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China, and widely played across East and Southeast Asia

Xiangqi

Also called Chinese chess; cờ tướng in Vietnamese

Xiangqi has been played in China for well over a thousand years, and in parks and on doorsteps across East and Southeast Asia today.

In Vietnam it is cờ tướng, the general's game, and it is often played outdoors with an audience offering advice nobody asked for.

The rules, briefly

• The board is nine lines by ten, with a river across the middle and a small palace at each end.
• Pieces sit on the points, not in the squares. You win by trapping the other side's general.
• The cannon moves like a rook but must jump exactly one piece to capture. The elephant may not cross the river.

Try this: The central cannon

The most common first move puts a cannon on the middle file, aiming straight at the other general's palace. Try it, then try defending against it.

Play on CannonTales (two players, one screen)

Read more: Xiangqi on Wikipedia. Written from published sources; if your family plays it differently, write your rules down in Heirloom Rules, and if something here is wrong, tell us: hello@sparkanvil.org.