Xiangqi rules and tips
Xiangqi, or Chinese chess, is played on the lines of a board nine wide and ten deep, with a river across the middle and a palace of nine points at each end. Red moves first. You win by checkmating the enemy general.
How the pieces move
- General: one point along a line, and it may not leave the palace. The two generals may never face each other on an open file.
- Advisor: one point diagonally, inside the palace.
- Elephant: exactly two points diagonally. It cannot cross the river, and it is blocked if the point between is occupied.
- Horse: one point straight and then one diagonally outward. Unlike a chess knight it is blocked by a piece next to it.
- Chariot: any distance along a line, the same as a rook.
- Cannon: moves like a chariot, but captures only by jumping over exactly one piece.
- Soldier: one point forward. After crossing the river it may also step sideways. It never moves back.
How a game ends
A player with no legal move loses, whether in check or not, so there is no stalemate draw as in chess. When a position comes up for the third time, a side that gave check on every move of the cycle loses, and so does a side that chased an unprotected piece on every move. Otherwise the game is a draw. It is also a draw after 60 moves each with no capture.
First steps to improve
- The central cannon opening, moving a cannon to the middle file, is the most popular first move for good reason: it pins down the centre at once.
- Get your chariots out early. They are the strongest pieces and do little in the corners.
- Protect your advisors and elephants. Without them a cannon and horse can mate very quickly.
- Remember the facing generals rule: it often gives your own general a hidden attack along a file.
Xiangqi has a long tradition of composed endgames. See classic puzzles.