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Expanded Chinese Chess. Missing description (9x12, Cells: 108) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]

H. G. Muller wrote on Mon, Feb 21, 2011 02:49 PM UTC:

I think 'half the points' just means it is color bound, not that it cannot cross the river. The argument that a Horse would be better because it can reach all ponts is complete nonsense, of course. In standard Chess a Bishop is already equivalen to a Knight, despite the fact that it can reach only half the squares and the Knight all, and on a 10x8 a Bishop is half a Pawn better than a Knight. There are color-bound pieces that are stronger than a Rook (e.g. B+D, the Bede of Chess with Different Armies). And a Xiangqi Horse is only worth half a Knight, because of its lameness. So the javelin is likely to be significantly stronger than two Horses.

Btw, it seems that R is already significantly stronger than C+H in standard Xiangqi. In comp-comp games, when I see such a trade made erly in the game, the Rook side almost always wins.