---
title: "How Many Squares Can the Xiangqi General Use? · Xiangqi Master"
description: "Nine — the points of its own palace — for the entire game. It moves one point orthogonally and never leaves."
url: https://xiangqimaster.com/blog/how-many-points-can-the-general-reach
updated: 2026-09-22
source: Xiangqi Master (https://xiangqimaster.com)
license: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
---

# How many points can the general reach 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
>
> **Nine**, for the whole game. The general moves one point orthogonally within its palace and can never leave, so its entire life happens on those nine points. It is the most restricted king in any major chess-family game, and that restriction shapes everything about how attacks work.

## Why it makes attacks concrete

You always know where the target is. An attack is therefore a counting exercise: which of the nine points are covered, by what, and how many attackers can you bring in three moves against how many defenders. There is no castling, no running to the far wing, and nowhere to hide.

## And why nine is fewer than it sounds

The defender's own advisors and elephants occupy some of those points, and the enemy general denies the whole file it stands on. A defending general often has two or three genuinely available points, which is why mates in xiangqi need only two attacking pieces.

## Related questions

Does the general use the palace diagonals?

No. Those show the advisor's moves. The general moves orthogonally only.

Can the general be forced out of the palace?

Never. If it has no legal move at all, that is a loss, not an exit.

## Related xiangqi resources

How the general moves

One point orthogonally, never leaves the palace

Attacking the palace

How xiangqi attacks are built

Board setup

The board, the river, the palace, and where the 32 pieces go

## Try it on a real board

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