--- title: "Is Blindfold Xiangqi a Real, Practiced Skill? ยท Xiangqi Master" description: "Yes. Some strong players can play without sight of the board, tracking the position mentally, a skill built gradually from ordinary visualisation habits rather than a separate talent." url: https://xiangqimaster.com/blog/is-blindfold-xiangqi-a-real-practiced-skill updated: 2026-09-23 source: Xiangqi Master (https://xiangqimaster.com) license: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) --- # Is blindfold xiangqi a real thing, and how is it trained? 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 > > **Yes.** Some strong players are able to play one or more games without sight of the board, tracking the full position, including every piece and every legal move, entirely in their head. It is a genuine trained skill built up gradually from ordinary visualisation habits, not a separate, mysterious talent unrelated to normal play. ## How it is actually built The foundation is the same habit used in ordinary calculation, holding a position in your head a few moves deep before playing it, extended much further through deliberate practice. Players who train it typically start by replaying short games from memory on an empty board before attempting to play an entire game without looking at one at all. ## Why cannons make it harder than it would be in chess Tracking which pieces sit on a cannon's line, and how many, is already the trickiest part of normal calculation; doing it without a board in front of you removes the visual shortcut of simply looking at the line to count. This is generally considered one of the harder parts of playing blindfold xiangqi compared to blindfold chess. ## Related questions Do I need to be a master to try this? No, though it is genuinely difficult. Starting with a single short game from memory, rather than a full blindfold session, is a reasonable way to test it out. Is this useful for anything besides a party trick? The underlying skill, visualising a position accurately without needing to look, is a real byproduct of strong calculation training generally, even for players who never attempt a full blindfold game. ## Related xiangqi resources Xiangqi tactics Forks, pins and discovered attacks How to improve What to study, in what order Play xiangqi Free, in the browser, nothing to install ## Try it on a real board Reading an answer is one thing; playing it is another. Free, instant, and nothing to install.