps may not be another cannon, nor can a cannon capture another cannon. In the diagram below, the blue cannon can move to the blue circles but not to the red ones; the blue and the red cannons in the palaces cannot capture one another. The right red cannon cannot capture the blue chariot either. Unlike
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, '' ch ...
, janggi requires cannons to jump in order to move, as well as capture. This means in the starting position, there are no valid moves available for the cannon.


Soldiers

These are labelled ''byeong'' 병 () (soldiers, general term for a soldier) for Red and ''jol'' 졸 () (also means soldiers, usually lowest ranking soldiers) for Blue. Each side has five soldiers, initially placed on alternating points, one row back from the edge of where the river would be in xiangqi. Unlike pawns in Western chess, they move and capture one point either straight forward or sideways (unlike xiangqi, where soldiers must cross the "river" to be able to move sideways.) There is no promotion; once they reach the end of the board they may only move sideways. Soldiers may also move one point diagonally forward when within the enemy palace.


Setting up

In tournaments, the elder player, or higher ranked player, conceals a soldier from each side in their hands. The opponent selects a hand to determine their colour. After that, Han places their pieces first, followed by Cho placing theirs. (The reason both sides are not placed simultaneously is because the positions of horse and elephant can be transposed, giving some strategical advantage to the player who places last.) There are four or five possible setups. They are basically named after the relative position of elephant. Traditionally, there is the fifth, Central Chariot Setup, which is no longer used in modern tournament rule in South Korea, but may be still found in casual games or in North Korea. After the pieces are set up, Cho moves first.


Ending the game

The game is won by checkmating the opposing general. This is called ''weh-toeng'' (). In Western chess,
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 inferior ...
is achieved when no legal moves are possible. However, the stalemate is not a draw in janggi. The player must pass their turn when no legal moves are possible. If neither player can move legally, or if neither player can win because neither player has enough pieces, the game ends in a draw. A player may decide to make a move such that their general faces the opponent's general unobstructed (a condition called ''bikjang''). In this situation, the opponent can either call a draw, or make a move that breaks the condition. In many cases, the bikjang rule can be used to force the opponent to call a draw on a losing game, by forcing them to sacrifice a valuable piece to break the bikjang position. It may not apply in some games, and usually the players will consent on the validity of the rule before the game begins. Check is announced by declaring ''janggun'' (), meaning "general". Getting out of janggun is called meonggun, and one may declare ''meonggun'' while escaping from janggun. But it is not necessary to say ''janggun'' out loud.


Miscellaneous rules

In South Korean tournaments, according to rules set by the Korean Janggi Association, there is no draw in any form, including draw by perpetual check or repetition of position. If a position repeats three times, a referee is called to determine who is at fault. Usually the referee orders the player who is losing to make a different move, so the player who is winning can press for an advantage. Sometimes it is not technically clear who is to blame, and different referees may differ as to which player must deviate, or whether repetition is mutually forced. This rule is applied because a winner and a loser must be decided during the game. If both players have less than 30 piece points, however, a draw is allowed by both repetition and perpetual check. In tournaments where draws are not allowed, draws are resolved by adding up the points of their pieces that are still on the board. : Because the player with the blue pieces (''cho'') starts, they have an advantage. To compensate for this, Red receives 1.5 points (called 'deom' () in Korean), the half-point being to avoid ties. So when the game starts, Blue has 72 points and Red has 73.5 points. If neither side can force a win, the player with the most points is declared the winner.


In South Korean culture

In South Korea one will often see older men crowding around a single janggi board while two men play for small amounts of money. These games are played year round, especially in city parks in
Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...
. Janggi is occasionally played as a gambling game, and it is currently less popular in South Korea than the
strategy game A strategy game or strategic game is a game (e.g. a board game) in which the players' uncoerced, and often autonomous, decision-making skills have a high significance in determining the outcome. Almost all strategy games require internal decisio ...
baduk (known in the West as go). The Korea Janggi Association is responsible for promoting janggi in South Korea.


Westernized variant

Similar to European Xiangqi,Xiangqi (象棋): Chinese Chess – The Chess Variant Pages
/ref> the same is possible for Janggi, with a board of 9 × 10 cells.


See also

*
List of Janggi variants Many variants of janggi have been developed over the centuries. A few of these variants are still regularly played, though none are nearly as popular as janggi itself. Gwangsanghui Gwangsanghui (廣象戱, 광상희) is an 18th-century janggi v ...
** Gwangsanghui (, 광상희)—an 18th-century Janggi variant *
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, '' ch ...
*
Shogi , also known as Japanese chess, is a strategy board game for two players. It is one of the most popular board games in Japan and is in the same family of games as Western chess, ''chaturanga, Xiangqi'', Indian chess, and '' janggi''. ''Shōgi'' ...


References


Further reading

* * * * *


External links


Complete janggi manual
visual manual for Janggi with westernized pictograms instead of Chinese characters

by Jean-Louis Cazaux; presentation, rules, history

by Jean-Louis Cazaux, ''
The Chess Variant Pages ''The Chess Variant Pages'' is a non-commercial website devoted to chess variants. It was created by Hans Bodlaender in 1995. The site is "run by hobbyists for hobbyists" and is "the most wide-ranging and authoritative web site on chess variants". ...
''
Korea Janggi Federation

Korea Janggi Association

''Introduction to Korean Chess''
by Chris McDade
Brain TV
a janggi cable TV channel * Playsites
GoldToken.com




a simple program by Ed Friedlander (
Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...
)

Online Janggi Board
a web Janggi board written in JavaScript Engines
Fairy-Stockfish

Janggi Master
{{Authority control Abstract strategy games Games related to chaturanga Traditional board games Korean games Xiangqi variants