Manchu Chess

Manchu chess (Chinese: 满洲棋; pinyin: Mǎnzhōuqí), also known as Yitong or Yitong chess (Chinese: 一统棋; pinyin: Yìtǒngqí), is an asymmetric variant of Xiangqi. It was created during the Qing Dynasty by the Bannermen and was one of the most popular board games among them.

Rules

The board and pieces are almost the same as Xiangqi. The red side is unchanged, while the black side loses all its cannons, horses, but one of his chariot combines the moves of the normal chariot, cannon, and horse. This piece is sometimes referred to as the Banner.

In the original Manchu game the black side is unchanged, while the red side has the Banner and loses the other chariot as well. That setup is rather unbalanced so we decided to change it in Manchu+.

Strategy

The red player must be careful not to lose pieces too easily to the banner.