Can a horse jump over pieces in xiangqi?
These answers restate the rules implemented by our open-source engine, which follows the WXF laws and is regression-tested against the official 110-diagram repetition casebook. Where an answer refers to a specific position, that position lives on the linked reference page, where the build verifies it against the engine before publishing.
Direct answer
No — the xiangqi horse never jumps. It moves one point orthogonally and then one diagonally outward, and a piece standing on that first orthogonal point blocks the move completely. This is called hobbling the horse's leg (蹩馬腿), and it is the single biggest trap for players arriving from chess.
Which point blocks it
The blocking point is the one the horse steps through, not the one it lands on. A horse on an empty board has eight moves; a single piece directly beside it removes two of them at once, because both of those moves pass through the same point.
Your own pieces block just as effectively as your opponent's, which is why beginners regularly place a soldier or advisor exactly where their own horse needed to go.
How to use it
Blocking is the whole defence against a horse. Anything at all on the leg point will do, including your own general in a bare endgame.
It also means a horse gets stronger as the board empties — fewer pieces, fewer legs blocked — which is why a horse usually outvalues a cannon by the endgame.
Related questions
Is the xiangqi horse the same as a knight?
The destination squares are the same L-shape, but the chess knight jumps and this one does not. In practice they play very differently.
Can a horse be blocked by its own side?
Yes. Any piece on the leg point blocks it, regardless of colour.
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