Xiangqi

Xiangqi (Chinese: 象棋), also known as Chinese chess, is a strategy board game for two players. It is one of the most popular board games in countries like China, Vietnam, Taiwan, and Singapore, and belongs to the same family of games as Western chess, shogi, and janggi.

The game represents a battle between two armies, with the objective of capturing the enemy's General (King). Distinctive features of Xiangqi include pieces placed on the intersections of the board lines rather than within the squares, the Cannon which must jump to capture, and the concepts of the river and palace which restrict the movement of the General, Advisors, and Elephants.

The Board

The board is a rectangle formed by 9 vertical lines and 10 horizontal lines intersecting at 90 points. A blank space called the river horizontally divides the board into two symmetrical halves. Each side has a square Palace formed by 4 squares spanning vertical files 4, 5, and 6 on the back ranks, marked with two diagonal lines.

By convention, when viewed directly, the bottom side is Red (or White) and the top side is Black (or Green/Blue). The vertical files for Red are numbered from 1 to 9 from right to left. The vertical files for Black are numbered 9 to 1 from right to left.

Rules

The game is played between two people, one controlling the Red pieces and the other controlling the Black pieces. The objective of each player is to use legal moves to checkmate or capture the opponent's General.

The Pieces

General (King)

The General moves one point at a time, horizontally or vertically, and must always stay within the palace. In terms of combat ability, the General is the weakest piece as it only moves one step and is confined. However, in many situations, especially in the endgame, the "flying general" (facing generals) rule proves to be very powerful.

The General is securely locked in the palace and guarded by up to 2 Advisors and 2 Elephants. This makes the game highly defensive, leading to a high chance of a draw.

Advisor (Guard)

The Advisor moves diagonally one point per turn and must always stay within the palace. Thus, the Advisor only has 5 valid intersection points and is the weakest piece on the board.

The Advisor's main function is to protect the General. Losing an Advisor is dangerous if the opponent still has 2 Chariots, or attacks with a Chariot, Horse, and Pawn. Sacrificing a Cannon for an Advisor to launch an attack is a common tactic. In the endgame, if you still have Cannons, you must be careful to keep your Advisors to serve as screens for your Cannon attacks.

Elephant (Minister)

The Elephant moves exactly two points diagonally per turn and cannot cross the river. Therefore, on the board, each side only has 7 valid positions where the Elephant can move.

The Elephant's move is invalid when a piece blocks its path. This is called a "blocked Elephant", and the blocking point is the "Elephant's eye". The Elephant is considered slightly stronger than the Advisor. A crossed-river Pawn can be exchanged for 1 Advisor or 1 Elephant. However, since the Elephant's defensive capabilities are slightly better, if an Advisor is worth 2, an Elephant is 2.5.

Chariot (Rook)

The Chariot moves horizontally or vertically across the board as long as its path is not blocked. The Chariot is considered the most powerful piece. Its value is usually calculated as equal to 2 Cannons, or a Cannon and a Horse.

Openings usually involve competing to deploy the Chariots onto open vertical files, making them easy to defend and attack.

Cannon

The Cannon moves horizontally and vertically just like the Chariot. The difference is that to capture a piece, the Cannon must jump over exactly one piece. When not capturing, the path from its starting point to its destination must be entirely clear.

Ancient Xiangqi did not have the Cannon piece. Researchers agree that the Cannon was added during the Tang Dynasty. This is the latest piece to appear on the board because catapults were being used in warfare at the time. Back then, the Chinese character for Cannon (砲) was written with the "stone" radical. By the Song Dynasty, when gunpowder-based cannons were invented, the character (炮) was written with the "fire" radical.

Because of its need for a screen (mount) to attack, the Cannon often uses its own Pawns in the opening, or uses its own Advisors or Elephants as screens to checkmate the opponent's General in the endgame.

In practice, up to 70% of openings use the Cannon placed in the middle to threaten the opponent's central pawn, known as the Central Cannon opening. The opponent can counter with their own Central Cannon. If the second player moves the Cannon on the same side, it's called the Same-Direction Cannon; moving the Cannons on opposite sides is called the Opposite-Direction Cannon.

Horse (Knight)

The Horse moves 2 points horizontally and 1 point vertically (or 2 points vertically and 1 point horizontally). If there is a piece directly next to it on the first step, the Horse is blocked and cannot move in that direction.

Because the Horse doesn't move in a straight line and can be blocked, its mobility is lower than the Chariot and Cannon. In the opening, the Horse is weaker than the Cannon. In the endgame, the Horse becomes stronger than the Cannon.

Pawn (Soldier)

The Pawn moves 1 point per turn. If the Pawn has not crossed the river, it can only move forward. Once it crosses the river, it can move horizontally or forward, but never backward.

When Pawns reach the farthest horizontal rank on the opponent's side, they are referred to as "old pawns" (bottom pawns).

In the opening, sacrificing Pawns is relatively common. Except for protecting the central Pawn, other Pawns are frequently captured by chariots, cannons, and horses. Losing a few Pawns early on is often seen as a standard sacrifice.

In the endgame, the value of the Pawn increases rapidly; having extra Pawns can determine a win or a draw. At that point, getting Pawns across the river and close to the opponent's Palace is crucial. When a Pawn reaches the final ranks and presses against the Palace, it is as strong as a Chariot.