As it turns out, the game actually comes from Germany. America imported it in the 1920s. As it happened, there was something of a vogue for Chinese things at the time. And the star theming could convincingly be portrayed as Asian. But the actual origin of the game had nothing to do with China. Go figure.
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There seems to have been a bit of confusion here between Chinese checkers and Chinese chess. Chinese checkers is similar to the western game that originated in Germany. Chinese chess (Xiangqi) is a very different and complex game. Recently three grandmasters of that game and a number of others were disciplined for game fixing by having their titles rescinded and being barred from playing professionally.
Not recognizing those pieces it turned out I'd mistaken the game of Chinese chess for a game that was more familiar to me because I'd played a simplified version in Montreal - the game of Go. Go is played on a 19x19 grid using black and white stones. A very different game from Chinese chess it's the oldest continually played game in the world - 2500 years.
https://e.vnexpress.net/news/sports/other-sports/how-massive-match-fixing-scandal-left-golden-generation-of-chinese-chess-in-shambles-5065245.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiangqi
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_(game)
I'm not sure how the link to the original Moby Dick entered the discussion but it was entertaining. 70' long and white as wool he destroyed 20 whaling ships and escaped 80 or more. Plus, his head was covered in barnacles - quite a sight.
Xiangqi a.k.a. Chinese chess seems to be its own thing. The board is beautiful in its way, but it's not made up of squares of alternating colors like a chess board is. The pieces, more often than not, appear to be discs with characters printed on them. I can believe this game is taken very seriously. Think how many Russians are really into chess.
The History Facts website is weird in terms of its layout. The actual link I meant to post was this one, but by scrolling past a certain point on the same page I had found myself at a different URL. But yes, a real life whaling crew would have seen things that we would have trouble believing.
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