How is a handicap game represented differently in xiangqi notation?
These answers restate the rules implemented by our open-source engine, which follows the WXF laws for movement, checkmate and both repetition rulings: a side that forces a repetition by perpetual check or perpetual chase loses rather than drawing. The chase half has not been validated against the official casebook. Where an answer refers to a specific position, that position lives on the linked reference page, where the build verifies it before publishing.
Direct answer
Usually with a note in the game's header, alongside the players and date, stating which piece was removed before play began, rather than any change to the move notation itself. Once the game starts, moves are recorded exactly as in any other game, the notation has no special symbol for a handicap, because by the time the first move is played, the reduced starting position is simply the position.
Why the moves themselves need no special marking
A handicap only changes the starting arrangement, not how any piece subsequently moves or captures. Everything downstream, every notated move in the game, follows the same rules and the same notation as a standard game; only the initial setup differs, and that belongs in a header note rather than the move list.
What that header note usually specifies
Which piece was removed, most commonly a horse or a chariot as described under handicap play, and from which side. Some records also note any extra move given to the weaker side, if the specific handicap arrangement included one.
Related questions
Could a position string represent a handicap starting position directly?
Yes, a FEN-style string for a handicap game simply omits the missing piece from the board, the same as any other non-standard starting position.
Is handicap notation standardised across sources?
Not tightly, different publishers describe the missing piece in prose rather than following one fixed symbol or format.
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