---
title: "Does Xiangqi Have a Fifty-Move Rule? · Xiangqi Master"
description: "Xiangqi has a sixty-move rule rather than fifty: sixty moves with no capture is a draw."
url: https://xiangqimaster.com/blog/does-xiangqi-have-a-fifty-move-rule
updated: 2026-09-22
source: Xiangqi Master (https://xiangqimaster.com)
license: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
---

# Does xiangqi have a fifty-move rule?

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
>
> It has a **sixty-move rule**, not fifty. Sixty moves without a capture by either side is a draw. The principle is the same as chess's fifty-move rule — stop games that are going nowhere — but the number differs, and xiangqi has no equivalent of chess's extended exceptions for specific endgames.

## Why the count is generous

Because it does not need to be tight. Xiangqi's basic mates are short: the general is confined to nine points, so covering its escape squares takes two or three accurate moves rather than a long manoeuvre. Sixty is ample for anything you actually need to do.

## Where it bites

Only on technique. If you know the mate, you will never see the sixty-move rule; if you do not and you give checks at random, you will. It is one more argument for learning the basic checkmates before anything else.

## Related questions

Is there a seventy-five-move automatic draw?

No — xiangqi has no equivalent of that chess provision. The sixty-move rule is the whole of it.

Does a check reset the count?

No. Only a capture does.

## Related xiangqi resources

Perpetual check and chase

Repetition is adjudicated, not automatically drawn

Basic checkmates

Mating with ordinary material

Xiangqi rules

The complete reference, rule by rule

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