How do I tell if I am actually improving at 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
Track the causes behind your losses over time, not just your results. Rating and win rate are noisy and slow to move, but a training log will show a specific mistake, missed forks, lost tempo in the opening, disappearing well before either number catches up. That disappearance is the real signal.
Why results alone are misleading
A short losing streak against stronger opposition can happen while you are genuinely improving, and a short winning streak against weaker players can happen while nothing about your play has actually changed. Neither tells you much on its own over a small sample.
What to check instead
Look back at the training log's categories from a few weeks or months ago and ask whether the dominant cause of loss has shifted. Moving from mostly hanging pieces to mostly losing drawn-out endgames is real progress, even if the raw score has not moved much yet, which is the same idea behind fixing blunders specifically before worrying about anything else.
Related questions
How long before results catch up?
It varies, but weeks to a couple of months is typical once a specific weakness has genuinely improved.
Should I ignore my rating entirely?
Not entirely, but treat it as a lagging indicator rather than the primary measure.
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