Shap Luk Kon Tsu Tseung Kwan

Alternate Names

The name of this game is Cantonese and translates roughly as “Sixteen Pursue the General”. It is often referred to in English literature as Sixteen Soldiers or Sixteen Rebels. Larger versions of the game are called Twenty-six Rebels as appropriate with an increase in the number of “rebel” counters. Hyde described the the game from Nanking played on board 3 above as Yeung Luk Sz'Kon Tseung Kwan. Japanese call the game played on board 4 Juroku Musashi, translating as “Sixteen Soldiers”.

No. of Players

Two

Equipment

All boards contain some form of a triangular extension which is known as the general’s privy. All of the games require one white counter representing the general and sixteen black counters representing the soldiers except the General Board 3, which requires twenty-six black soldier counters. Often, the general counter is larger.

History

These games probably originate from China. Variations of them may have been played for well over a thousand years now. The German scholar Himly wrote in the 1870's that the game was very popular with “laborers and children”, the board being often scratched out in the dust of quiet roads. It is also apparent that Chinese laborers brought the game with them to the United States in the 19th century as they were contracted for railroad construction and mining operations. This game in its traditional form may be extinct or very rare. It is, however, enjoying a moderate revival for play on the internet as well as in other electronic media.

Objective

The objective of the soldiers is to capture the general or pin him so that he is unable to move. The objective of the general is to capture enough of the soldiers to make their objective impossible. The following objective may not be historically accurate, but is added here in an attempt to retain formerly published rules which did not make sense. The general may also win if he attains the apex peak of the triangular extension of the board (privy) and then is able to reenter the main area of the board. Note that the apex can be any of three positions on the Japanese board. If, however, the general becomes blocked while in the privy and cannot exit, the soldiers win the game.

Play

The game commences with the counters positioned at intersections in any of the opening positions described above. Turns alternate. Any counter may move along a line to any adjacent vacant position. The soldiers, however, may not enter the general’s privy. There are two different methods of capture which are utilized on different boards used for this game:

Boards 1 and board 2 are presumably older. If playing on either of these two boards, the general may be captured by double custodianship. This means that if a soldier moves into a position such that he is on one side of the general and there is also a soldier on the opposite side of the general so that all three are in a straight line with the general in the middle; the general is then captured and the soldiers win the game. If the general moves into such a position described above, however, he captures the two opposing soldiers on either side of him. This is known as intervention capture.

If using the larger Chinese Board 3 or the Japanese Board 4, the general captures soldiers by jumping over them in a straight line to a vacant position just beyond. The general may make multiple jump and capture moves on a single turn, changing direction after each jump if desired. If the general is able to make a jump and capture move, it is compulsory to do so. If the general is able to make more than one jump and capture, however, he may choose which one. The soldiers may only win on these boards by hemming the general in so that he is unable to move or unable to leave the privy.

On a player’s turn, that player must make a legal move and may not pass.

Variations

This is obviously a very old game that has been played on many different boards. As described above, different variations of it utilize different methods of capture.

The purpose of the triangular extensions of the various boards remains problematic for accurate reconstructions. Most reports of the game agree that only the general may enter this area, variously referring to it as the “privy” or “refuge”. Why the general player would wish to move his or her counter into this area is problematic as it almost assures he will be captured. In some reconstructions the soldiers are attempting to “corral” the general into this area to win the game. In others, the general wins if he reaches the highest apex, furthest removed from the rest of the board. This does not seem to make sense either because the extension might as well be only one move away from the rest of the board then, so long as the soldiers are unable to enter.

One of the most clever reconstructions of the rules states that if the general reaches the highest apex of the privy before the soldiers close the entrance, the general wins. My personal suggestion takes this one step further, allotting a victory to the general if he reaches the highest apex of the privy and is able to return and reenter the main part of the game-board. Other reconstructions propose to give the general more powers once entering and leaving the privy, such as being able to jump and capture.

The traditional Tibetan game known as Monk and Water or Water Drowns the Monk (transliterated as Shui yen ho-shang) is very similar. Interestingly, this game board has been found inscribed at Preah Khan, an ancient Angkor temple in Cambodia. One player controls the singular monk counter the other plays the fifteen water counters. The water counters move first. Water wins by driving the monk into the cloister, the diamond shaped section at the top of the board, and closing it off with a single counter. The monk wins by capturing, two opposing counters at a time through diagonal or orthogonal intervention only, enough water counters to make their objective impossible, reducing their number to five or less. The monk may also win by reaching the apex of the cloister (at the very top of the board) without having this area closed off by a water counter. Capture is not compulsory for the monk.

King's Gonu from Korea