---
title: "How to Notate a Draw in Xiangqi · Xiangqi Master"
description: "Draws are written ½-½ at the end of the move list, exactly as in chess, whether reached by agreement, insufficient material, or the sixty-move rule."
url: https://xiangqimaster.com/blog/how-do-you-notate-a-drawn-game-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 do you write down the result of a drawn xiangqi game?

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
>
> The same way chess does: **½-½** at the end of the move list. Xiangqi notation does not distinguish *why* a game was drawn, so a draw by agreement, by the sixty-move rule and by insufficient mating material are all written identically. The reason, if it matters, belongs in a note alongside the score rather than in the notation itself.

## Where the reason actually gets recorded

Tournament bulletins and databases often add a short remark next to the result, such as "60-move rule" or "agreed", but this is annotation layered on top of the game record, not part of the core notation. The core system only has three results: 1-0, 0-1 and ½-½.

## Why this matters more here than in chess

Xiangqi's repetition rules can rule a draw *against* one side rather than producing a shared ½-½, when a position is adjudicated as a loss for whoever was checking or chasing without variation. A plain draw score tells you nothing about whether that happened; you have to read the moves. See [how to record a game](https://xiangqimaster.com/blog/how-do-you-record-a-xiangqi-game) for the rest of the header conventions.

## Related questions

Is there a symbol for the sixty-move rule specifically?

Not in standard notation. It is usually noted in prose next to the result rather than encoded in a symbol.

Does a repetition loss look different from a normal loss?

Not in the final score. It is still 1-0 or 0-1; only the game notes would explain why.

## Related xiangqi resources

Perpetual check and chase

Repetition is adjudicated, not automatically drawn

Reading notation

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

Analyse your games

Take any position apart with engine support

## Try it on a real board

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