Does the board flip when I play as Black online, the way it does in chess?
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
Usually, yes. Most digital xiangqi interfaces, including this site's, orient the board so your own pieces sit at the bottom of the screen no matter which side you are playing, the same convention chess sites use for Black. Red does not have to be at the bottom for the rules to make sense; only the players' own perspective needs to be consistent.
Why this matters more than it sounds
File numbering in notation is counted from each player's own right, so if the screen did not flip, reading and writing your own moves in WXF notation would be far more confusing than it needs to be. A flipped board keeps "your right" and "the screen's right" the same thing for whoever is actually moving.
What stays the same either way
The rules, the palace positions and the river do not care which way the board is drawn; flipping is purely a display convenience for the player at the keyboard. A printed diagram in a book, by contrast, is normally drawn with Red at the bottom regardless of whose move it is, which is worth knowing before you open one for the first time.
Related questions
Can I turn off the flipping if I prefer a fixed orientation?
Many platforms offer this as a setting; check your board's display options if you would rather Red always appear at the bottom.
Does this affect how moves are recorded?
No. The underlying notation and game record stay the same regardless of which way your screen happens to display the board.
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