Xiangqi, also called Chinese chess, is a game for two players. Red and Black each have sixteen pieces, Red moves first, and the players take turns making one move at a time. Whoever first checkmates the opponent's general wins. There aren't many rules, and below we go through them one at a time, each with a board diagram. Every legal point shown in the diagrams is calculated by this site's rules engine.
The goal: checkmate
Xiangqi isn't about capturing the most pieces. If your opponent's general is in check and no move can get it out, that is checkmate and you win. And if it's your opponent's turn and they have no legal move at all (called stalemate), you also win — unlike in Western chess, where stalemate is a draw. See win, loss and draw for details.
The board: play on the intersections
The board has nine vertical lines and ten horizontal lines, and the pieces stand on the intersections, not inside the squares. The empty band across the middle with no vertical lines is the river, often labelled "Chu River, Han Border" (楚河漢界). At each end there is a 3×3 box with diagonal lines, the palace; the general and the advisors must stay inside it.
Every part of the board has a name (the soldier line, the riverbank line, the palace flanks…); see the xiangqi board if you're curious.
Setting up
Each side has sixteen pieces of seven kinds: one general, two advisors, two elephants, two horses, two chariots, two cannons and five soldiers. Their starting positions are fixed:
Several red pieces use different Chinese characters from the black ones (帥/將, 仕/士, 相/象, 傌/馬, 俥/車, 炮/砲, 兵/卒), but they move in exactly the same way. Boards on this site always show these characters; one table explains them all: Xiangqi pieces.
How the seven pieces move
One line per piece — follow the link for diagrams and common mistakes:
| Piece | How it moves | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Chariot | Any distance in a straight line | Can't jump over pieces |
| Horse | One point straight, then one diagonally | Can't go that way if the first point is occupied (hobbling the horse) |
| Cannon | Moves like a chariot | To capture, there must be exactly one piece in between (the screen) |
| Soldier | One point forward | Sideways only after crossing the river; never backwards |
| Elephant | Exactly two points diagonally | Can't cross the river; blocked if the middle point is occupied |
| Advisor | One point diagonally | Must stay in the palace |
| General | One point up, down, left or right | Must stay in the palace; may not face the enemy general |
A good learning order: chariot → horse → cannon → soldier → elephant → advisor → general.
Moving and capturing
- Players take turns, moving one piece one move at a time. You can't pass.
- Moving onto a point occupied by an enemy piece captures it, and it is removed from the board.
- You can't capture your own pieces or share a point with one.
- Apart from the cannon's capture over a screen, no piece can jump over other pieces (that's also why horses get hobbled and elephants get their eyes blocked).
Check and answering check
If, after your move, you could capture the opponent's general on your next move, that is check. A side in check must get out of it immediately, in one of three ways:
- Move the general to a safe point
- Capture the checking piece
- Put a piece in between (against a horse or a cannon you can also block the horse's leg or change the cannon's screen)
You may not make a move that leaves your own general open to capture — on this site such moves simply can't be played, and those points never light up when you select a piece.
The generals may not face each other
If the two generals stand on the same file with no pieces at all between them, they "face each other", which is not allowed. This is often called the flying-general rule. So a piece standing between the two generals is sometimes not allowed to leave:
The rule also works as a weapon: your general controls its whole file, so the enemy general can't step onto it. The "Facing Generals" mate is built on this — see common checkmates.
How games are won and drawn
| Situation | Result |
|---|---|
| Checkmate: in check with no way out | The side that is checkmated loses |
| Stalemate: not in check, but no legal move | The side with no move loses |
| Perpetual check: checking again and again while the position repeats | The side giving the checks loses |
| Repetition: the same position keeps coming back (not perpetual check) | Draw |
| Move limit: no capture for a long time | Draw |
| Insufficient material: neither side has a piece that can cross the river and attack | Draw |
The details of each rule, and exactly how this site applies them, are in win, loss and draw.
Reading game records
Every xiangqi move can be written in four parts. In Chinese, "炮二平五" means which piece, which file it starts on, how it moves (forward / back / sideways), and where it ends up or how far it goes. Each side counts files from its own right-hand side. In English, the same move is written in WXF notation as C2=5, and that is what the game's move list shows on this site. The full explanation is in how to read xiangqi notation.
Three tips for beginners
- Get your chariots, horses and cannons out early instead of leaving them at home. A Chinese saying goes: "if your chariot isn't out in three moves, you've already half lost".
- Don't rush to move your general — it is safest in the middle of the palace.
- Before every move, ask what your opponent's last move was trying to do. Are they threatening a piece? Setting up a check?
Frequently asked questions
Who moves first in xiangqi?
Red moves first. When you play the computer on this site, you can choose Red or Black; if you choose Black, the computer moves first.
I wasn't checkmated — why did I lose?
It may have been stalemate (it was your turn and you had no legal move, which loses), or perpetual check (you kept giving check while the position repeated, and the checking side loses).
Can I take back a move?
Not in a real tournament — "a move once made can't be taken back". When you play the computer on this site, you can press Undo; use it as much as you like while practising.
How is xiangqi different from Western chess?
Pieces stand on the intersections, there is a river in the middle, the generals are confined to their palaces, the cannon captures over a screen, soldiers never promote, and stalemate is a loss rather than a draw. The games feel very different — think of them as two separate games.
Is xiangqi the same as Korean janggi or Japanese shogi?
No. The three games share a common ancestor, but their pieces, boards and rules differ; janggi, for example, has no river and its elephant moves differently. To find out where xiangqi came from, read the history of xiangqi.
Play your first game
That's all the rules. The fastest way to learn is to play: play xiangqi online, choose "Play the computer" and start at the Beginner level. Tap one of your pieces and the points it can reach light up — illegal moves simply can't be made. When you're done, head back to the xiangqi home page to see what else you can do.
