---
title: "The Most Common Beginner Mistakes in Xiangqi · Xiangqi Master"
description: "Attacking with one piece, blocking your own horse, forgetting the cannon needs a screen, and moving advisors without reason."
url: https://xiangqimaster.com/blog/what-are-the-most-common-beginner-mistakes
updated: 2026-09-22
source: Xiangqi Master (https://xiangqimaster.com)
license: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
---

# What are the most common beginner mistakes 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
>
> Four dominate: **attacking with one piece**, which achieves nothing; **blocking your own horse's leg**; **forgetting the cannon needs exactly one screen**, in both directions; and **moving advisors or elephants without a reason**, which removes the general's escape points.

## Each has a specific fix

- **One attacker** — wait for the second piece, even when the first threat looks strong.
- **Blocked horse** — before a quiet move, ask what it stops your own pieces doing.
- **Cannon screens** — count the pieces on the line, every time, for both sides' cannons.
- **Loose advisors** — ask which palace point the move takes away from your own general.

## The habit that catches most of them

Two questions before each move: what did my opponent's last move attack, and what does my intended move stop defending? These are not failures of calculation, they are failures to look — and looking is cheap.

## Related questions

Why do beginners lose to the Central Cannon?

Because they defend the central soldier without developing and fall behind. [Screen Horses](https://xiangqimaster.com/openings/screen-horses) does both at once.

How do I stop hanging pieces?

Ask what their last move attacked before choosing your own. Most blunders answer a threat that was never noticed.

## Related xiangqi resources

Common mistakes

The errors that decide most club games

How to improve

What to study, in what order

Xiangqi tactics

Forks, pins and discovered attacks

## Try it on a real board

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