I looked up the history of chess and it sure it neat but something I found interesting was that there are a few other "spinoffs" of chess "Xiangqi" and "Shogi" which seemed to have the same goal as chess (Checkmate) but worked very differently. Are these two games fun and worth a shot or are they clunky and unfun?
(I know the rules for them so thats why I am interested in them)
I've played Xiangqi (Chinese chess) many times and it's super fun. The game doesn't have queens but it has a river that some pieces can't cross. The most interesting addition is the cannon, which moves like a rook but can only capture a piece after having jumped over a piece. The knight is like chess, but it can't jump. So the tactics are unique in that you can block the knight from moving. As pieces dwindle, the argument over the stronger piece, cannon or knight, makes for extremely interesting endgames.
The kings also become part of the checkmate attacks, because there is an interesting rule where they can't ever be exposed on the same file, making that file illegal. I think they call it "The Flying Kings" rule, or something like that. If a king were to move into the file with the other king, that other king will fly across the board (theoretically). Kings also have like a goalie box of 9 square they can move to, and only those 9. Stalemates I believe are counted as checkmates as well. All these factors combined bring you some very unique tactics.
Every game is a fun, Xiangqi and Shogi are played at
pychess.org . However, I have to point out that the compatibility between standard chess and these variants is very low, and, generally, you would need to play some dozens of games for figuring out how to make a comfortable position. Perhaps, one of the hardest Asian chess variants is Corean Janggi where elephants and horses can't jump over other figures, and for this reason any novice might spend a lot of time for finding a way how to bring them into game.
For me is more intersting another question? How big is the probability that learning and playing this games could confuse me in chess?
I actually experienced an improvement in chess after playing variants. Positions appear differently but it is hard, initially, to dislodge "I can drop a piece here" from the thinking process.
