The name Chinese Chess in Chinese...

棋 is the most simple or generic way to write “chess” in Asia.

棋 is part of other more specific words for board games of strategy such as the western version of chess, Chinese chess, Weiqi, or Go.

In Japanese, this single character is pronounced “Go” and often refers to the game known in the west as “Go” (not just the 5-in-a-row version but also the complicated encirclement game of strategy known in China as Weiqi).

In Chinese, this can be more ambiguous as to which game of chess you speak.

If you like any version of chess, or games of intense strategy, this can be the character to hang on the wall in your game room.

西洋棋 is the Chinese title for the game of Chess (western style as opposed to Chinese Chess, Weiqi, or Japanese Go).

王 is wang which means king. It is not pronounced the way you think in Chinese. It is more like English speakers would want to pronounce wong. It has roughly the same vowel sound as tong, song, or long in English.

Note that this means king only, not the emperor. An emperor is higher than a king, and theoretically is chosen by God, according to ancient Chinese culture. However, the definition is often blurred at various points in Asian history.

王 can also be defined as ruler, sovereign, monarch, or magnate. It is also can refer to a game piece in the chess-like Japanese strategic game of shoji.

Note: This can also be a family name in Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese (in Vietnamese it's Vương).

See Also:  Queen

将棋 is the title for shogi or Japanese chess.

兵 can be used to express soldiers, troops, a force, an army, weapons, arms, military, warfare, tactics, strategy, or warlike.

The final meaning depends on context. It's also part of the Chinese title for the Terracotta soldiers. In fact, this character is usually used in compound words (words of more than one character). Sometimes this single character is the title used for the pawns in a chess game (in a related issue, this is also a nickname for soldiers with the rank of Private).

See Also:  Military | Warrior

The first character, 武, is the spirit or essence of a warrior. The second character, 士, means soldier, officer, or official. 武士 is also used appropriately enough to describe a piece of a chess game. 武士 can also be translated as a soldier, cavalier, palace guard, or samurai, and sometimes as a knight. I've occasionally seen this translated as strong man or tough man (gender not necessarily implied).

By far, 武士 is the most common way to write warrior in Chinese characters, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.

Note: In Japanese, this is Bushi, as in Bushido.

See Also:  Knight | Army | Marines | Samurai

圍棋 is the Chinese title for the ancient game of strategy known as Weiqi or Wei Chi in Chinese and Go in Japanese.

Note: In Japanese, this game is known by a different single Kanji as seen to the right. If you want this Japanese "Go" character, click the Kanji to the right instead of the button above.