Cờ Người (Human Chess)
- A large board grid marked out on open ground
- Costumes or placards identifying each human piece's rank
- A traditional Vietnamese chess (xiangqi) piece set for reference
Board marked out on the ground with enough space between grid points for a costumed player to stand and step between positions.
Thirty-two volunteers dress as the pieces of a traditional chess set, each wearing a placard or costume showing their rank, and stand on their starting points on the marked ground.
Two seated directors, one for each side, play a match of traditional chess using a small board or simply calling out moves by memory.
When a director calls a move, the human piece walks along the marked lines to its new position exactly as the corresponding chess piece would move.
If a move captures an opposing piece, the human piece representing the captured rank bows and walks off the board to the sidelines.
Drummers or musicians often mark each move with a beat, adding ceremony to the match as spectators watch from around the board.
The match ends the same way as a normal game of chess, when one side's general is checkmated and can no longer avoid capture.