                    ABOUT THE CONTENTS OF CCHESS.ZIP
                           BY ROLEIGH MARTIN
                             CIS 71510,1042
                           5511 Malibu Drive
                             Edina MN 55436
                                12-23-93
        
        I am the packager of this ZIP file, CCHESS.ZIP, and am
        also known on the thousands of Fidonet BBSs that carry
        SDN files as the editor of ShareDebate International
        (more about that in the separate file, ABOUT_SI.TXT).
        
        I put this package together to introduce others to the
        incredible fun of Chinese Chess which is my favorite
        game.  My wife of 17 years is Chinese and I spend about
        a month a year in Hong Kong where I picked up the game.
        
        There are two public domain/freeware versions of
        Chinese Chess included in this file, CCHESS and XQ.
        CCHESS works fine for PC's and the HP 100 (a palmtop MS
        DOS MCGA computer) but if you can spend $35 (not to me
        but to the author of the game), the Xian for DOS game
        is far superior.  XQ works fine on a color PC (as does
        CCHESS) but XQ doesn't look good at all on the HP100 --
        no matter what screen shading/inversions I did.
        
        This ZIP file can introduce you to the game but if you
        begin to like it, I super recommend you getting Xian
        for DOS for your HP100 and it works great on your
        desktop too (it detects MCGA, CGA, EGA, VGA and acts
        accordingly).  If you like Windows-games, there is a
        Xian for MS Windows too.  Xian for DOS costs $39 and is
        available from Leong Jacobs Inc. (see next paragraph
        for address -- no phone orders.)  Xian for Windows can
        be ordered by phone and it is $39.95 from Mr. Sega at
        Tsoft, #9 Brittany Ln., Odessa TX 79761, ph: 915-366-
        2168. I think Tsoft accepts credit card orders -- but
        they do not sell Xian for DOS.  The same programmer did
        both programs but exclusively assigned selling rights
        of his window's based program to Tsoft.
        
        The two BMP files are captured screen images of the
        game pieces from Xian for MS Windows, software (not the
        game pieces which are in the public domain) copyrighted
        by Leong Jacobs Inc., 2729 Lury Lane Annapolis, MD
        21401.  Use the free MS Windows program, Paint Brush
        (see the Accessories window for the icon) to open these
        BMP files.
        
        There are two text files explaining the rules of
        Chinese Chess found on Compuserve, one of which
        accompanies the XQ and another one which is a stand-
        alone text file by Kevin Wang [73047,1651] originally
        named XIANQI.TXT (from the CHESSFORUM on Compuserve),
        but I renamed it CCHESS.RUL in this ZIP file.  The XQ
        files (XQ.RUL documentation and XQ.EXE freeware game)
        is by Peter Donnelly.  You can use these two ".RUL"
        files to learn the rules of Chinese Chess.  There are
        two ".SRC" files for additional resources on Chinese
        Chess and its nearly identical game, Korean Chess (same
        board/pieces -- different rules).
        
        This file documents the actual Chinese pieces, as they
        really look in person -- see the file WXIAN_T.BMP ("_T"
        for traditional), along with the way these pieces look
        in the Americanized version of Xian for Windows by
        Leong Jacobs Inc. (see the file WXIAN_A.BMP -- "_A" for
        Americanized).
        
        Chinese Chess is said in Chinese (using English
        spelling) as Xiangqi, pronounced Shiang-Chi with a
        longer name emphasizing the word "Chinese" with the
        pronunciation Chunguo Shiang-Chi.
        
        I'll detail the names of the pieces below in both
        Mandarin (official Chinese of Red China and Taiwan) and
        Cantonese (as in Hong Kong). The Cantonese is from a
        Hong Kong book, "Let's Play Chinese Chess" by B.
        Constantino, pub. by Book Marketing Ltd., HK, 1988.
        
        The Pinyin is how you would write Mandarin in English.
        The Cantonese is shown in the typical English spelling
        of the Cantonese word.  The English name is from the
        convention adopted by the International Chinese Chess
        Association as documented in Sloan's Chinese Chess for
        Beginners book.  (See CHICHESS.SRC for ordering
        information.)  Note: the translation of the word
        "Xiang" is Elephant -- hence the showing of a elephant
        for the bishop piece.
        
        Also, on real Chinese Chess boards, the colors are red
        and black -- not red and blue (as in the BMP file).
        
        COORDINATES    COLOR  ENGLISH  PINYIN  CANTONESE
        A0,I0,A9,I9    both   Rook     Ju      Kui
        B0,H0,B9,H9    both   Knight   Ma      Ma
        C0,G0          Red    Bishop   Xiang   Sheung
        C9,G9          Blue   Bishop   Xiang   Cheung
        D0,F0,D9,F9    both   Guard    Shi     See
        E0             Red    King     Jiang   Sui
        E9             Blue   King     Shuai   Cheung
        B2,H2,B7,H7    both   Cannon   Pao     Pow
        A3,C3,E3,G3,I3 Red    Pawn     Zu      Ping
        A6,C6,E6,G6,I6 Blue   Pawn     Bing    Tsut
        
        The only files needed on the HP 100, from this ZIP
        file, are the files: CCBLUE.DTA, CCHAR.MAP, CCHGC.CHN,
        CCIBM.CHN, CCRED.DTA, CCHESS.EXE. In the "More
        Applications" program, add a new record with these
        settings -- we'll assume you install these files in
        C:\GAMES (a new directory you can make by typing
        MD \GAMES):
        
          Name:  Chinese Chess
          Path:  c:\games\cchess.exe|128
          Comments: 128kb ram needed
          Icon:  C:>_
        
        On your PC, you can run both the game, CCHESS or the
        game XQ.  Just unzip all these files in one directory,
        such as \CCHESS, by typing:
        
          MD \CCHESS
          CD \CCHESS
          PKUNZIP CCHESS
        
        A free to copy shareware file-reader is included,
        called SEE.EXE.  To read any of the files, type SEE,
        highlight a file and press ENTER.  A freeware print
        program is included, called PR.EXE, which is documented
        in PR.TXT.  (The author of SEE.EXE requires that AMAZE.
        TXT is included, which it is, when one includes SEE.EXE
        in someone else's freeware/shareware.)
        
        If you install the Xian for DOS software on your HP 100
        (the $39 commercial software that is really super), in
        the "More Applications" program, add a new record with
        these settings -- we'll assume you install these files
        in C:\GAMES (a new directory you can make by typing
        MD \GAMES):
        
          Name:  Xian Chess
          Path:  c:\games\xian.exe|212
          Comments: 212kb ram needed
          Icon:  C:>_
        
        Wrapping up, there is a animated version of Chinese
        Chess, called Battle Chess II by Interplay that is on
        sale on many clearance racks for as low as $10
        (originally about $50).  It is great but slow and I
        find it fun for amusement only -- for frequent play, I
        prefer the Xian programs (both the DOS or Windows
        version).  It is also a memory hog and can't run under
        Windows and can't run on any palmtop.  It also requires
        answering a stupid question from the manual every time
        you run the game but NEVERLOCK (the shareware version)
        does strip that nuisance out of the code.
        
        In ending, I received a post card (my name must have
        gotten on a mailing list after ordering the Xian
        software) about the only periodical published in
        English in America on Chinese Chess, called XiangQi
        Review, which is a 20 page issue, published 6 times a
        year for only $10 US and Canada.  Write Dave Woo,
        Chinese Chess Institute, PO Box 5305, Hercules, CA
        94547-5305.  I recently subscribed but haven't gotten
        my first issue yet -- the postcard implied they'd wait
        until my check cleared ("...for fast processing, please
        remit by money order...").  I expect to get it soon
        though.
                        [END OF FILE]
        
