Game of the Three Kingdoms

The game symbolizes the Three Kingdoms period war (221–264) between the rival states Wei, Shu, and Wu, each vying for control of China after the fall of the Han dynasty.

[1] O. von Möllendorff reported on the game in [German] "Schachspiel der Chinesen" (English: "The Game of Chess of the Chinese") in the publication Mittheilungen der deutschen Gesellschaft für Natur- und Völkerkunde Ostasiens (English: "Journal of the German Society for Natural and Cultural Science of East Asia"), Leipzig, 1876.

Subsequent to Game of the Three Kingdoms, similar three-player xiangqi variants emerged utilizing half-boards but with different center-connecting geometries and corresponding rules.

The three kingdoms Wèi (魏), Shǔ (蜀), and Wú (吳) are represented by colors blue, red, and green, respectively.

In addition, each player controls two bannermen pieces: "flag" (旗 qí) for Wei/Blue, "fire" (火 huǒ ) for Shu/Red, and "wind" (風 fēng ) for Wu/Green.

The diagram shows all the usual xiangqi pieces, except generals are replaced by the kingdom names Wei (魏), Shu (蜀), and Wu (吳) representing the three rival emperors. The Green player has additionally its own distinctive symbols for its elephants (向 xiang ), cannons (礮 pao ), and soldiers (勇 yong ). The bannermen pieces (if used) start on the upper corner points of the players' 3×3 palaces .
The diagram shows colored kingdoms for clarity (Wei/Blue, Shu/Red, and Wu/Green). This play setup is without the bannermen pieces, which are optional.
The Three Kingdoms in 262, on the eve of the conquest of Shu