--- title: "Do You Have to Say Check in Xiangqi? · Xiangqi Master" description: "No. Announcing check is optional and is not done in serious play. Your opponent is responsible for noticing it." url: https://xiangqimaster.com/blog/do-you-have-to-announce-check-in-xiangqi updated: 2026-09-22 source: Xiangqi Master (https://xiangqimaster.com) license: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) --- # Do you have to announce check 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.** There is no requirement to announce check (將軍), and in tournament play it is not done. The responsibility for noticing sits entirely with the player being checked. Casual park games often announce it loudly, but that is sociability, not rules. ## What happens if check is missed A move that leaves your own general in check is illegal, so it simply cannot stand. In a formal game an arbiter has the move retracted and a legal one played instead, with a penalty possible for repeated illegal moves. Online, the board refuses the move outright. ## The check that gets missed most Discovered check from a cannon, because the line was empty a moment earlier and did not look like an attack. The habit that prevents it: after your opponent moves, check every cannon on a line with your general, and count the pieces in between. ## Related questions Is there a penalty for an illegal move? In formal play, yes — typically a warning, with repetition leading to loss. Casual play just takes the move back. Must I announce checkmate? No. The game simply ends when there is no legal reply. ## Related xiangqi resources Check and checkmate Including why stalemate is a loss Discovered attacks Sharper here than in chess, because of the cannon How the cannon moves Captures only by jumping exactly one screen ## Try it on a real board Reading an answer is one thing; playing it is another. Free, instant, and nothing to install.