---
title: "Do Xiangqi Game Scores Number by Ply or by Move Pair? · Xiangqi Master"
description: "Most printed scores number by move pair, one number covering both Red's move and Black's reply, following the same convention long used in chess notation."
url: https://xiangqimaster.com/blog/do-xiangqi-game-scores-number-by-ply-or-by-move-pair
updated: 2026-09-23
source: Xiangqi Master (https://xiangqimaster.com)
license: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
---

# Do xiangqi game scores number moves per ply (single move) or per full move pair, and does it matter?

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
>
> **By move pair, in almost all printed and conventional scores.** A single move number covers both Red's move and Black's reply, exactly the convention chess notation uses, so "5." refers to Red's fifth move and Black's fifth reply together, not two separate numbered entries. Ply-based numbering, giving every individual move its own number, shows up mainly in some database and software formats rather than in the notation a human reader would see.

## Why move-pair numbering is the norm

It keeps a printed score compact and mirrors how players actually think about the game, in rounds where each side gets a turn, rather than as a flat sequence of individual actions. A reader glancing at move ten knows exactly which point in the game they are looking at for both sides at once.

## Where ply-based counting shows up instead

Some internal formats used by databases and engines count every individual move as its own unit, useful for things like the sixty-move no-capture count, which genuinely needs to track single moves by each side separately rather than move pairs. That counting convention is a technical detail behind the scenes, not something a reader normally sees.

## Related questions

Does this affect how the sixty-move rule is counted?

The underlying count is by individual move (ply) for both sides combined, which is a separate matter from how a score is displayed to a reader.

Is there ever confusion between the two systems?

Occasionally, when comparing a raw database move count to a printed move number, but the two are simply different units for different purposes.

## Related xiangqi resources

Reading notation

炮二平五 and C2=5 — the same move, two ways

Xiangqi rules

The complete reference, rule by rule

Analyse your games

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## Try it on a real board

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