Indeed at some point in your life, you have played chess, and you may even consider yourself a fan of this board game. However, not everybody knows that there are other similar entertainments, even of the same family, among which we can mention Japanese chess, or the one we are especially interested in, this case, Chinese chess, a variant of the original with many exciting aspects.

Chinese chess, also known as Xiangqi, which means elephant game, is nothing else than a strategy game played on a board or table, and as its name indicates, it has elements in common with western chess. In its case, it is speculated that it has more than 2,500 years of history, and best of all, it is that right now, you can also enjoy it on your computer thanks to SA Chess.

How it works

SA Chess is one of the best applications that we have available nowadays to enjoy Chinese chess on our PC, considering that it is a not-so-common game, in which we start from the use of a board that has ten horizontal lines, but not ten other vertical lines, but nine vertical lines, so it is not entirely square like the chess of all life.

Also, unlike chess, we all know in SA Chess, the pieces are not placed inside each of the internal squares but on their intersection points, while in the center of the board appears a kind of fort. Inside this fort is, of course, the king, while the middle line of the board represents a river. As you can see, all are very traditionally Chinese.

Although there are different variants when playing Chinese chess, and many times in the West, the original pieces are modified to make it easier for everyone to enjoy it, SA Chess opts for the opposite way. In their case, the pieces are original, with the symbols used in the game's country of origin. Likewise, you can make minor modifications to the application's Settings if you want.

And what pieces or characters are part of Chinese chess? Well, some are very different from those we are used to seeing since, in this case, we find the elephant, the general, the officer, the horse, the chariot, the cannon, the soldier, and finally, the king. In the same way as in chess in this part of the world, in Chinese chess, each piece moves differently from the others.

The end of the game in Chinese chess is also the same as in Western chess, considering that the game ends proclaiming a winner when a player gives a checkmate to his opponent, with the difference that here there are no checkers avoidable with the moves of the king. Of course, to get good results, you must first take the trouble to analyze in detail how each character moves.

Then SA Chess can be played in several different ways, not only because it is possible to select the level of difficulty of the game, but also because you can select if you want to have a time limit for each of the moves, as in professional western chess, or if you want to think everything you need before running that piece. Its game customization possibilities are exciting.

On the other hand, the user interface of SA Chess has pleased us a lot considering that it respects absolutely what we could find in a physical game of Chinese chess, with the original pieces that are part of the game. In addition, the graphics, in general, and the moves, in particular, are well achieved, and the many icons in the menu let us know what features we have available.

The best

SA Chess has many positive aspects, although undoubtedly the most remarkable of them all is that it is one of the few free applications that allows us to enjoy Chinese chess on our computers today. Considering that it is a variant with elements with familiar but original touches, we are sure that many chess lovers will want to try it, and here they can do it.

The worst

SA Chess doesn't have anything particularly bad. However, if we could have changed something on our own, it would have been to add a Spanish translation, which would make it easier for users without knowledge of Chinese chess to consult with their assistants all the time. As we said, you can look for that information outside or be guided by the icons, which are not bad.

Rating

In general terms, SA Chess is one of the best applications that can be installed on a computer now if you want to have fun playing Chinese chess games to get out of the usual. Although not too many programs offer this type of entertainment, you can be sure that at least for this game, you will not need any other.