Chinese Chess Online (Xiangqi)
Xiangqi, Chinese chess, with all the rules: the river, the palace, cannons and the flying general. Play the computer or a friend on the same device.
Your turn
How to play Chinese chess
The pieces sit on the intersections of the lines, not inside the squares. The goal is checkmate of the enemy General. Red moves first. Tap one of your pieces to see its legal moves, then tap the destination to move.
The General and the Advisors never leave the palace (the square with the X). The General moves one point straight, and the Advisors one point diagonally. The Elephants move two points diagonally, cannot jump over a piece and cannot cross the river. The Horse moves like a knight in chess, but is blocked if a piece stands right next to it in the direction of the move. The Chariot moves like a rook.
The Cannon moves like the Chariot, but to capture it must jump over exactly one piece (of either color) on the way. The Soldier moves only forward; after crossing the river it can also move sideways. The two Generals can never face each other on the same file with no piece between them: this is the flying general rule.
Frequently asked questions
What happens with perpetual check in Xiangqi?
In official Xiangqi, the side that forces a repetition with perpetual check loses, and there are detailed rules for perpetual "chases". Here we use a simplified version: if the same position occurs 3 times and only one side has been giving check on every move, that side loses; otherwise it is a draw. It is also a draw after 60 moves by each side without any capture.
How is Chinese chess different from regular chess?
In Xiangqi the board has 9 × 10 lines, with a river across the middle and a palace for each General. There is the Cannon, which captures by jumping over a piece, the Horse can be blocked, and having no legal moves (stalemate) is a loss, not a draw.
I cannot read Chinese characters. Can I still play?
Yes. Turn on the "Letters" button to see one letter on each piece: K = General, A = Advisor, E = Elephant, H = Horse, R = Chariot, C = Cannon and P = Soldier. On the Easy level the computer makes mistakes, which is great for learning.