--- title: "Best Chinese Chess Sets & Boards: What to Look For · Xiangqi Master" description: "What actually matters when buying a Chinese chess (xiangqi) set: board size and material, piece weight, traditional versus simplified characters, and travel versus display sets." url: https://xiangqimaster.com/best-chinese-chess-sets updated: 2026-09-23 source: Xiangqi Master (https://xiangqimaster.com) license: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) --- # The best Chinese chess sets and boards Every position, move and legality claim on this page is verified programmatically against our open rules engine, which implements the WXF laws and is tested against the official 110-diagram repetition casebook. > Direct answer > > A good Chinese chess set comes down to four things: a board with squares (strictly, intersection spacing) close to the piece diameter so the pieces sit precisely on their points; pieces heavy enough not to slide when the board is bumped; characters in the script you can actually read, or large enough to learn from a reference; and, for a first set, a size you will actually keep set up rather than a travel set that stays in a drawer. ## Board size and material Boards run from small vinyl travel mats to full wooden boards over 40cm wide. A full-size board — roughly 2 inches (5cm) between points — is comfortable to actually play on and is what a physical set is usually worth buying for. Travel sets, with points closer to 1–1.5 inches, are for a bag or a car, not for regular games; the pieces get cramped and hard to grip. Material matters less than spacing. Printed vinyl or card boards are fine and cheap; wood is nicer to look at and more durable but adds cost for no functional benefit over a well-printed board. ## Piece material and weight Plastic pieces are the default and are perfectly playable — light, cheap, and fine for learning. Wood or stone (often a resin composite sold as "stone") pieces cost more but sit more securely on the board and feel better to move, which matters if you will be playing regularly rather than owning a set as a decoration. Weight matters more than material on its own: a light plastic piece on a board bumped by an elbow slides; a weighted piece does not. If a listing gives a weight per piece, more is generally better up to a point — past roughly 15–20g each, extra weight adds cost without adding much. ## Traditional or simplified characters Almost all Chinese chess sets — including cheap ones — use traditional characters, which is also what tournament sets and this site use. That is worth knowing before you buy specifically because it is not always obvious from a listing photo: check the characters against [the pieces in Chinese](https://xiangqimaster.com/chess-in-chinese) if you want to confirm which script a set uses before it arrives. A small number of sets, mostly aimed at absolute beginners, print the piece's English name alongside or instead of the Chinese character. That is a real convenience for the first few weeks and worth seeking out if you are buying for someone who has never seen the game, at the cost of a set you will likely want to replace once the characters are familiar. ## Folding travel sets versus display sets A magnetic folding set is the right choice if the set needs to survive a bag, a flight, or a child: the pieces do not fall off, and the whole thing closes into something the size of a large book. It is a worse choice as a primary set for regular play at a table — the board is small and the pieces are usually thin plastic discs rather than the taller, rounder pieces a full-size set uses. A wooden or stone full-size set is the better choice for a set that lives on a table or shelf and gets played on regularly. It is a worse choice for travel, for the obvious reason that it does not fold or fit in a bag. ## Before you buy: what to check in the listing Four things worth confirming before ordering, especially from a marketplace listing with few or generic photos: - **Point spacing versus piece diameter.** Pieces noticeably wider than the gap between points will not sit cleanly on their intersections. - **Piece count.** A complete set is 32 pieces, 16 per side. Cheap sets occasionally ship short — a review mentioning a missing piece is a real red flag, not a one-off complaint. - **Board material and flatness.** A rolled vinyl board can develop a permanent curl; a folding board can develop a gap at the hinge. Both make pieces harder to place precisely. - **Whether the board is printed with a river and palace.** Nearly all are, but a bare grid with neither marked is a genuine beginner trap — the palace diagonals in particular are easy to misplace from memory. ## Related questions What is the best Chinese chess set for a beginner? A full-size set (around 2 inches between points) with either large, clear characters or English labels alongside them, and pieces heavy enough not to slide. Size and legibility matter far more for a beginner than material or price. Should a Chinese chess set be traditional or simplified characters? Traditional is standard on the great majority of sets, including cheap ones, and is what tournament sets use. See [the pieces in Chinese](https://xiangqimaster.com/chess-in-chinese) to check a set's characters against both scripts before buying. What size Chinese chess board should I buy? Roughly 2 inches (5cm) between points for a set you will actually play on. Smaller travel sets are worth owning as a second set, not a first one. Are wooden or plastic Chinese chess pieces better? Plastic is perfectly playable and is where most people should start. Wood or weighted resin pieces feel better and sit more securely on the board, which is worth paying for once you know you will keep playing. How many pieces are in a Chinese chess set? 32: 16 per side, in seven piece types. See [the full piece breakdown](https://xiangqimaster.com/pieces) if you want to check a listing's photo against the complete set before buying. ## Related xiangqi resources Chinese chess pieces Names, characters and the full set, at a glance The pieces in Chinese Check a set's script before you buy Board setup Where all 32 pieces go once the set arrives How to play xiangqi Learn the pieces for free before you buy any ## Learn the pieces before you buy The characters make far more sense once you have moved them. Free, no set required.