Xiangqi
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Direct answer
Xiangqi (象棋, pronounced roughly “shyang-chee”) is the Chinese game known in English as Chinese chess. It is played on the intersections of a 9×10 board split by a river, each side has 16 pieces, and the aim is to checkmate the enemy general, who may never leave the nine-point palace at his end of the board.
The name, and how to say it
象棋 is written with two characters: xiàng (象), and qí (棋), the word for a board game of this kind. It is pronounced roughly “shyang-chee” — the “q” is closer to English “ch” than to “k”.
The first character is the interesting one. 象 means elephant, and one of the pieces is an elephant — but the name is usually read as “the elephant game” only loosely; older readings connect 象 to image or figure, giving something nearer “the game of figures”. Both readings are defensible and you will meet both.
In English the game is normally called Chinese chess. “Xiangqi chess” is a common search phrase but a tautology — the qi already says it is that kind of game.
What makes it xiangqi and not chess
The two games share an ancestor, probably the Indian chaturanga, and then went their own ways completely. Four things define xiangqi:
- Play on the intersections, not in the squares: 9 files by 10 ranks, so 90 points.
- The river across the centre, which elephants cannot cross and which changes how soldiers move.
- The palace, a three-by-three box that the general and advisors may never leave — so the king is permanently confined, and attacking it is a matter of geometry rather than a hunt.
- The cannon, which captures only by jumping exactly one intervening piece. No western piece behaves like it, and it is why xiangqi positions go sharp so early.
Where to start
In order, if you are beginning from nothing:
- Board setup — where the 32 pieces go, and why they sit on the lines.
- How to play xiangqi — every piece, how a game is won, and the three rules that surprise chess players.
- The rules section — each law on its own page, with a board you can test it on.
- Play a game — against the computer first. Losing quickly and often is the fastest way in.
If you already play chess, xiangqi vs chess is the shortest path: it tells you which of your instincts to keep.
How old the game is
Xiangqi in something close to its present form is documented from the Song dynasty, and the cannon — which cannot predate gunpowder as a metaphor — is the piece that dates it. Claims that the game is three thousand years old are common and not supported by the evidence; the history page sets out what is actually documented and what is folklore.
Related questions
How do you pronounce xiangqi?
Roughly “shyang-chee”. The “q” in pinyin is close to English “ch”, not “k”.
Is xiangqi the same as Chinese chess?
Yes. “Xiangqi” is the Mandarin name (象棋) and “Chinese chess” is the English description of the same game.
What does xiangqi mean?
棋 (qí) means a board game of this type. 象 (xiàng) means elephant, and also image or figure — so the name is read either as “the elephant game” or, more loosely, “the game of figures”.
Is xiangqi older than western chess?
Both descend from the same earlier game. Xiangqi's present form is documented from the Song dynasty; the cannon in particular cannot be very ancient. See the history of xiangqi.
