---
title: "What Is the Difference Between Perpetual Check and Perpetual Chase? · Xiangqi Master"
description: "Perpetual check repeatedly threatens the general; perpetual chase repeatedly threatens any other piece. Both require the forcing side to vary, under the same underlying principle."
url: https://xiangqimaster.com/blog/what-is-the-difference-between-perpetual-check-and-perpetual-chase
updated: 2026-09-22
source: Xiangqi Master (https://xiangqimaster.com)
license: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
---

# What is the difference between perpetual check and perpetual chase 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
>
> **The target is the difference.** Perpetual check is a repeated, unanswerable-except-by-repetition threat against the **general** specifically. Perpetual chase is the same idea aimed at **any other piece**, threatening to capture it over and over in a way that forces it to keep moving. Both rest on the same principle: whoever is forcing the repetition must vary, or lose.

## Why check gets its own name at all

Because the general's safety ends the game outright, a repeated check is treated as unambiguously serious in a way that has never needed the same case-by-case scrutiny as chasing an ordinary piece. [Perpetual check is simply a loss for the checker](https://xiangqimaster.com/blog/is-perpetual-check-a-draw-in-xiangqi) essentially everywhere the game is played.

## Why chase is the harder of the two to rule on

A check is binary: either the general is attacked or it is not. Whether a piece is being genuinely "chased" depends on protection, on whether a capture would actually be profitable, and on what else is happening on the board, which is exactly why chase cases dominate the official casebook while check cases rarely need it.

## Related questions

Can a game feature both at once?

Yes, and mixed cases, one side checking while the other chases, are specifically covered by the casebook rather than a simple written rule.

Which one is more common in practice?

Perpetual chase comes up more often, since there are far more pieces to chase than there are ways to check a well-defended general.

## Related xiangqi resources

Perpetual check and chase

Repetition is adjudicated, not automatically drawn

Check and checkmate

Including why stalemate is a loss

Editorial standards

How these answers are checked

## Try it on a real board

Reading an answer is one thing; playing it is another. Free, instant, and nothing to install.