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

How to play Chinese chess

Shrink the noise: two sides, a river, a palace for each general. You take turns. You win by checkmating the other general — trapping it so every escape still leaves it in check. Pieces that look like western chess cousins often aren’t. The cannon is the loudest example.

Board’s up there. Tap a piece. See where it can go. Names and quirks live on the pieces page. Same game under the pinyin name on Xiangqi.

When

When to use

Absolute beginner. Showing a kid. You forgot whether elephants can cross the river.

When not

When not to

You already play and want a harder AI — vs computer. You only care how each piece moves — pieces page. Western chess tutorial — wrong site.

Defaults

Assumptions

Ordinary Xiangqi on 9×10 for piece moves, checkmate, 困毙, and flying general. Red usually moves first — follow the board label. Auto-draws and repetition use simplified house rules (see Endings below) — not a full tournament arbiter book.

Steps

How

  1. Generals stay inside their palace (the 3×3 fortress).
  2. Soldiers step forward; after they cross the river they may also step sideways.
  3. Chariots slide like rooks. Horses step in an L but get blocked by a hobbled-leg piece. Elephants move two points diagonally and never cross the river. Advisors stay in the palace.
  4. Cannons slide like chariots to move, but capture only by jumping exactly one screen.
  5. Try a slow game on vs computer · Easy.

Worked notes

Examples

  • First game tip → don’t leave your general staring at theirs down an open file — flying general ends badly
  • Someone said the horse always jumps like a knight → not if something sits in the hobbled square

Watch-outs

Gotchas

  • The river changes soldiers; it blocks elephants.
  • Cannons need a screen to capture and hate empty files for eating.
  • How to play results love forty-minute videos; you can leave after one practice game.
  • A dedicated rules sheet may ship later; this page is the walkthrough.

Geometry

Crossings, river, palace

Pieces sit on intersections of a nine-by-ten lattice. The band across the middle is the river — soldiers gain a sideways step after crossing; elephants may never cross. The crossed box at each end is the palace. General and advisors live there for the whole game.

On this shell the river and palaces stay tinted so you can see them while you tap. That isn’t decoration for a brochure; it’s so your finger learns the map.

Endings

How a game ends here

Trap the enemy general so every escape still leaves it in check — checkmate. If a side has no legal move at all, it also loses (困毙). That matches standard Xiangqi; don’t wait for a western stalemate hug.

Draws on this board are house rules: • Sixty full moves with no capture → automatic draw. • Same position, same side to move, three times → draw — unless one side’s moves in that cycle were all checks (长将 / perpetual check); then that side loses. • We do not fully enforce tournament “forbidden cycles” such as perpetual chase (长捉). Those usually become a threefold draw here instead of an arbiter loss. • Offer draw is answered by the local AI’s material sense, not by competition etiquette. Resign is always available. There are no tournament clocks.

Controls

Board controls

River and palace guides stay tinted on this shell. Tap any disc to see its legal intersections. New game resets the teaching board.

FAQ

Who goes first?
Follow the board; traditionally red. On this site you’re red unless you switch Play as.
How do you win?
Checkmate the general. A side with no legal move also loses (困毙) — there is no western-style stalemate draw.
When is it a draw?
Sixty quiet moves (no capture), or the same position three times with the same side to move — unless one side was only checking in that loop (长将), which loses. Perpetual chase and other tournament cycle rules are not fully judged here.
Can the elephant cross the river?
No. That’s half its personality.
Ready to play for real?
Open home or vs computer and pick a seat.
Is there castling or promotion?
Neither. A soldier that reaches the last rank just keeps moving sideways after the river has already taught it how.