---
title: "How to Practise Xiangqi Alone · Xiangqi Master"
description: "Puzzles for pattern recognition, basic checkmate drills against the computer, and reviewing your own past games."
url: https://xiangqimaster.com/blog/how-do-i-practise-without-an-opponent
updated: 2026-09-22
source: Xiangqi Master (https://xiangqimaster.com)
license: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
---

# How do I practise xiangqi without an opponent?

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
>
> Three things work alone: **puzzles**, which train the pattern recognition that decides most games; **checkmate drills** against the computer from a bare-general position; and **reviewing your own games**, which needs no opponent at all and is the highest-return activity available.

## Drilling the basic mates

Set up a chariot against a bare general and mate it, repeatedly, until it takes a handful of moves. Then cannon-and-advisor. Then horse-and-soldier. This is an afternoon's work and it converts won games for the rest of your life.

## Puzzles are the one place volume works

Because the goal is recognition and the feedback is immediate. Fifteen or twenty focused puzzles beats a hundred rushed ones — stop when you notice yourself guessing rather than seeing.

## Related questions

Is playing the computer good practice?

At low levels it teaches you to punish blunders. At higher levels its moves are less human than your real opponents'.

Can I improve without playing at all?

Puzzles and endgame drills go a long way, but you need games to produce material to review.

## Related xiangqi resources

Tactics puzzles

One right idea per position

Play the computer

Four difficulty levels, no account needed

Basic checkmates

Mating with ordinary material

## Try it on a real board

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