GameHeads.gg What is xiangqi?
Xiangqi (象棋, "Chinese chess") is a two-player strategy game played across China and Vietnam. It belongs to the same family as chess and shogi: Red and Black move in turn, and you win by checkmating the enemy general (Wikipedia: Xiangqi).
If you play chess, much of it will feel familiar. A few rules are new, though: pieces stand on intersections, the two generals may never face each other, and a player with no legal move loses. The workspace at the top of this page lets you try each rule on the board.
The board and setup
- The board has 10 horizontal and 9 vertical lines. Pieces stand on the 90 intersections, not in squares.
- The river runs across the middle (marked "Chu River, Han Border"). Elephants cannot cross it; soldiers that cross it may also move sideways.
- Each side has a palace, the 3×3 area marked with diagonals. The general and advisors never leave it.
- Each player has 16 pieces of seven kinds. Some Red and Black pieces use different characters, but they move the same way.
- Red moves first, then the players alternate.
How the pieces move
General (帥 / 將)
Moves one point horizontally or vertically and must stay inside the palace.
Advisor (仕 / 士)
Moves one point diagonally and must stay inside the palace, so it can only ever stand on five points.
Elephant (相 / 象)
Moves exactly two points diagonally. If the point in between (the elephant's "eye") is occupied, it cannot move that way, and it can never cross the river.
Horse (傌 / 馬)
Moves one point straight, then one point diagonally outward, like a chess knight. Unlike a knight it cannot jump: if the point next to it in the first direction is occupied (its "leg" is hobbled), it cannot go that way. Pieces diagonally next to the horse never block it.
Chariot (俥 / 車)
Moves any distance horizontally or vertically, exactly like a chess rook. It is the strongest piece in the game.
Cannon (炮 / 砲)
Moves like a chariot when it is not capturing. To capture, it must jump over exactly one piece (the "screen"), which may belong to either side. Chess has nothing like it.
Soldier (兵 / 卒)
Moves and captures one point forward. After crossing the river it may also move one point sideways. It never moves backward and is never promoted.
Piece values
As a rough guide for trades: chariot 9, cannon about 4 to 4.5, horse about 4, advisor and elephant 2, soldier 1 before the river and 2 after it.
Winning and losing
- Checkmate: if your general is in check and no move gets it out, you lose.
- No legal move (stalemate): if it is your turn and you have no legal move, you lose, even without being in check. In chess this is a draw; in xiangqi it is a loss.
- Flying general: the two generals may not stand on the same file with nothing between them. Any move that would leave them facing each other, including moving the only piece between them, is illegal. This rule is also a weapon: it can take escape points away from the enemy general.
- Resignation and time: a player who resigns or runs out of time loses.
Draws and repetition
A game is drawn by agreement, when neither side can force a win, or after a long stretch without captures; the exact count depends on the tournament rules.
Repetition is treated differently from chess:
- Perpetual check is forbidden. The side giving check must vary its moves or lose.
- Perpetual chase, repeatedly attacking the same unprotected piece, is also forbidden under most tournament rules.
- Repetition in which neither side breaks a rule is a draw.
The exact limits differ between rule sets. In games on this site, a position that occurs three times while only one side kept giving check is a loss for that side; any other threefold repetition is a draw, as are 120 plies (60 moves each) without a capture. Perpetual chase is not adjudicated.
Main differences from chess
- Pieces stand on intersections, and the board has a river and two palaces.
- The general and advisors are confined to the palace.
- The two generals may not face each other on an open file.
- Having no legal move loses instead of drawing.
- There is no castling, no double pawn step, no en passant and no promotion.
- The cannon captures by jumping; the horse can be blocked.
Tips for beginners
- Bring out your chariots, horses and cannons early, and put chariots on open files.
- Keep horses away from the edge, where they are easily trapped.
- Do not move the general without a reason; let the advisors and elephants guard it.
- Do not rush cannons across the river, or they lose the pieces they need to jump over.
- Solve one-move checkmate puzzles to learn the mating patterns.
Reading xiangqi notation
The English pages of this site use WXF notation, which writes each move as four characters: piece, starting file, direction and a number. "C2.5" means the cannon on file 2 moves sideways to file 5.
- Piece letters: K general, A advisor, E elephant, H horse, R chariot, C cannon, P soldier.
- Files are counted from each player's own right, 1 to 9. The numbers along the bottom of this site's board are Red's files.
- Direction:
+forward,-backward,.sideways. - The last number: for sideways moves, the file the piece arrives on. For forward and backward moves, pieces that move straight (chariot, cannon, soldier, general) give the number of points moved, while pieces that move diagonally (horse, elephant, advisor) give the file they land on.
- Two of the same piece on one file: the front one is written
+and the rear one-in place of the file (for exampleC+.5).
A common opening:
- C2.5 (Red's cannon to the centre file) H8+7 (Black's horse jumps from file 8 to file 7)
- H2+3 R9.8
- R1.2 H2+3
Chinese sources write the same moves with characters: 炮二平五, 馬８進７ and so on, where 進 means forward, 退 backward and 平 sideways. Red's files are written 一 to 九 and Black's 1 to 9.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between 帥 and 將, or 仕 and 士?
Only the character. Red uses 帥 仕 相 傌 俥 炮 兵 and Black uses 將 士 象 馬 車 砲 卒; each pair moves the same way.
Can I use captured pieces?
No. Captured pieces leave the game; there are no drops as in shogi.
What happens if I have no legal move?
You lose, even if you are not in check. Unlike chess, it is not a draw.
Who moves first?
Red. In the computer games on this site you can choose which side to play.
What should I do after learning the rules?
Play a game against the easiest computer opponent. Rules like the cannon's jump and the hobbled horse stick much faster once you use them.