Does every xiangqi piece capture exactly the way it moves, or is there an exception?
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 cannon is the exception, and the only one. Every other piece in xiangqi, the chariot, horse, elephant, advisor, general and soldier, captures exactly the way it moves, landing on whatever legal destination happens to hold an enemy piece. The cannon breaks that pattern completely: it moves along open lines like a chariot but can only capture by jumping over exactly one screen to take the first piece beyond it.
Why this makes the cannon feel so different
Because every other piece's threats are visible just by looking at where it could move, a player can scan the board and immediately see what is attacked. The cannon's captures are invisible in that same scan; a cannon with a clear line ahead of it is threatening nothing at all, while the same cannon with one piece in front suddenly threatens whatever sits past that screen.
What this means in practice
Evaluating a cannon requires tracking two completely different things at once, where it can move, and separately, what it could capture given its current screens. That split is exactly why players arriving from chess, where movement and capture are always identical, tend to misjudge cannons for a long time.
Related questions
Does the soldier have any similar quirk?
No. Before or after crossing the river, a soldier always captures on exactly the same points it could move to.
Is the cannon's movement without a screen still useful even though it can't capture that way?
Yes, it can reposition freely along any open line, it simply cannot take anything until a screen is in place.
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