How to play
Xiangqi
Xiangqi (Chinese chess) is played on the points of a 9 × 10 grid. Red sits at the bottom and moves first, Black at the top; players move in turn, and the goal is to checkmate the other general.
The board
- The river (楚河 漢界) divides the board into two halves.
- The palace is the 3 × 3 square with the diagonal cross in the middle of each back line.
How the pieces move
Red characters are Red’s pieces, black ones Black’s · on the game page, tap a piece and its name and move appear in the status line
| General 帥 / 將 | One point straight, never leaving its palace. |
|---|---|
| Advisor 仕 / 士 | One point diagonally, never leaving its palace. |
| Elephant 相 / 象 | Exactly two points diagonally; it cannot cross the river and is stopped by a piece on the point in between. |
| Horse 傌 / 馬 | One point straight and then one diagonally outward; a piece right next to the horse in that first direction blocks the move. |
| Chariot 俥 / 車 | Any number of points straight, until a piece stands in the way. |
| Cannon 炮 / 砲 | Moves like the chariot, but captures only by jumping over exactly one piece to the piece behind it. |
| Soldier 兵 / 卒 | One point forward; once across the river also one point sideways. Never backward. |
Every piece captures by moving onto an enemy piece.
Key rules
- Flying general: the two generals may never face each other on the same file with nothing in between.
- You may not make a move that leaves your own general in check; when in check you must get out of it.
- A player with no legal move loses — after checkmate and also after stalemate (unlike international chess).
Draws (this site's rules)
- The same position occurs three times.
- 120 moves in a row (60 each) without any capture.
- Neither side has an attacking piece left (chariot, horse, cannon or soldier).
Computer levels
| Easy | Looks two moves ahead and slips now and then. Good for practice. |
|---|---|
| Medium | Looks about four moves ahead and rarely leaves a piece hanging. |
| Hard | Searches deeply for its full time and goes for checkmate when it can. |
On this site, tap one of your pieces — gold dots show where it can go — then tap the destination. If you play Black, the board turns so that your side is at the bottom.