Do xiangqi tournaments still use adjournments or sealed moves?
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
Rarely, in modern practice. An adjournment, sealing a move and resuming an unfinished game at a later session, was once a practical necessity for long games under slow time controls. Modern time controls and tighter event schedules are generally designed so games finish in a single sitting, and the format has largely fallen out of use, much as it has in chess.
Why adjournments existed in the first place
Very long, slow games could genuinely outlast a single day's playing session, and stopping mid-game with the position hidden from both players' further preparation, by sealing the next move in an envelope, was the practical solution. It required real logistics: secure storage, a scheduled resumption, and rules about who could analyse what in between.
Why the format mostly disappeared
Faster time controls and stricter event schedules removed most of the need. A modern tournament game with an increment is designed to reach a natural conclusion the same day, and the complications of sealing moves and scheduling a second sitting are rarely worth the logistical cost for organisers, exactly as chess found.
Related questions
Could an adjournment still happen today?
In principle, for an exceptionally long game under unusually slow time controls, though it would be an organiser's specific decision rather than a standard part of most events.
Does correspondence xiangqi replace the need for adjournments?
In a sense, yes; correspondence xiangqi is built around exactly the slow pace that once made adjournments necessary, without needing to stop and reseal anything.
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