---
title: "How Do You Win at Xiangqi? Every Way a Game Ends · Xiangqi Master"
description: "You win by checkmating the general, by stalemating your opponent, or when they resign, run out of time, or are ruled against under the repetition laws."
url: https://xiangqimaster.com/blog/how-do-you-win-at-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 win a game of 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
>
> You win by **checkmate** — attacking the general so that no legal move escapes. You also win if your opponent is **stalemated**, because in xiangqi a player with no legal move loses rather than drawing. Resignation, running out of time, and losing a repetition adjudication all end a game too.

## Every way a game ends

- **Checkmate** — the general is attacked and nothing escapes.
- **Stalemate** — no legal move at all. A loss, not a draw.
- **Resignation or timeout** — as in any other game.
- **Perpetual check or chase** — the offender must vary, and loses if they will not.
- **Draw** — by agreement, by insufficient material, or by sixty moves without a capture.

## Why stalemate losing changes everything

In chess, a losing side hunts for stalemate as a last resort. In xiangqi that resource does not exist, so material advantages convert far more reliably and an endgame a chess player would call drawish is often simply won.

## Related questions

Can you win on time in xiangqi?

Yes, in any timed game. Online and tournament play both use clocks, usually with an increment.

Is there a draw by agreement?

Yes, exactly as in chess. Draws are also reached by the sixty-move rule and by material too thin to force mate.

## Related xiangqi resources

Check and checkmate

Including why stalemate is a loss

Perpetual check and chase

Repetition is adjudicated, not automatically drawn

Basic checkmates

Mating with ordinary material

## Try it on a real board

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