Top 5 Benefits of Xiangqi, Chinese Chess
Xiangqi is a variant of chess that is played all around the world. Also known as Chinese chess, xiangqi is widely popular in Vietnam, Singapore, and Malaysia.
Xiangqi is a more dynamic and interesting game than the chess you might be used to.
Let’s dig into the top 5 benefits of playing xiangqi:
Build life skills
Join a thriving community
Hone your focus
Boost your brainpower
Practice winning and losing with grace
1. Xiangqi helps you build life skills
It’s no secret that chess is widely considered to help players outside of the game. Similarly, the skills you learn in xiangqi can help you in your real life outside of the game. Honing your strategic thinking and decision making ability can help you in your career.
But xiangqi is not only for adults: seeing the consequences of your actions and how to get out of tricky situations can help your child build character.
Lesson from Xiangqi #1: Playing Chinese Chess offers the chance to learn valuable skills at every stage in life.
2. Xiangqi offers an opportunity to join a thriving and supportive community
Xiangqi is an ancient variant of chess that has been continuously played since at least 700 AD. With over a billion players, xiangqi has truly become a global game and has die hard fans in every part of the world.
From beginners to masters, there is a strong community for every level of player. Long-time players of xiangqi are especially welcoming to beginners and are often excited to share their knowledge.
Lesson from Xiangqi #2: Supportive and welcoming communities from all over the world are here to share wisdom passed down for millennia with you.
3. Xiangqi helps you hone your focus
Playing xiangqi is a great way to improve your ability to focus. With so many distractions in the modern world, it can be hard to concentrate on just one thing. Because it is such a dynamic and fast-paced game, Chinese Chess is a great way to train your focus.
Lesson from Xiangqi #3: Playing Chinese Chess offers the chance to get better at focusing on one task at a time and mastering it.
4. Xiangqi helps exercise your brain
Xiangqi can help you supercharge your intelligence. With intricate openings and pieces with subtle powers, xiangqi demands that you hold a lot in your mind at once.
With practice, you can begin to see many moves ahead, exercising your memory. For example, at first you might be surprised that your piece has been captured in the next move. With time, you’ll see that trap coming, and be able to spring one of your own on your opponent!
You’ll start to develop your own creative strategies and ideas for how to win.
Lesson from Xiangqi #4: Chinese Chess offers you the chance to stay sharp, no matter what age you’re at. Playing xiangqi can help you make strategic decisions in other areas of your life.
5. Practice winning and losing with grace
Xiangqi also allows you to practice winning - and losing - a game with grace. Life is not a single smooth path, uninterrupted by turbulence. Instead, like xiangqi, life is full of surprises and twists. It is how we learn to deal with these unexpected events that helps us learn to live. Learning to focus on the game and seeing it pay off in a win is an amazing confidence boost. When you win through hard work and your ability alone, it can give you the confidence to try other new things in life.
Lesson from Xiangqi #5: Chinese Chess offers you the chance to learn how to win and lose based on your talent alone, and helps you learn from your mistakes.