What do 'points' mean in xiangqi?
These answers restate the rules implemented by our open-source engine, which follows the WXF laws for movement, checkmate and both repetition rulings: a side that forces a repetition by perpetual check or perpetual chase loses rather than drawing. The chase half has not been validated against the official casebook. Where an answer refers to a specific position, that position lives on the linked reference page, where the build verifies it before publishing.
Direct answer
Most often a point is an intersection of the board's lines, the place a piece stands, because xiangqi pieces sit on the lines rather than in squares. You will also meet points as piece values (a chariot is worth about nine) and points as a tournament score. Context tells you which one is meant.
Points as places on the board
The board has 90 points: nine files by ten ranks. Rules are stated in points: the horse moves one point orthogonally then one diagonally, the elephant two points diagonally, the general one point. When a book says a piece "controls a point", it means that intersection. Why there are 90 and why the lines, not the squares, matter is covered separately.
Points as piece values
Players also rate pieces with rough numbers so trades can be compared. A common scale puts the chariot around 9, the horse and cannon around 4 to 5 each, the advisor and elephant around 2, and the soldier at 1 before crossing the river and about 2 after. Sources differ slightly, and the numbers shift over a game: the horse gains as the board empties and the cannon loses. See what the pieces are worth.
Points as a score
In a tournament table, points are what you collect for results. Scoring conventions differ between events, so check the rules of the event you are in. How draws are scored covers the common systems.
Related questions
Is there a points system for winning a single game, like counting captured pieces?
No. A game is won by checkmate (or when the opponent has no legal move, resigns, runs out of time or breaks the repetition rules). Captured material is not scored.
Why do English books say 'point' instead of 'square'?
Because the pieces stand on intersections. Calling them squares causes real mistakes, especially around the river and the palace.
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