Is xiangqi the same game as go?
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
No, they are completely different games that only share being Chinese board games played on line intersections. Xiangqi (象棋) is a chess relative where distinct pieces capture each other to trap the enemy general. Go (圍棋) is played with identical black and white stones on a much larger 19x19 grid, and the goal is surrounding territory, not capturing a king-like piece.
Why people mix them up
Both are old Chinese board games, both use the character 棋, and both are played on the crossing points of a grid rather than in the squares, which is unusual for anyone coming from western chess or checkers. Beyond that surface similarity, the games have almost nothing in common.
The actual differences
Xiangqi has seven kinds of pieces with different powers, a 9x10 board with a river and two palaces, and ends when one general is trapped. Go uses only plain stones, all identical, on a 19x19 board with no special zones, and ends when the board is divided by territory rather than by anyone being checkmated. They are not variants of each other and were not developed from one another.
Related questions
Which one is older?
Go is documented in Chinese sources many centuries before xiangqi reached its modern form; see how xiangqi's age compares to go's.
Is one easier to learn than the other?
Xiangqi's rules are usually easier to pick up quickly, since the pieces work more like chess; go's rules are simple but the strategy takes a long time to develop.
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