Chinese chess is a board game played throughout China. In Chinese it is known as Xiangqi, pronounced She-ang-chee. It is closely related to standard chess. As in standard chess, there are two players, each with an identical set of pieces, the only difference being colour. Players sit at opposite sides of the board, and take turns to move their pieces. Players may move to an empty square or may move to a position occupied by one of the other player's pieces, "taking" it and removing it from the board. The game ends by taking the opponent's general or by putting it in a position in which it cannot escape from being taken on the next move.

The word Xiang in the name means both elephant and figure. The name is generally taken to be 'Elephant Game' but the name may have originally been 'figure game'.

The Board

The game is played on a board with a grid of squares drawn on it. The grid is 8 squares wide and 9 squares deep. The pieces are placed on the intersections of the lines rather than in the centres of the squares, so there are 9 x 10 positions where the pieces can be placed.

The board has a few lines missing and a few extra lines drawn on it - these are visual aids to remind the players of the moves of some of the pieces which are restricted to certain parts of the board:

The vertical line segments are missing across the central line of squares which divides the two sides of the board. This gap is called the river and it affects only the pieces known as elephants, which are not allowed to cross this divide, and the soldiers, which have a different move once they have crossed the river.

The 3x3 section in the middle of the baseline of each player's side is known as the palace and is highlighted by the addition of diagonal lines. The pieces known as generals and advisors are restricted to moving only within the palace. They can not leave the palace.

There are also spots marked on some of the intersections as an aid to positioning the pieces at the start of the game.

The Pieces

In standard chess, the function of the piece is indicated by its shape. In Chinese chess, all the pieces are the same shape - a flat cylinder, normally made of wood or plastic. The function of the piece is indicated by a Chinese symbol painted on the top. The colour of the paint, red or black, indicates to which player the piece belongs.

Each player has 16 pieces. As in standard chess, the piece can move to an empty position, or can move to a position occupied by an opposing piece and take that piece. The taken piece is removed from the board. With the exception of the cannon piece which has special rules, no piece can jump over another piece. If the move goes through any intervening positions, they must be unoccupied.

• 1 General - the rough equivalent of the King in standard chess. The General can only move within the palace and can only move orthogonally by the side of one square, except for the move in which he jumps across the board to capture the opponent's general, thereby winning the game.
• 2 Advisors - these move diagonally by 1 square, and also cannot leave the palace. This means that they can only move on the diagonal lines of the palace and are restricted to occupying five particular positions.
• 2 Elephants - these can only move two spaces diagonally, and can not cross the central "river" of the board onto the other player's half. This means that they are restricted to occupying 7 particular locations on the player's side of the board.
• 2 Horses - similar to the knight in standard chess, this piece moves one space orthogonally and then continues one space diagonally, but it is unable to jump intervening pieces, so if the orthogonal space has a piece on it, the horse can't move through that space. It is not permitted to move diagonally first and then orthogonally to avoid an intervening piece.
• 2 Chariots - these are the equivalent of the rook or castle in standard chess - they start out in the corners and can move any distance orthogonally.

• 2 Cannons - these are a bit like castles but have different rules depending on whether they are moving to an empty position or capturing an opponent's piece:

  • If moving to an empty square, they can move any distance orthogonally and the intervening positions must be unoccupied.
  • If taking a piece, they move orthogonally any distance but must jump over one occupied position along the way. The other positions must be unoccupied.
• 5 Soldiers. These can advance by one square either to move or to take. When they've crossed the river, they can also move or take sideways, but not diagonally.

Rules

The game proceeds like standard chess, with each side moving one piece in turn. If the general is put in a position where he could be taken, it is a "check" which is announced. If the general gets into a position where he can not escape from check, it is "checkmate" and the game is ended.

Two differences from standard chess (other than the different moves of the pieces) are:

Soldiers do not get promoted when they reach the opponent's backline.

The generals are never allowed to face each other along the same line with no pieces in between. If one general moves into this position, the other can jump across the board and take him, ending the game.

There are a few special rules which reduce the chances of draws based on endless chases around the board.