Janggi rules
In this chapter main Janggi rules were collected. In next chapters You can find more detailed informations about pieces, rules of movement and in the future also some examples of the games.
1. The blue player starts the game. Because of that, red one has some extra points to compansate the difference. Red starts having 73,5 points, and blue/green – 72 points (this deduction is called “kami”). Figure details and movement description You can find in the page with Janggi figures.
2. Winner is the player who bites an opposite general.
3. Players before the game starts can choose from 4 starting positions (details here).
4. Starting a game by moving the cannon is forbidden.
5. In Janggi You can skip the move – if You don’t have any legal move You can wait one round without moving.
6. Draw (bikjang) is possible when generals are vis a vis and none of the player can legally move. But draw in Janggi is very rare – due to the fact that You can skip the roud. Moreover in the tournament if the situation on board repeats 3 times, the judge is forcing losing player to move in different way. In tournaments if the bikjang is in the game, judge is requesting to count points of figures that remain on the board (including “komi” for the blue player. I met also the note that the player can request the draw only in the case when sum of points of each player is less than 30 (this rule is not known for many players and when friends are playing this rule is ignored).
7. In the tournament it’s common that the older player(or with heigher rank) hidds in hands one soldier per each colour. Another player is poiting one hand and plays with the chosen colour. In Janggi red figures are set first on the board. This rule is coming from the freedom to set elephant and horse in many positions. This is an advantage for the blue/green player. In casual play there’s a habit that older player takes red.