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You should just say Chinese chess, nobody can read those funny scribbles.
Last week that would have been okay, but international chess is also Chinese chess now because Ding Liren. Maybe “elephant chess” should be the new word for it.
Elephant chess is the Chinese word for it, but few people know that term in English. Chess players would, but not the public. Chinese people themselves call it international chess to distinguish it from Chinese chess and Go.
FWIW Chinese chess is a superior game to regular chess. It scratches the same itch, but is a much faster game. You can play in 20-30 minutes instead of the hours that chess takes. The king can’t leave the middle of the board and castling, the main reason chess takes forever, is not allowed.
I agree with you, but I have my complaints. The notation system is just plain not as good as algebraic notation in international chess, and it’s hard to teach two sets of characters to a new player who can’t read Chinese. Also the rules about preventing draws from repeated positions are bonkers complicated. I love me some elephant chess though. My favorite thing about it is that people are way less uptight about bystanders talking about the position. The culture in international chess is all about silently observing the game, but elephant chess crowds will just say what they’re thinking about the game and nobody gets mad.
