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Shanghai Palace Chess. A blend of Chinese, Japanese, and Western Chess. (9x9, Cells: 81) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
erwe wrote on Sat, Dec 1, 2012 05:17 PM UTC:
I thought of solving the elephant problem with giving them the ability to jump. it should make them more usefull as this piece has been coppied from an older veriant (persian i think). The cause of the elephant not being able to jump may come from the fact that there are less pieces in xiang qi than in western chess. I have not tried this game but I will try it soon since im making my own set

💡📝Gary Gifford wrote on Mon, Aug 16, 2010 11:31 PM UTC:

Hi Daniil Frolov - no need to apologize for having a similar game. With the large number of inventors and inventions, it happens every now and then.

Hi (zzo38) A. Black - Glad you like the game. Hopefully you got to play it against Zillions... though it mishandles cannons (at least it used to) I thought it was still fun...
but not as fun as playing against a human face-to-face. I agree that the western student's arguments are terrible. But I had heard some along those lines.


(zzo38) A. Black wrote on Mon, Aug 16, 2010 09:36 PM UTC:Good ★★★★
This is good. The western student's arguments are terrible. However, I still see how a cannon can capture the shogi pawn and then silver general capturing a cannon, I do not know whether or not changing this would improve the game, or make it worse.

Daniil Frolov wrote on Mon, Aug 16, 2010 07:08 AM UTC:
I'm sorry. My 'All pieces of classic chesses' looks like this, but i was not aware of Shanghai Palace Chess when i invented it. But my game have several important differences: it uses all pieces from all 3 games, it have interesting rules of several royal pieces and it's probably first game, where Chinese pawns can make double step and capture en-passant. But Shanghai Palace Chess is, however, probably much better to be actually played, i'll try it.

💡📝Gary Gifford wrote on Mon, Jan 19, 2009 05:39 PM UTC:
Hi Yu Ren Dong, and thank you for your recent comment in which you state two points, (1)The Kings are too weak to face Shogi promoted rook. (2) The Chinese Elephants are also too weak to face other pieces.

Thank you also for your suggestion, i.e. (A) let the kings also move diagonally and (B) the Silver Generals move to occupy the original squares of the Chinese Elephants.

Reply: That would change the game quite a bit. Each player would have much stronger defense capability. Attacking would be more difficult, defending would be easier.

If you want to make your suggested variation (which perhaps many would find better) I have no objection.

Note that there is a Zillions file for this game. The last I knew it mis-handled Cannons, but it still played by the rules and was still rather fun, I thought. ... Thanks again for your ideas.


Yu Ren Dong wrote on Sun, Jan 18, 2009 04:40 PM UTC:
The Kings are too weak to face Shogi promoted rook. The Chinese Elephants are also too weak to face other pieces. I sugguest that let the kings also move diagonally and the Silver Generals move to occupy the original squares of the Chinese Elephants.

💡📝Gary Gifford wrote on Sat, Apr 29, 2006 06:24 PM UTC:
Antoine:
Many thanks for correcting the piece setups.  It is much appreciated.

Antoine Fourrière wrote on Sat, Apr 29, 2006 12:30 AM UTC:
It looks like there were errors in both the preset and the shanghai2 set.

💡📝Gary Gifford wrote on Fri, Apr 28, 2006 09:08 PM UTC:
Each of the 3 presets for this game has a serious problem. The first two have incorret setups - for example, Lances where pawns should be. This was not the case when the presets first appeared; Refer to the rules or the Zillions ZRF file for correct setups. The last preset has missing pawns for one side.

💡📝Gary Gifford wrote on Fri, Aug 5, 2005 04:14 PM UTC:
Christine Bagley-Jones, thanks for the Excellent rating. I too think it is a very fun game and quite playable. I wanted to have a Shanghai Palace Chess tournament with a trophy for a prize... but the interest never seemed to be there. Perhaps someday.

Christine Bagley-Jones wrote on Fri, Aug 5, 2005 03:40 PM UTC:
hey, i thought it looked good too lol, the graphics :)
oh well ...

Christine Bagley-Jones wrote on Fri, Aug 5, 2005 03:36 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
yes this game can't have a 'poor' rating, it's fantastic :))
it would be even better with the cannon prob fixed, but even still, that
can't make it anything less than .. fantastic :)

💡📝Gary Gifford wrote on Sat, May 7, 2005 02:30 AM UTC:
This is to answer the question posted about which pieces can be dropped in Shanghai Palace Chess. Only the Shogi pieces and Shogi pawns can be dropped. The Shogi pieces can be quickly identified by their angled point. If you have Zillions you can play the game and see how pieces are dropped. However, note that the zrf currently mishandles cannons in a horrific manner.

Anonymous wrote on Fri, May 6, 2005 04:00 PM UTC:
Which pieces can and cannot be dropped (by the rules of Shogi)?

💡📝Gary Gifford wrote on Thu, Feb 3, 2005 10:59 PM UTC:
If there is enough interest and if none of the Senior Members of ChessVariants are opposed to it I would like to host a Shanghai Palace Chess Tournament (using the original version of the game). Note that if you use the Zillions engine you can gain a good understanding of the game, However, if you expect the Zillions engine to help you win games you will be disappointed as this is one game that so far the human mind is [for the most part] much better at.

Larry Smith wrote on Thu, Feb 3, 2005 12:03 PM UTC:
Would all the posters to this variant who promised to evaluate it after
trying the ZRF, please do so.

In my opinion, the current level of rating is quite unfair since it is
based on a single posting.

Being an individual involved with the project, rather remotely, I am not
at liberty to make an un-biased judgment.  But if I were, I would rate
this game as 'Excellent'.

Tony Quintanilla wrote on Tue, May 4, 2004 04:37 AM UTC:
Combined setup and flipping has been fixed.

💡📝Gary Gifford wrote on Mon, May 3, 2004 04:45 PM UTC:
For anyone looking at move couriers for Shanghai Palace Chess, please note that the board with the new 'Fergus' piece set is not set up correcectly at this time. For those interested, the new Fergus pieces include Chinese simulated wood international graphics pieces, western pieces, and the familiar modern Shogi pieces. This makes for a nice alternative set. On a different note: A special thanks to Fergus, Tony Q., and I believe L. Lynn Smith for resolving the 'Piece Flip Problem' and another thanks to Fergus for putting together the alternative piece set.

Tony Quintanilla wrote on Sat, May 1, 2004 04:24 AM UTC:
For some reason, I have not been able to implement the flipping feature in the preset with Shogi-style images. So, I changed the images to be all right-side-up instead of Shogi-style. <p>If anyone can point out my error in the original file that would allow flipping, here it is: <pre> &lt;? $dir = 'http://www.chessvariants.com/graphics.dir/gifford/'; $pieces = array( 'a' => 'cpawn_b.gif', 'A' => 'cpawn_r.gif', 'b' => 'wbishop_b.gif', 'B' => 'wbishop_r.gif', 'c' => 'cannon_b.gif', 'C' => 'cannon_r.gif', 'd' => 'promoted_lance_b.gif', 'D' => 'promoted_lance_r.gif', 'e' => 'elephant_b.gif', 'E' => 'elephant_r.gif', 'f' => 'promoted_sbishop_b.gif', 'F' => 'promoted_sbishop_r.gif', 'g' => 'guard_b.gif', 'G' => 'guard_r.gif', 'h' => 'promoted_silver_b.gif', 'H' => 'promoted_silver_r.gif', 'i' => 'promoted_sknight_b.gif', 'I' => 'promoted_sknight_r.gif', 'k' => 'king_b.gif', 'K' => 'king_r.gif', 'l' => 'lance_b.gif', 'L' => 'lance_r.gif', 'n' => 'wknight_b.gif', 'N' => 'wknight_r.gif', 'p' => 'wpawn_b.gif', 'P' => 'wpawn_r.gif', 'q' => 'queen_b.gif', 'Q' => 'queen_r.gif', 'r' => 'wrook_b.gif', 'R' => 'wrook_r.gif', 's' => 'silver_b.gif', 'S' => 'silver_r.gif', 'u' => 'promoted_spawn_b.gif', 'U' => 'promoted_spawn_r.gif', 'v' => 'promoted_srook_b.gif', 'V' => 'promoted_srook_r.gif', 'w' => 'sbishop_b.gif', 'W' => 'sbishop_r.gif', 'x' => 'sknight_b.gif', 'X' => 'sknight_r.gif', 'y' => 'spawn_b.gif', 'Y' => 'spawn_r.gif', 'z' => 'srook_b.gif', 'Z' => 'srook_r.gif' ); $flipped = array( 'a' => 'cpawn_b_rev.gif', 'A' => 'cpawn_r_rev.gif', 'b' => 'wbishop_b_rev.gif', 'B' => 'wbishop_r_rev.gif', 'c' => 'cannon_b_rev.gif', 'C' => 'cannon_r_rev.gif', 'd' => 'promoted_lance_b_rev.gif', 'D' => 'promoted_lance_r_rev.gif', 'e' => 'elephant_b_rev.gif', 'E' => 'elephant_r_rev.gif', 'f' => 'promoted_sbishop_b_rev.gif', 'F' => 'promoted_sbishop_r_rev.gif', 'g' => 'guard_b_rev.gif', 'G' => 'guard_r_rev.gif', 'h' => 'promoted_silver_b_rev.gif', 'H' => 'promoted_silver_r_rev.gif', 'i' => 'promoted_sknight_b_rev.gif', 'I' => 'promoted_sknight_r_rev.gif', 'k' => 'king_b_rev.gif', 'K' => 'king_r_rev.gif', 'l' => 'lance_b_rev.gif', 'L' => 'lance_r_rev.gif', 'n' => 'wknight_b_rev.gif', 'N' => 'wknight_r_rev.gif', 'p' => 'wpawn_b_rev.gif', 'P' => 'wpawn_r_rev.gif', 'q' => 'queen_b_rev.gif', 'Q' => 'queen_r_rev.gif', 'r' => 'wrook_b_rev.gif', 'R' => 'wrook_r_rev.gif', 's' => 'silver_b_rev.gif', 'S' => 'silver_r_rev.gif', 'u' => 'promoted_spawn_b_rev.gif', 'U' => 'promoted_spawn_r_rev.gif', 'v' => 'promoted_srook_b_rev.gif', 'V' => 'promoted_srook_r_rev.gif', 'w' => 'sbishop_b_rev.gif', 'W' => 'sbishop_r_rev.gif', 'x' => 'sknight_b_rev.gif', 'X' => 'sknight_r_rev.gif', 'y' => 'spawn_b_rev.gif', 'Y' => 'spawn_r_rev.gif', 'z' => 'srook_b_rev.gif', 'Z' => 'srook_r_rev.gif' ); $flip = true; ?&gt; </pre>

💡📝Gary Gifford wrote on Wed, Apr 28, 2004 09:08 PM UTC:
A note for anyone who is about to play Shanghai Palace Chess from the 'blue side': Currently the Game Courier will show the pieces upside down when blue is at the bottom. Although I just completed a game this way with no problem, it was quite awkward seeing the Shogi piece vectors oriented 180 degrees out of phase. So, you will need to be extra careful when making moves. When you play blue from bottom using the Zillions ZRF you will need to select the second piece set to have the pieces orient properly. Also, if you play this game it is very important to remember that the King is a Chinese King. He can easily be mated by a single Cannon since he cannot move diagonally.

💡📝Gary Gifford wrote on Thu, Apr 8, 2004 03:17 AM UTC:
This is in regard to the Fergus analogy pertaining to Shanghai Palace Chess, and about the associated challenge (better known as the composite lady image challenge). I find the image interesting and I may have my artist friend enhance it. There is also a new image (of a face) which is part of another Fergus challenge. But this 'composite imagery stuff' is not really related to Shanghai Palace Chess... at least not directly. It is merely an analogy run amok. The image has no place in the chess variants pages. But for those of you intrigued by the concept of the image you may like chapter 4 of my book, The Bermuda Pie-Angle. Chapter 4 is called, 'Ladies, Earthly and Otherwise.'

Mark Thompson wrote on Thu, Apr 8, 2004 02:44 AM UTC:
So is someone going to post this fabulous composite picture for us, or must we forever remained tantalized by imagining what she/she/she must look like? Could it be added to the Shanghai Palace page, as an illustration of the concept of blending three different entities into a new whole?

🕸Fergus Duniho wrote on Wed, Apr 7, 2004 05:28 PM UTC:
To keep everyone up to date, Gary made two substitutions: Rachael Welch for Patricia Ja Lee and some unidentified redhead for Milla Jovovich, then combined the legs of Heather Graham, the torso of Welch, and the head of the unidentified redhead. I regarded the result as unattractive, but also explained that I had in mind a combination of faces, which is why differences in hair color mattered. Gary accepted this challenge, and today I sent him three JPG images, all of different actresses. The brunette picture is of the actress who played that sexy green chick in one of the original Star Trek episodes. The redhead picture is of the actress who played a Romulan commander in the latest Star Trek movie. And the blonde picture is of an actress who, as far as the Internet Movie Database can assure me, has never appeared in any Star Trek episode or movie. But they all have something in common. If you're clever enough, you can figure out what that is and who they all are. So I'll just leave it as a puzzle without mentioning their names.

💡📝Gary Gifford wrote on Tue, Apr 6, 2004 03:46 AM UTC:
Gee Whiz Fergus... how can I refuse a challenge like that? As the one lady [composed of three] concept is related to Shanghai Palace Chess by way of your analogy, I have made a composite and sent it to you. Best regards, Gary

🕸Fergus Duniho wrote on Tue, Apr 6, 2004 12:55 AM UTC:
Gary,

If you're really up to the challenge of combining images of a beautiful
blonde, redhead, and brunette, let me give you the names of three
beautiful actresses, images of whom can be found various places on the
web, and see what you can do. For the blonde, I pick Heather Graham. For
the redhead, I pick Milla Jovovich, as she appeared in the movie The Fifth
Element. And for the brunette, I pick Patricia Ja Lee, who played the Pink
Power Ranger in Power Rangers in Space. (I'm not really a fan of Power
Rangers, but her beauty was so great it gave me all the reason I needed to
watch Power Rangers in Space. You can probably thank her beauty for the
eventual existence of Sentai Chess, Fusion Chess, and several games I
based on Fusion Chess.)

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