Xiangqi puzzles
Every position, move and legality claim on this page is verified programmatically against our open rules engine, which implements 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.
Direct answer
There are more than 500 free xiangqi (Chinese chess) puzzles here, solved on a live board in your browser. Most are checkmates, mate in one or mate in two; the rest win material. Red is always to move, every puzzle has a hint, and every solution was checked by the rules engine before it shipped. A daily puzzle, the same for everyone, keeps a streak.
Try one here
This one comes from a busy board. Red to play, and one move ends the game. Look at the cannon on the far left before you look at the chariots.
Red to play and mate in one.
Xiangqi position. Red: cannon a7, chariot b6, soldier a5, horse c5, elephant c4, chariot h3, advisor f2, general d1, elephant c0, advisor d0, horse h0. Black: general f7, elephant i7. Red to move.
What is in the set
- Mate in one — the largest group, over 300. One move, and it must be checkmate. This is where the shapes of the classic checkmate patterns become instinct.
- Mate in two — 130 harder puzzles. The first move forces the reply, and the second mates. Each was proved exhaustively: every defence was tried and all of them lose.
- Win material — about 60. No mate, but one move wins a piece, usually with a fork or by taking something left undefended.
Puzzles are marked easy, medium or hard, and the gentlest ones come first. Red is always the side to move, so you never have to work out whose turn it is.
A second one: your own general helps
In xiangqi the two generals may never face each other on an open file (the flying-general rule), and that rule decides a lot of puzzles. Red to play and mate in one.
Red to play and mate in one.
Xiangqi position. Red: chariot g5, cannon f4, cannon a1, general e1. Black: general f9. Red to move.
How to get better with puzzles
Solve before you move. A puzzle answered by trying moves until one works teaches nothing; a puzzle answered in your head first, then played, teaches the pattern.
Use the hint when you are stuck rather than skipping: it names the piece that does the work, which is usually the part you were missing. And do a few every day rather than many once a week. The daily puzzle is there for exactly that, with a streak that counts the days in a row.
Your solved puzzles are remembered in your browser. With a free account the progress follows you to any device.
Related questions
Are these xiangqi puzzles free?
Yes. All of them, the hints and the daily puzzle, with no account needed. An account only adds syncing your progress between devices.
How many puzzles are there?
More than 500: over 300 mates in one, 130 mates in two and about 60 puzzles that win material.
Can a puzzle have two right answers?
Where a mate in one can be done two ways, any mating move is accepted. Every solution was checked by the rules engine before it shipped, and the mates in two were proved against every defence.
Is there a daily xiangqi puzzle?
Yes, one a day and the same one for everybody, with a streak for the days in a row you have solved it. You can also put it on your own site with the free puzzle widget.
Which side do I play?
Red, always. Every puzzle in the set is Red to move.
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