---
title: "Which Xiangqi Pieces Gain Value in the Endgame? · Xiangqi Master"
description: "Horses and crossed soldiers gain as the board empties. Cannons lose value, because their screens disappear with every trade."
url: https://xiangqimaster.com/blog/do-any-pieces-get-stronger-as-the-game-goes-on
updated: 2026-09-22
source: Xiangqi Master (https://xiangqimaster.com)
license: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
---

# Which xiangqi pieces get stronger as the game goes on?

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
>
> **Horses** and **crossed soldiers** gain; **cannons** lose. The horse gains because fewer pieces remain to block its legs. A soldier gains because in a simplified position one soldier near the palace can be a mating piece. The cannon loses because it needs a screen and screens are what trades remove.

## What this means for trading

Three rules of thumb fall straight out:

- Heading for an endgame, trade your **cannon for their horse**.
- Keep at least one **advisor** if your winning piece is a cannon — it is the screen.
- Do not trade your last **crossed soldier** for an uncrossed one. They are not the same piece.

## The pieces that do not change

The chariot is worth about 9 throughout, as long as it has a line. Advisors and elephants are never worth anything offensively and become *more* important defensively as the attacker's options narrow — which is a different kind of gain from the horse's.

## Related questions

Does the general gain value?

Functionally yes. In a bare endgame it becomes an attacking piece through the flying general rule.

When exactly do horse and cannon swap?

There is no fixed point. Count screens: when a cannon has few natural screens left, it has already crossed over.

## Related xiangqi resources

What the pieces are worth

And the three times the numbers stop being true

Horse endgames

The piece that gains as the board empties

Soldier endgames

Why a crossed soldier is worth double

## Try it on a real board

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