Introduction

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The World Xiangqi League (WXL) is the largest xiangqi (Chinese chess) association in the world, with over 50,000 online members. We welcome xiangqi players of any age, skill and culture. Basic Memberships are free, and members can play directly from their browser, with no special software required to install. Please see also how you can become a Registered Member to get additional benefits such as a xiangqi personal home page and WXL tournament eligibility.

Read below instructions to setup an account, get an overview of the software, and how to use the Club Menu (start games), Game Menu (play games), Options Menu (game preferences), Member Menu (member commands), Chat Menu (chat options), Help Menu (documentation) and Keyboard Shortcuts.

This document describes our latest V3.0 software. Please see some of our other documents including basic game rules, known problems and a list of what's new.

Account Setup

To create your login account, go to our Accounts Page and select "Create Account" (only one account allowed per person). Then go back to the home page to Login. Input your username and password into our login form and then click on the button. You should then see these messages:

• Contacting server...
• Trying login...
• Starting client...
• Welcome.

Our software will work best if you set your display resolution to 800x600 or higher.

(The Club window is a Java applet, and thus it will likely have the Java coffee cup logo to the left of the window title, and used as the icon when minimized. The bottom of the window will say "Unsigned Java Applet Window", which is a warning to you that your browser has downloaded code from the web to run on your computer. For more information about Java, see the JavaSoft site.)

Client Software

When you first login to the Club, you enter into the Lobby. This is where you first meet other members. The Club window (shown here to the right—click on it to display it in its actual size) is organized into four main sections:

• The Menu Bar runs along the top of the window, with menus labeled Club, Game, Options, Member, Chat and Help. From here you can send commands to the Club server, including commands to open or switch game tables, see who is on the system, open help pages, or exit the Club.
• The Game Panel is on the left side of the screen. When in the Lobby, you will see only a blank game board here. When you are at a game table, you will see the game pieces displayed on the board, as well as a Player Panel above and below the game board, to give you information about the current players. To the right edge of the game board are a set of "VCR buttons" which you can use to review a completed or game in progress. (These buttons only change your current view of the game, not the actual game state on the server or displayed to others at the same table.)
• The Chat Panel is on the right side of the screen. This is where you interact with other Club members. The top part of the Chat Panel is the chat output area. Just below is the chat input area, where you can type a message (and then press the Return key) to send a message to other members. Below the chat input line is a system status line.
• The Sponsor Panel is at the bottom right corner of the screen. This panel will be used to display information about special club events and tournaments, as well as providing advertising space for the sponsors who support this Club. (If your company or group would like to advertise here, please send us email.)

Our members have developed this Club into a polite community. Rude members will be banished. Please follow generally accepted chat conventions (e.g., DO NOT TYPE IN ALL CAPS AS IT APPEARS AS IF YOU ARE YELLING AT PEOPLE). For more info about chat conventions and jargon, click here.

You can do Member->Who to see who is currently at the Club. The Member->Tables command shows the tables.

You can whisper to your friends (no matter what table they are at) by preceding your chat text with your friend's name and parenthesis, e.g., paul) Hi Paul, did you get my email?

Be careful not to misspell your friend's name, or the chat will not be delivered. Also, be careful to notice when someone whispers to you—there will be a closing parenthesis (instead of the usual colon) to the right of their name in the chat output window. Make sure you whisper back instead of replying to all.

Club Menu

• Go to Lobby returns you to the Lobby to greet new members entering into the Club.
• New Table opens a new game table, with you as the opening player (red army).
• Join Table... allows you to join an existing game table as a player or observer. Select the desired table, and then click Play or Observe.
• Exit Club logs you out of the Club and closes the Club window. If there is a game in progress, it will be marked as a loss on your record.

Game Menu

• Reset restores the game board to its initial position, so you could start a new game.
• Draw requests that your opponent accept a draw (tie) rather than continue the game. Your opponent must respond by also issuing the Draw command.
• Resign ends the game immediately, marked as a loss on your record.
• List displays a list of all moves made so far for this game. Output goes to the chat output area.
• Sync will re-synchronize the client with the server in case of any communication errors.
• Save will save a copy of the current game (when it is over) on the server, to be swept into your free home page on our member server.

Options Menu

• Game Timer sets the initial number of minutes in which each player will have to make all of his or her moves for the entire game. When a timer counts down to zero, the game will be marked as a loss for the player who ran out of time. (See also our detailed description of timers.)
• Move Timer sets the initial maximum number of minutes that each player will have to make each move.
• Pieces allows you to display the game pieces in any of several different styles. (The default xiangqi game pieces are Chinese characters, but non-Chinese newcomers might want to first learn the game using other symbols.)
• Board allows you to choose a texture and style for the actual game board. The Mystery setting will occassionally change to a new (perhaps fun vs practical) background submitted by one of our members.
• Sounds enables audio notifications on certain events, such as moves received, errors, game over, etc.
• Hints allows you to see where a piece could possibly move just by clicking on it.

Member Menu

• Here - list who is at the current table
• Tables - list the current game tables
• Who - list all players logged in now
• Profile - check the profile of a member
• Mute - specify a current member from which you do not want to hear any chats
• Strike - send a private message to the server and to Club Coaches that a specific player is being rude. (This command has less power the more you use it, to prevent people from abusing it.)

Chat Menu

These commands allow you to query or change the state of the current chat.

• Clear - clears the chat output window.
• Font - choose the font family used for text in the Chat Panel.
• Size - choose the point size used for text in the Chat Panel.

Help Menu

• Software - the latest information about the World Xiangqi League software (this file).
• Rules - the basic rules for playing xiangqi (Chinese chess)
• Ratings - information about the Club's upcoming rating system
• Email - information about the free email forwarding aliases of membername@xiangqi.com
• Privacy - Club policies on privacy of user information
• Performance - get the current performance statistics for your access to the Club software
• Website - an index of the website
• Configuration - information about your current client configuration
• About World Xiangqi League - information about our organization

Keyboard Shortcuts

• F1 - display list of keyboard shortcuts
• F5 - open browser to selected or most recent URL
• F6 - list who is at this table
• F7 - list all tables
• F8 - profile current or selected member
• F9 - clear chat panel
• F11 - repeat last whisper prompt
• F12 - shout current chat text to everyone at club

Playing the Game

The red player (southern army) moves first. Move by selecting a piece and dragging it to desired location. The last moved piece is always circled in yellow.

See the Game Rules for a description of each of the pieces.

For more Help

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