How to Play Xiangqi: Chinese Chess Rules, Pieces and Setup

The board

The board is a grid of 9 lines by 10 lines, and the pieces stand on the intersections, not in the squares. Between the fifth and sixth ranks runs the river, a gap with no vertical lines, which matters for two pieces: elephants may never cross it and soldiers get stronger once they do.

At each end, the central 3×3 block of points with two diagonals drawn across it is the palace. The general and his two advisors never leave it. Everything else about the board is decoration: the characters printed in the river are usually “楚河漢界”, the border between the Chu and Han kingdoms, and have no effect on play.

The pieces and the setup

Each side has 16 pieces of seven kinds. The two sides, Red and Black, use different characters for the same piece, so a set has 14 different characters on it; the moves are identical. Red moves first.

Setup, from your side: the back rank, edge to centre, is chariot, horse, elephant, advisor, general, advisor, elephant, horse, chariot. The two cannons stand on the third rank, each on the file of a horse. The five soldiers stand on the fourth rank on alternate files, starting from each edge, so the central soldier is in front of the general.

General (帥 red / 將 black): one point along a line, never diagonally, and never outside the palace.
Advisor (仕 / 士): one point diagonally, never outside the palace. In practice an advisor only ever stands on five points.
Elephant (相 / 象): exactly two points diagonally, and never across the river. If the point in between is occupied, the move is blocked (“blocking the elephant’s eye”).
Horse (傌 / 馬): one point along a line, then one point diagonally outward, like a chess knight. Unlike the knight it does not jump: if the first, orthogonal point is occupied, the move is blocked (“hobbling the horse’s leg”).
Chariot (俥 / 車): any distance along a line, like a chess rook. The strongest piece.
Cannon (炮 / 砲): moves like a chariot, but captures differently: to take, it must jump over exactly one piece, of either colour, and land on the enemy piece beyond. It cannot capture an adjacent piece and cannot jump when it is not capturing.
Soldier (兵 / 卒): one point forward. After crossing the river it may also move one point sideways. It never moves backward and never promotes; a soldier that reaches the far edge can only shuffle sideways.

The cannon, properly

The cannon is the piece that makes xiangqi feel different, and the one beginners mishandle. Think of it as needing a screen: with nothing between it and its target, it cannot capture; with one piece between, of any colour, it captures; with two or more, it cannot. The screen is not removed by the capture and does not move.

This has two consequences. Early in the game, when the board is crowded, cannons are deadly and the central cannon attacking the soldier in front of the general is the most common first move in the game. Late in the game, with few pieces left to use as screens, cannons grow weak while chariots and horses grow stronger. Trading a cannon for a horse is usually fine in the opening and usually bad in the endgame.

The flying general

The two generals may never face each other on an open file. If every piece between them leaves the file, the position is illegal, and the side to move must not create it. Treat it as if each general could capture the other along the file: a general therefore controls the whole open file in front of it, which is often what delivers checkmate.

Check, checkmate and stalemate

A general under attack is in check and must escape at once, as in chess; you may not leave your general in check. Checkmate wins. The difference from chess is stalemate: a player who has no legal move loses, there is no draw for it. With the general confined to nine points, stalemate is a real way to win, especially in endgames with one chariot against defenders.

Repetition is handled more strictly than in chess. Perpetual check is forbidden: the checking side must vary or lose. Perpetual chase, repeatedly attacking an unprotected piece so it has to run, is also forbidden under most rule sets, with the same penalty. When both sides repeat for defensive reasons, or neither is chasing, the game is a draw. Clubs follow either the Chinese or the Asian rules on the finer points; the two agree on the cases above.

How a game goes

Opening: cannons and chariots come out fast. Red’s central cannon, Black’s horse defending the central soldier, chariots to the open files, horses forward on each side. Ten moves in, both sides are usually already attacking.
Middlegame: a chariot and a cannon working together along a file or rank, or a horse and cannon combination, aim at the palace. Advisors and elephants, which cannot leave their half, are the defence; losing both advisors usually loses the game to a chariot.
Endgame: soldiers across the river become attackers, cannons need screens to do anything, and the flying-general rule turns your own general into a piece. A single chariot normally beats two advisors and two elephants; a chariot against a chariot with equal soldiers is a draw.

Reading the characters

The characters are the barrier for most beginners outside China. Red pieces use one set, Black another, but you only need to learn seven shapes, since the move is the same for both colours. General is the character with a flat “hat” on red (帥) or a “land” radical on black (將); the advisor and elephant are the small pieces beside and next to the general at the start; the horse (馬) has four legs at the bottom; the chariot (車) looks like a wheel seen from the side; the cannon (砲/炮) has a “stone” or “fire” radical on its left; the soldier is whatever is left on the fourth rank.

For the first weeks, use the starting position as a memory aid, since every piece begins on its own point. Sets with pictures in place of characters exist and are fine for learning, but the standard set is what you will meet in a club or a park, and the characters stick after ten games or so.

Where to play and what to buy

Online, the Play OK, Xiangqi.com and Club Xiangqi servers have players at every hour, and most sites offer a Westernised piece set while you learn. In person, parks in any city with a Chinese community have open-air games, and spectators are welcome; the game is loud and social by tradition.

A physical set needs a board with the river and the two palaces drawn, and 32 discs with the characters cut or printed into them. Wooden discs with engraved characters, 3 cm or larger, are the comfortable size; the cheapest sets have printed characters that wear off. Our go, xiangqi and shogi guide covers what to check before buying.

Frequently asked questions

Is xiangqi harder than chess?

Harder to start for the characters, easier to play once started. The board is more open, the pieces are weaker on average and attacks come sooner, so games are shorter and tactics decide more than long strategy. Chess players usually reach a competent club level in a few months.

Can the cannon jump when it is not capturing?

No. Without a capture it moves exactly like a chariot, in a straight line along empty points. Jumping over a screen is allowed only when the move takes an enemy piece.

Why does the soldier not promote?

Because it does not need to: a soldier past the river already moves sideways as well as forward and is a serious attacking piece near the enemy palace. A soldier on the far edge is a spent piece, which is why good players stop them a rank or two short.

Does a stalemated player really lose?

Yes. Having no legal move loses in xiangqi, under every major rule set. It is a common way to finish a game with one chariot against a general that has lost its advisors.

Where to go next

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