---
title: "How Do You Notate a Win by Resignation or Timeout? · Xiangqi Master"
description: "Game scores typically record the result in plain words at the end, such as Red wins by resignation or Black loses on time, rather than through a single dedicated symbol."
url: https://xiangqimaster.com/blog/how-do-you-notate-a-win-by-resignation-or-timeout
updated: 2026-09-23
source: Xiangqi Master (https://xiangqimaster.com)
license: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
---

# Is there a standard way to notate a win by resignation or a timeout, the way chess uses 1-0 and 0-1?

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
>
> **Usually in plain words at the end of the score, rather than a dedicated symbol.** A xiangqi game record commonly ends with a short statement such as "Red wins by resignation" or "Black loses on time," appended after the final move, rather than a compact code the way chess uses 1-0 or 0-1. Some digital formats do use their own short result codes internally, but there is no single symbol every publication agrees on.

## Why xiangqi hasn't standardised a short code the way chess has

Chess's compact result codes grew out of centuries of print publishing where saving space genuinely mattered. Xiangqi's written tradition leaned more heavily on prose commentary throughout, so a plain-language result line fits that broader style, and no single abbreviation ever became universal enough to displace it.

## What digital game files actually store

Software that records games internally, rather than for print, generally does store a specific result field, win, loss, draw, and by what means, even when the human-readable notation shown to a player is still just a sentence. The underlying data is precise; it is the display convention that stays informal.

## Related questions

Does a checkmate get written differently from a resignation?

Yes, a checkmate is normally shown by the final move itself plus a mate marker, while a resignation has no corresponding move to mark, only the closing statement.

Is there an agreed way to note a draw's exact cause?

Not a single universal one, though many game records do briefly state whether it was by agreement, repetition, or the move-count rule.

## Related xiangqi resources

Reading notation

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

Xiangqi rules

The complete reference, rule by rule

Play xiangqi

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## Try it on a real board

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