Xiangqi rules (Chinese chess): how to play
Xiangqi is played on a board of 9 files by 10 ranks, with the pieces standing on the intersections rather than inside the squares. Each side has sixteen pieces and Red moves first. You win by checkmating the enemy general — or by leaving the opponent with no legal move at all, which in xiangqi is a loss rather than a draw.
The board: river, palace and intersections
A blank band across the middle, the river, splits the board in half. Each side also has a three-by-three square marked with diagonals, the palace, which the general and the advisors may never leave.
Pieces sit on the intersections of the lines, so a 9×10 grid gives 90 usable points — a bigger playing surface than it looks at first glance.
How the seven piece types move
- General: one point horizontally or vertically, and never outside the palace.
- Advisor: one point diagonally, also confined to the palace. Two of them shield the general.
- Elephant: exactly two points diagonally, may never cross the river, and is blocked if the intersection midway along that diagonal is occupied.
- Chariot: any number of points along a rank or file — the rook of xiangqi, and the strongest piece on the board.
- Cannon: moves like a chariot, but captures only by jumping over exactly one intervening piece of either colour, called the screen.
- Horse: one point orthogonally then one point diagonally outward. It is blocked if the point directly beside it in the first direction is occupied — no jumping over that leg.
- Soldier: one point forward. After crossing the river it may also move one point sideways, but it can never move backwards.
The flying general rule
The two generals may never face each other down an open file with no piece in between, and any move that would create that position is illegal.
The rule turns the general into a long-range attacker: many mating nets work only because the defending general cannot step onto the file its counterpart is staring down.
Check, checkmate and stalemate
A general under attack is in check and the player must answer it immediately: move the general, capture the attacker, or block the line.
Checkmate ends the game. Unlike chess, a player with no legal move but not in check also loses — stalemate is a win for the side that caused it.
Perpetual check and repetition
Endless checking to force a draw is forbidden: under common rules the checking side must vary, and loses if it does not. Perpetually chasing an unprotected piece is penalised the same way in most competition rules.
If both sides repeat and neither is the one obliged to vary, the game is drawn. Federations word these rules differently, so it is worth asking which rule set a tournament uses.
How games are drawn
- Both players agree to a draw.
- Neither side has enough material to force mate, for example general and advisors against general and advisors.
- A repeated position where neither side is breaking the perpetual check or chase rules.
- The event's own move or time limit is reached with no capture, according to its regulations.
Frequently asked questions
Who moves first in xiangqi?
Red moves first, then the sides alternate. A Chesslizar xiangqi room labels the red side as first to move as soon as you sit down.
How does the cannon capture?
The cannon moves like a chariot but can only capture by jumping over exactly one piece between it and its target. No screen means no capture, and two pieces in the way means no capture either.
Can the elephant cross the river?
No. The elephant defends its own half only, which limits it to seven points for the whole game.
What happens if the two generals face each other?
That is the flying general position and it is forbidden: no move may leave the two generals looking at each other down a file with nothing in between.
Is having no legal move a draw in xiangqi?
No, it is a loss. This is the single biggest rules difference from international chess, where the same position is a draw by stalemate.