---
title: "How Captures Are Written in Xiangqi Notation · Xiangqi Master"
description: "They are not marked at all. A xiangqi move names a destination, and whether something was captured there is implied by the position."
url: https://xiangqimaster.com/blog/how-are-captures-written-in-xiangqi
updated: 2026-09-22
source: Xiangqi Master (https://xiangqimaster.com)
license: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
---

# How are captures written in xiangqi notation?

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
>
> **They are not marked.** Xiangqi notation records where a piece goes, not what it finds there — so there is no equivalent of chess's `x`. Whether a move was a capture is implied by the position, and reading a game record means keeping the position in your head or on a board.

## Why the system can afford to omit it

Because a xiangqi move fully specifies a destination. Chess's `x` exists partly for disambiguation in algebraic notation; xiangqi's move already identifies both the piece and where it lands, so the capture adds no information the reader needs to reconstruct the move.

## What is also not marked

Check and checkmate. There is no `+` for check — `+` means forward — and no `#`. A game record simply stops, with the result written at the end. Annotated books add their own symbols, but the base notation carries none.

## Related questions

How do I know if a move was a capture?

By following the position. Any tool that replays the game will show it.

Is there a symbol for check?

Not in the base notation — `+` already means "advance".

## Related xiangqi resources

Reading notation

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

Analyse your games

Take any position apart with engine support

Xiangqi glossary

Every term, with the Chinese and the WXF spelling

## Try it on a real board

Reading an answer is one thing; playing it is another. Free, instant, and nothing to install.