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HELP FILE FOR CHINESE CHESS 1.01 FOR IBM PC/XT/AT/compatibles
-------------------------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: IBM PC/XT/AT/compatibles
                     CGA/MCGA/EGA/VGA/SVGA/
                     Hercules/MDA graphics
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OBJECT OF THE GAME
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This program plays a very old Chinese game called Chinese Chess (Zhong Guo
Qi).  The board has 8x8 squares;  the game is very much like International
Chess, only more challenging!!  It takes a lot of guts to try such a game.

RULES OF THE GAME
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~







Board layout:       1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9
                    Ú----Â----Â----Â----Â----Â----Â----Â----¿  <--- A
                    |    |    |    | \\ | // |    |    |    |
                    Ã----Å----Å----Å--->Å<---Å----Å----Å----´  <--- B
                    |    |    |    | // | \\ |    |    |    |
                    Ã----Å----Å----Å----Å----Å----Å----Å----´  <--- C
                    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |
                    Ã----Å----Å----Å----Å----Å----Å----Å----´  <--- D
                    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |
                    Ã----Á----Á----Á----Á----Á----Á----Á----´  <--- E
                    |    YANGTZE KIANG                      |
                    |       RIVER                           |
                    Ã----Â----Â----Â----Â----Â----Â----Â----´  <--- F
                    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |
                    Ã----Å----Å----Å----Å----Å----Å----Å----´  <--- G
                    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |
                    Ã----Å----Å----Å----Å----Å----Å----Å----´  <--- H
                    |    |    |    | \\ | // |    |    |    |
                    Ã----Å----Å----Å--->Å<---Å----Å----Å----´  <--- I
                    |    |    |    | // | \\ |    |    |    |
                    À----Á----Á----Á----Á----Á----Á----Á----Ù  <--- J
                    1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9


     Note that the pieces are place on the lines and not inside the squares.
And that the lines are numbered (1-9,A-I); not the squares.

RIVER:    There is a river called the Yangtze Kiang that borders the two
          halves of the board.  During 300 B.C. when the game was invented,
          there were two kings who played the game to avoid war and bloodshed
          and it was this river that separated both kingdoms.  The rest is
          history.

CASTLE:   The formation of squares J4-H6 is actually the castle that
          belonging to the player.  And the opponent's castle is located
          at C4-A6.












     1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9
     Ú----Â----Â----Â----Â----Â----Â----Â----¿   <--- A
     |    |    |    | \\ | // |    |    |    |
     Ã----Å----Å----Å--->Å<---Å----Å----Å----´   <--- B
     |    |    |    | // | \\ |    |    |    |
     Ã----Å----Å----Å----Å----Å----Å----Å----´   <--- C
     |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |
     Ã----Å----Å----Å----Å----Å----Å----Å----´   <--- D
     |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |
     Ã----Á----Á----Á----Á----Á----Á----Á----´   <--- E
     |    YANGTZE KIANG                      |
     |       RIVER                           |
     Ã----Â----Â----Â----Â----Â----Â----Â----´   <--- F
     |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |
    PWN---Å---PWN---Å---PWN---Å---PWN---Å---PWN  <--- G
     |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |
     Ã---CAN---Å----Å----Å----Å----Å---CAN---´   <--- H
     |    |    |    | \\ | // |    |    |    |
     Ã----Å----Å----Å--->Å<---Å----Å----Å----´   <--- I
     |    |    |    | // | \\ |    |    |    |
    ROOK-KNGT-BISP-QUEN-KING-QUEN-BISP-KNGT-ROOK <--- J

     1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9




Player's pieces & movements
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PAWN   : [PWN] The pawns' movements are restricted to one-step forward-up
         before crossing the river.  Upon crossing the river, however, it
         can move one-step in three directions (up,left,right).


         Before crossing the river:          up
         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

         After crossing the river :          up
         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                                      left   **   right

CANNON : [CAN] The cannon can move in any of the four directions (up,down,
         left,right) in any number of steps but in order to capture a
         piece, there must be another piece in the path between the piece to
         be captured and the cannon.  This may take some time getting used
         to, but a cannon can be very powerful if manipulated with much
         thought.


         To move :          up            [ move in any number of steps  ]
         ~~~~~~~                          [ in either one of the up,down,]
                     left   **   right    [ left,or right direction      ]

                           down


         Special case: to capture a piece :
         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

                  up                 [ jump over a piece to capture a piece ]
                                     [ in either one of the up,down,left,   ]
                  @@                 [ or right direction                   ]
                                     [ @@ = another piece                   ]
     left   @@    **   @@   right

                  @@

                 down



ROOK   : [ROOK] The rook can move in any of the four directions (up,down,
         left,right) in any number of steps and it acts very much like
         the rook in the international chess.


         To move :          up            [ move in any number of steps  ]
         ~~~~~~~                          [ in either one of the up,down,]
                     left   **   right    [ left,or right direction      ]

                           down



KNIGHT : [KNGT] The knight has to move in a combination of two-steps
         movement: first by taking a one-step in any of the four directions
         (up,down,left,right) and followed by one diagonal step.  Any
         blockade (i.e. any piece placed) in the path of the intended move
         would forbid the move.

         To move :     [ one-step ]  up          [ one-step diagonal ]
         ~~~~~~~                     down     +
                                     left
                                     right


BISHOP : [BISP] One movement takes two-steps diagonal in the same direction.
         (North-east,South-east,South-west,North-west).  Like the knight,
         any blockade (i.e. any piece placed) in the path of the intended
         move would forbid the move.  Also, the bishop is not allowed to
         cross the river.

         To move :     [ two-steps diagonal ]
         ~~~~~~~


QUEEN  : [QUEN] The two queens' movement are limited to a one diagonal step.
         And the movements are restricted not to leave the castle. (i.e.
         square (J4-H6)).

         To move :     [ one-step diagonal within the castle only ]
         ~~~~~~~


KING   : [KING] The king can only make a one step four directions(North,
         East,South,West) movement.  And the movements are restricted not
         to leave the castle. (i.e. square (J4-H6)).  Both the player's and
         opponent's kings are not allowed to face each other directly, i.e.
         both the kings are on the same numbered line (1-9) and there
         are no other piece on that line between the two kings.

         To move :          up            [ one step within the castle only ]
         ~~~~~~~
                     left   **   right

                           down



HOW TO MOVE
~~~~~~~~~~~
Use the keypad keys to move the cursor:



          
          |
       --+-- 
          |
          



Touch <RETURN> or <SPACE> to make your move.



USING THE MENU
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Use the menu to perform these commands (type the first letter):

  G - Start/Continue Game
  L - Adjust Level
  P - Swap Player Color
  N - New Game
  B - Move Backward
  F - Move Forward
  W - Write Game To Disk
  R - Read Game From Disk
  S - Sound Switch
  Q - Quit

  Press the [ESC] key to get into the menu while playing.



