How to play Chinese chess

Nine files, ten ranks, a river across the middle and a palace at each end. Learn those three and the pieces explain themselves.

楚 河汉 界Palace — general stays insidePalace — general stays insideRiver — soldiers gain a sidestep, elephants never cross車馬象士将士象馬車砲砲卒卒卒卒卒兵兵兵兵兵炮炮车马相仕帅仕相马车

Local table

Ready to cross?

A quiet game against the local AI. No lobby, no waiting.

Difficulty
Guards the palace

Moves

Red opens. Moves will list here after the first piece lands.

Record

Kept in this browser only. Clearing site data wipes it.

Wins
0
Losses
0
Games
0
  • This gameNot started
  • Plies played0
  • Red clock00:00
  • Black clock00:00

On this page

Chinese chess openings

Opening books for Xiangqi run deep. You don’t need them to sit down. Three park-table habits show up constantly: central cannon pressure, horses developing before they get hobbled, and chariots finding air early.

Black often answers with a screen-horse shape — both horses guarding the middle. That’s why so many first games feel like a fight over the center file.

When

When to use

You can move legally and want a first plan. You keep hanging a horse on move four.

When not

When not to

Wanting a named encyclopedia of every variation — we won’t ship that farm. Still learning piece moves — pieces first.

Defaults

Assumptions

Ideas, not forced lines. The engine may deviate; that’s fine for practice.

Steps

How

  1. Try a central cannon idea as red — pressure the middle soldier file.
  2. Develop horses where they aren’t immediately hobbled.
  3. Bring a chariot to an open file before the midgame clutter.

Worked notes

Examples

  • Red aims the cannon at the center → black often reinforces with screen horses
  • You rush both chariots out early → useful — unless you hang one to a fork

Watch-outs

Gotchas

  • This is not an openings wiki.
  • Copying western chess ‘develop minor pieces’ still fails when elephants can’t cross.
  • Named systems can wait; hanging a chariot cannot.

Habit

Central cannon, how it works

Point a cannon down the middle early and you ask uncomfortable questions about the soldier and the palace. Black’s screen-horse reply is common because it keeps the center from collapsing. Play a slow Easy game and watch when your horse can’t move — that’s the lesson, not a variation code.

Controls

Board controls

Play the idea out. New game to retry. Hint if you freeze.

FAQ

Is this page for xiangqi openings KD?
Yes — short narrative, live board, no farm of empty named pages.
Will you add more opening names?
Only if they stay short. No dictionary sprawl.
Where do I practice?
The board above, or vs-computer with Easy.
Strategy vs openings?
Openings are the first plan; strategy covers middlegame habits — see chinese-chess-strategy.