Wikipedia:Today's featured article/July 13, 2005



Xiangqi is a Chinese game in a family of strategic board games of which Western chess and Japanese shogi are also members. The Chinese name is literally translatable as either "elephant chess" or "image/representational/symbolic chess", but is commonly called Chinese chess in the West. The ancestry of Xiangqi is disputed with some historians contending that it originated from Liubo and others stating that it is a relative of the 6th century Indian game of chaturanga. It is one of the most popular board games of the chaturanga family in the world, especially in Asia. Distinctive features of xiangqi include the unique movement of the pao ("cannon") piece, a rule prohibiting the generals (similar to chess kings) from facing each other directly, and the river and palace board features, which restrict the movement of some pieces.

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