What is the difference between xiangqi and chess?
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
Five differences do most of the work: the board is 9×10 played on intersections; the general never leaves a 3×3 palace; the cannon captures only by jumping a screen; there is no promotion, castling or en passant; and stalemate is a loss, not a draw.
What transfers from chess
Calculation, tempo, pins, forks, discovered attacks, and the habit of checking your opponent's threats. A strong chess player becomes a decent xiangqi player in weeks — the thinking is the same, only the pieces differ.
What actively misleads
Line intuition. In chess, open lines mean attack and blocking stops it; against a cannon, an empty line carries no attack at all and blocking can create one. Also the horse never jumps, which means a knight fork you "see" may not exist.
Related questions
Which came first?
Both descend from earlier Indian and Central Asian games. Neither is the ancestor of the other.
Is xiangqi harder?
Different. Sharper and more tactical early; chess has more slow positional play.
.