--- title: "Rules and legality · Questions · Xiangqi Master" description: "Is that move legal in xiangqi? Answers to the rules questions that decide real games, from the WXF laws our engine implements." url: https://xiangqimaster.com/blog/topics/rules source: Xiangqi Master (https://xiangqimaster.com) license: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) --- # Xiangqi rules questions Is this move legal? These are the questions where the rules of xiangqi differ from every other chess-family game, which is where almost all the confusion lives. Can the general leave the palace in xiangqi? No. The general is confined to the nine points of its palace for the entire game, and so are both advisors. Can the two generals face each other in xiangqi? No. The flying general rule forbids the two generals from standing on the same file with nothing between them, and any move creating it is illegal. Can a horse jump over pieces in xiangqi? No. The xiangqi horse never jumps. A piece on the point it steps through blocks the move entirely, which is the biggest difference from the chess knight. Can the elephant cross the river in xiangqi? No. The elephant can never cross the river under any circumstances, which makes it a purely defensive piece with only seven reachable points. Can a soldier move backwards in xiangqi? No. Soldiers never move backwards. Before the river they move only forward; after crossing they add sideways movement but still cannot retreat. Is stalemate a draw in xiangqi? No. A player with no legal move loses in xiangqi. There is no stalemate draw, which makes material advantages convert far more reliably than in chess. Can advisors leave the palace in xiangqi? No. Advisors are confined to the palace and move one point diagonally, reaching only five of its nine points. Is there en passant in xiangqi? No. Soldiers move one point at a time with no double first step, so the situation en passant exists to correct never arises. Can you pass your turn in xiangqi? No. You must make a legal move on your turn. A player with no legal move loses, since stalemate is a loss rather than a draw. Can a cannon capture without a screen in xiangqi? No. A cannon captures only by jumping exactly one piece. With nothing in between, or two pieces in between, the capture is illegal. Do you have to announce check in xiangqi? No. Announcing check is optional and is not done in serious play. Your opponent is responsible for noticing it. Can the general capture pieces in xiangqi? Yes. The general captures any enemy piece on an adjacent point inside the palace, as long as the capture does not leave it in check. Can horses enter the palace in xiangqi? Yes. Only the general and advisors are confined to the palace. Horses, chariots, cannons and soldiers may all enter it freely. What happens if you make an illegal move in xiangqi? The move is taken back and a legal one played instead. In formal play repeated illegal moves are penalised and can forfeit the game. Can you capture your own pieces in xiangqi? No. You may never capture your own pieces, and your own pieces block horses, elephants and chariots exactly as your opponent's do. Which pieces does the river stop in xiangqi? Only the elephant is stopped by the river. Soldiers change behaviour on crossing; chariots, horses and cannons ignore it entirely. Can a chariot move diagonally in xiangqi? No. The chariot moves any distance along a clear rank or file, exactly like a rook. There are no diagonal moves for it anywhere on the board. How do you set up a xiangqi board? Chariots in the corners, then horses, elephants, advisors, general in the centre; cannons on the third rank; five soldiers on the fourth. Can a cannon give check without a screen? No. Check is a threatened capture, and a cannon cannot capture without exactly one screen — so no screen means no check. How many moves without a capture is a draw in xiangqi? Sixty moves without a capture is a draw in xiangqi — the equivalent of the fifty-move rule in chess. Can a soldier give check in xiangqi? Yes. A soldier checks the general from directly in front of it, or from the side once it has crossed the river. Are xiangqi rules the same everywhere? The movement rules are universal. Repetition adjudication and some tournament details differ between Chinese, WXF and Vietnamese practice. Can the general move more than one point at a time? One point at a time, orthogonally, within the palace. There is no long move and no diagonal move for the general. What material is not enough to win in xiangqi? A lone horse and a lone cannon cannot force mate against a bare general. A cannon needs a screen, which a bare general does not provide. Does xiangqi use touch-move? Yes in formal play: touch a piece and you must move it if it has a legal move. Casual park games usually ignore the rule. Can you checkmate with just a cannon in xiangqi? No. A lone cannon cannot even give check to a general in an empty palace, because there is nothing to jump over. Do xiangqi pieces sit on the squares or on the lines? On the intersections. A xiangqi board has 90 playable points where its nine files and ten ranks cross. Can two pieces occupy the same point in xiangqi? No. Every point holds at most one piece. Moving onto an enemy piece captures it; moving onto your own is illegal. Must you get out of check immediately in xiangqi? Yes. You must answer a check on the very next move by capturing, blocking or moving the general. Any other move is illegal. Does xiangqi have a fifty-move rule? Xiangqi has a sixty-move rule rather than fifty: sixty moves with no capture is a draw. Can you take back a move in xiangqi? Not in formal play. Once a move is completed under touch-move it stands, and only illegal moves are corrected. Casual games take back moves by agreement. Can you resign in xiangqi? Yes. Either player may resign at any time by declaring it, ending the game as a loss for them. It is standard etiquette once a position is clearly lost. Is double check possible in xiangqi? Yes. A discovered attack can leave the general checked by two pieces at once, and the only legal reply is to move the general. What happens when the clock runs out in xiangqi? The player who runs out of time loses immediately, provided the opponent has enough material to have any theoretical chance of mating. Is the xiangqi board set up the same way for both players? Yes. Red and Black set up in mirrored fashion on their own back three ranks, with identical piece counts and identical relative positions. Can a cannon capture the general in xiangqi? In principle yes, exactly like any other piece, but in practice the game ends at checkmate before a capture of the general ever actually happens. Can an advisor capture an enemy piece in xiangqi? Yes. An advisor captures exactly as it moves, one point diagonally, and only within the palace, so it can only take pieces that have ventured inside. Can two of your own pieces be on the same file in xiangqi? Yes, any number of your own pieces can share a file or rank. The only restriction is that no two pieces of either side can share a single point. Is a discovered check legal in xiangqi? Yes, completely legal, and extremely common. Moving a piece to unmask an attack from another piece behind it is one of the most ordinary ways to give check. Can a piece be immune from capture in xiangqi? No. Every piece, including the general, can be captured if an opponent's piece can legally reach it. There is no special protection for any piece type. When is a move considered complete in xiangqi? In formal play, a move is complete when the piece is released on its new point. Online, a move is complete the instant it is submitted to the server. Can you forfeit a xiangqi game by arriving late? Yes, in tournament play. Most events set a default time; a player who has not arrived by then forfeits the game, exactly as in chess. ## Try it on a real board Reading an answer is one thing; playing it is another. Free, instant, and nothing to install.