How do players decide who plays red in 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
By agreement in casual play, and by the pairing system in formal play. Two friends usually just pick, or alternate from the last game. In a tournament the pairing software or arbiter assigns colours, because red moves first and a fair event cannot leave that to chance every round.
Why the colour matters
Moving first is a real advantage in xiangqi, arguably a larger one than in chess, because development is faster and attacks come together sooner. Tournaments track colour balance across a player's games the same way chess events do, trying to give each player roughly equal turns with each colour over a match or an event.
Casual conventions
Common informal methods: one player hides a soldier of each colour in a closed hand and the opponent picks; players alternate colours game to game; or whoever owns the board plays red. None of this is a rule, just custom, and any method both players accept is fine.
Related questions
Does red always move first?
Yes. That is fixed regardless of how the colour was assigned.
Is there a rule requiring colours to alternate in a match?
Common tournament practice, not a universal law. It depends on the organising federation's regulations.
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