Xiangqi Rules

Xiangqi (Chinese Chess) is a battle, western Chess is only a war...

History of Xiangqi
Xiangqi or Shiang-Chee (which helps with the pronunciation of the original name) is known to the Chinese as the “Elephant Game”, and dates back more than 2000 years.

In 1975 Mao’s Red Chinese government, deciding that Xiangqi was a ‘good thing’, published 487,000 copies of the official rules. It thus joined Weiqi (Go) and Western Chess in a triumvirate of board games blessed with government patronage in China.

Of these three games receiving Government support in China, it is Xiangqi that remains, as it has been for centuries, the game that most attracts popular support. Indeed, the Chinese outside the mainland, left to their own devices, have been running tournaments and international matches for decades, and have produced an immense amount of literature.

Western players have found it to be a first-rate game too, but unlike other mind games it suffers here from having no presiding body for the West and from a lack of literature in English. These handicaps should not be allowed to mask the inherent excellence of the game, especially for those who enjoy fast-moving and broad-ranging tactical fights where a good technique is important. Chinese Chess is known as the kung fu of board games largely because it results in a wide-open, quick moving and aggressive contest.

Chinese Chess is not merely a regional game, it is a truly international one. The reason is that the Chinese are an international people, wherever you go in the world you will always be able to find at least one Chinese person and that Chinese person will almost always know how to play Xiangqi.

There is simply no such thing as a Chinese man who does not know how to play Xiangqi. The game is embedded in the Chinese culture, therefore, there are more than half a billion (excluding the Chinese children) in the world who know how to play Chinese Chess. This statistic makes Xiangqi easily the most popular game of any kind in the entire world.

Most non-Chinese people have not heard of Chinese Chess, this is mainly because historically the Chinese have been rather impoverished. Now this is changing; the Chinese are becoming richer. Three of the so-called ‘four economic tigers’ of Asia (Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan) are Chinese. They have become major factors in the world economy. As the Chinese people are becoming rich they are naturally going to spend money on their game – Chinese Chess.

Rules of Xiangqi
Xiangqi is a game for two players, facing each other across a board, who take it in turn to move their pieces. The ultimate aim is to capture the opposing King.

A typical set has 32 uniformly sized wooden discs, the name of the piece is written in Chinese on one side, and a board (traditionally of paper). The under-side of the pieces is unused and can be marked with English names if required. Irrespective of colours used the two sides are always called ‘Red’ and ‘Black’.

The board is a grid of 9x10 lines with the vertical lines being interrupted in the centre to create a clear row called a river. The two portions marked X at the centre of each base line are the imperial palaces of the respective Kings.

The respective sets of pieces are placed on the intersections or points. A line of points is called a file or a rank depending on whether they are down the board or across it. Initially there are nine pieces on the base line points (rank 1) and the remainder on the marked points, two on rank 3 and five on rank 4.

Each side has a King, two each of guards, bishops, knights, rooks and cannons and five pawns. However, none of these terms is standard, there is no accepted terminology for the game in the West.

Names used above are those common to the Chess games family, but most pieces have at least two or three other military style names.

Each side sets up their pieces in three ranks. The base line has nine points containing pieces in the following mirrored sequence – Rook, Knight, Bishop, Guard, King, Guard, Bishop, Knight and Rook. On the marked points on rank 3 the Cannons are placed, with Pawns on the marked intersections on rank 4.

Each piece moves as follows:

King: moves one step on a rank or file, but only within the nine points of its own palace. It must not be on the same open file as the opposing King, and can only access the points on this file if the other King subsequently moves to another file or the open file is blocked by other pieces from either side.

Guard: also confined to the palace, it can only move diagonally, so there are only five points it can possibly occupy.

Elephant: moves diagonally, always by two steps. It cannot jump over pieces from either side (when blocked by other pieces it is said to be blinded), nor can it cross the river; it therefore only occupies 7 possible points.

Knight: moves one step straight and one step diagonal, in that sequence, and in the same general direction. But it cannot jump, so that if there is a piece of either colour on the point covered by the first (straight) step it cannot move at all in that direction, in this case it is said to be hobbled. It can, however, go anywhere on the board.

Chariot: moves any number of points along one rank or file so long as its path is not obstructed. It cannot jump but can go anywhere on the board.

Pawn: moves one step forward on its own side of the river. Once across the river it can move one step left, right or forward. Therefore, once it reaches the last rank it can only move sideways. There is no Pawn promotion.

Note: All pieces mentioned so far can go to an empty square or one occupied by an enemy piece. In the latter case the enemy piece is captured, removed from the board and takes no further part in the game.

Cannon: moves any number of points along one rank or file so long as its path is not obstructed, like a Rook – the difference being in its method of capturing pieces which is explained below. It can go anywhere on the board. The Cannon moves like a Rook as long as its new position is a vacant square. But to capture it has to be cranked up on a gun mount or support so that a missile can be lobbed onto the enemy. This support is simply provided by any intervening piece of either colour on one of the lines along which the Cannon would normally move. Capture is made in effect by jumping over the support (piece) to the point occupied by the enemy piece. It can jump over only one support and move this way only when it captures, but there is no restriction on how long or short the jump is, or on the distance of the support from the Cannon.

Since capture of the King ends the game, any move that threatens such a capture – called a check – must be attended to immediately. A player is not allowed to leave his King in check, or to move so that the King is in check.

If a player’s King is in check and he is unable to move anywhere to get out of check, or block it with any of his other pieces, he is said to be in checkmate or mate and loses the game.

If a player’s King is not in check but he is unable to make any move, or only one that puts his King in check, he is stalemated. Unlike in Western Chess stalemate is not a draw, the stalemated player loses. Stalemate is much more common in Chinese Chess than Western Chess.

Draws are possible, however, either by agreement or when, because of lack of pieces, neither player can force a win.

There are some rather complicated rules prohibiting certain types of repetitive moves. These are mentioned in more detail below, but the basic principle to be remembered is that where both players choose, without compulsion, to repeat moves, a game is drawn. But where repetition of moves occurs because one side is being forced to respond to a threat (e.g. check, threat of mate or capture), the attacker must stop repeating his moves or forfeit the game.

These special rules concern repetition of moves. The following are prohibited where one player forces the other to play in certain way:

Repetitive checks by one player.
Repetitive threats of checkmate next move by one player.
Combinations of both above.
Repetitive attacks; a player is not allowed to attack one of his opponent’s unprotected pieces (he is thus forced to defend it) repeatedly in a similar manner (except with a Pawn and King, see below).
Combinations of repetitive checks and repetitive attacks.
Combinations of repetitive checks and repetitive threats to capture an enemy piece after discovered check (a check given by a piece not moving but exposed by a piece that does move).

If, however, the following types of repetition occur (basically those where both players repeat voluntarily) the game is drawn:

Repetitive blocking, where a threat is repeatedly made but repeatedly blocked by interposing a piece in the same or similar fashion.
Repetitive chasing, where one side chases the same enemy piece which is protected but keeps running.
Repetitive offers of exchanges, where one player offers the same or similar exchanges and the opponent repeatedly declines them.
Repetitive offers of sacrifice, where one player keeps offering the same piece in order to achieve greater gain (e.g. checkmate) and the opponent keeps refusing it.
A combination of repetitive checks and repetitive blocking, providing the checking player is not making a check prohibited as above.
Alternating repetitive checks or repetitive double checks.
Repetitive chasing of unprotected pieces where repetition can be regarded as forced (e.g. in order to prevent checkmate).
Repetitive chasing of unprotected pieces by both players alternately.

Note: in the previous two instances, if one player varies the other must also.

Repeated attacks on an unprotected enemy piece by a Pawn or a King, unless attacking (checking) the enemy King.

Despite this lengthy list of special rules there are quite a few positions difficult to interpret. The rules give extensive guidance on this but even then a decision may come down to a tournament controller. Under less formal circumstances the decision should agreed by the players.

Whoever plays first has a significant advantage, and to keep that initiative they will try to maintain a strong attacking posture. The other player can either submit to defence or take up an attacking posture of his own. Attack, defence and counter-attack are the words that dominate the Chinese game commentaries and so the first consideration is to understand what they mean.

Each player’s forces are split between attack and defence in that guards and bishops cannot leave their own area and so are defensive. Pawns cannot move backwards and so perforce are attacking. Wider-ranging Rooks, Cannons and Knights obviously serve attacking roles, and in the opening that is their main function, but they can defend if necessary. Thus tactics and style are important and would seem to justify acquiring some more specialist literature.

Two final pieces of advice, one direct, one indirect:

Do not get too wrapped up in the draw rulings, this is complicated even for the most experienced players; just sort it out amicably amongst yourselves.

If you want a more detailed introduction to Xiangqi, the book “Chinese Chess for Beginners” by Sam Sloan is one of the most popular reference works in English and is highly recommended.

Enjoy your Xiangqi – Chinese Chess.