VDB Chinese Chess 1.10 review

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VDB Chinese Chess is a Chinese chess program which uses pictures instead of Chinese letters so people who aren't Chinese can play it

License: GPL (GNU General Public License)
File size: 563K
Developer: Tim vor der Brueck
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VDB Chinese Chess is a Chinese chess program which uses pictures instead of Chinese letters so people who aren't Chinese can play it. VDB Chinese Chess supports 99 levels and different computer levels can play against each other.

Installation :

Step 1: Make sure that all necessary components are installed!

This program needs:

1. g++: Gnu c++ support including header files
2. xaw3d: 3D-extension for the Athena Widget Set if you cannot find it you can change xaw3d by xaw in src/Makefile.in but the program will not look so nicely
3. Standard Template Library

Actually this program will use only one header file for the function max(), that returns the maximum of two values. You can implement that yourself. 4. xpm: this is a library for icons in x- all board pieces are implemented with this library, this library is very common under X, so it should be included in your distribution 5. pthread: this is used for multithreading, sometimes also called pthreads, you might have to change this in your src/Makefile.in

Step 2:download this program and unzip it in the directory you want to run it. There is NO separate installation directory! tar xfz cchess.tar.gz

Step 3: cd cchess_dist/cchess

Step 4: ./configure
make
make install

Rules of Chinese Chess:

Indeed, Chinese Chess is very similar to Chess but there are some differences according how to move your pieces on the board and the following:

1. You cannot exchange the pawn against some other piece if you reach the end of the board
2. There is no rochade and moving "en passant"
3. You lose the game also if you are stalemate
4. If both kings are on the same column there must be one piece between them
5. If there is three times the same position because of the same moves you must move different next time
6. The pieces are not black and white but red and black. Red moves first.

There are the following important locations:

The two palaces, each consists of nine fields marked by two diagonal lines.
The river: The area in the middle of the board, that is not interrupted by lines
The pieces on the board move the following way:
King: Can only move one field forward or to the side, not diagonal. Has to stay inside the palace
Pawn: Moves one field forward. If he is beyond the river he can also moves side wards
Rock: Moves one or more fields to the side, forward, backward but not diagonal
Cannon: Moves one or more fields to the side, forward, backward but not diagonal. Must always jump over one piece!
Horse: Moves one field straight, one field diagonal, cannot move over another piece.
Elephant: Moves exactly 2 fields diagonal, cannot move over the river
Mandarin: Has to stay inside the palace. Moves one field diagonal.

What's New in This Release:
This release fixes some defects in the game strategy.

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