Xiangqi

The generals

General and advisors

Generals (or kings) are labelled 將 (trad.) / 将 (simp.) jiàng ("general") on the black side and 帥 (trad.) / 帅 (simp.) shuài ("marshal") on the red side.

The general starts the game at the midpoint of the back edge, within the palace. The general may move and capture one point orthogonally and may not leave the palace, with the following exception.

The two generals may not face each other along the same file with no intervening pieces. If that happens, the 飛將 ("flying general") move may be executed, in which the general to move may cross the board to capture the enemy general. In practice, this rule means that creating this situation in the first place means moving into check, and is therefore not allowed.[5]

The Indian name king for this piece was changed to general because of Chinese naming taboos; China's rulers objected to their royal titles being given to game pieces.[6]

The advisors

Advisors (also known as guards or ministers, and less commonly as assistants, mandarins, or warriors) are labelled 士 shì ("scholar", "gentleman", "officer", "guardian") for Black and 仕 shì ("scholar", "official", "guardian") for Red. Rarely, sets use the character 士 for both colours.

The advisors start on either side of the general. They move and capture one point diagonally and may not leave the palace, which confines them to five points on the board. The advisor is probably derived from the mantri in chaturanga, like the queen in Western chess.

There is some controversy about whether "士" really is intended to mean "scholar", "gentleman" which would be "士人", or "guard", "guardian" which would be "衛士" (simplified Chinese: 卫士). To some, the latter seems more plausible because their functionality seems to be to guard/protect the general. The common Western translation "advisor" does not reflect this layer of meaning.

The elephants

Elephants (or bishops) are labeled 象 xiàng ("elephant") for Black and 相 xiàng ("minister") for Red. They are located next to the advisors. These pieces move and capture exactly two points diagonally and may not jump over intervening pieces; the move is described as being like the character 田 Tián ("field"). If an elephant cannot move due to a diagonally adjacent piece, it is known as "blocking the elephant's eye" (塞象眼).

Elephants may not cross the river to attack the enemy general, and serve as defensive pieces. Because an elephant's movement is restricted to just seven board positions, it can be easily trapped or threatened. The two elephants are often used to defend each other.

The Chinese characters for "minister" and "elephant" are homophones in Mandarin (Listen) and both have alternative meanings as "appearance" or "image". However, in English, both are referred to as elephants.

The horses

The red horse may capture the black horse, but the black horse cannot capture the red horse because its movement is obstructed by another piece.

Green moves are legal; red ones are illegal because another piece is obstructing the movement of the horse.

Horses (or knights) are labelled 馬 mǎ for Black and 傌 mǎ for Red in sets marked with Traditional Chinese characters and 马 mǎ for both Black and Red in sets marked with Simplified Chinese characters. Some traditional sets use 馬 for both colours. Horses begin the game next to the elephants, on their outside flanks. A horse moves and captures one point orthogonally and then one point diagonally away from its former position, a move which is traditionally described as being like the character 日 Rì. The horse does not jump as the knight does in Western chess, and can be blocked by a piece located one point horizontally or vertically adjacent to it. Blocking a horse is called "hobbling the horse's leg" (蹩馬腿). The diagram on the left illustrates the horse's movement.

Since horses can be blocked, it is sometimes possible to trap the opponent's horse. It is possible for one player's horse to have an asymmetric attack advantage if an opponent's horse is blocked, as seen in the diagram on the right.

The chariots

Chariots (or rooks) are labelled 車 jū for Black and 俥 jū for Red in sets marked with Traditional Chinese characters and 车 for both Black and Red in sets marked with Simplified Chinese characters. Some traditional sets use 車 for both colours. In the context of Chinese Chess, all of these characters are pronounced as jū (instead of the common pronunciation chē). The chariot moves and captures any distance orthogonally, but may not jump over intervening pieces. The chariots begin the game on the points at the corners of the board. The chariot is often considered to be the strongest piece in the game due to its freedom of movement and lack of restrictions.

The chariot is sometimes known as the rook by English-speaking players, since it is like the rook in Western chess. Chinese players (and others) often call this piece a car, since that is one modern meaning of the character 車.

The cannons

The long-range threat of the cannon

Cannons are labelled 砲 pào ("catapult") for Black and 炮 pào ("cannon") for Red. The names are homophones, though sometimes 炮 is used for both Red and Black. The 石 shí radical of 砲 means "stone", and the 火 huǒ radical of 炮 means "fire". Both colours' pieces are normally referred to as cannons in English. The black piece is sometimes labelled 包bāo.

Each player has two cannons, which start on the row behind the soldiers, two points in front of the horses. Cannons move like chariots, any distance orthogonally without jumping, but can only capture by jumping a single piece, friend or foe, along the path of attack. The piece over which the cannon jumps is called the 炮臺 (trad.) / 炮台 (simp.) pào tái ("cannon platform" or "screen"). Any number of unoccupied spaces, including none, may exist between the cannon, screen, and the piece to be captured. Cannons can be exchanged for horses immediately from their starting positions.

The soldiers

Soldiers are labelled 卒 zú ("pawn" or "private") for Black and 兵 bīng ("soldier") for Red. Each side starts with five soldiers. Soldiers begin the game located on every other point one row back from the edge of the river. They move and capture by advancing one point. Once they have crossed the river, they may also move and capture one point horizontally. Soldiers cannot move backward, and therefore cannot retreat; after advancing to the last rank of the board, however, a soldier may still move sideways at the enemy's edge. The soldier is sometimes called the "pawn" by English-speaking players, due to the pieces' similarities.

The book The Chess of China describes a move notation method in which the ranks of the board are numbered 1 to 10 from closest to farthest away, followed by a digit 1 to 9 for files from right to left.[8] Both values are relative to the moving player. Moves are then indicated as follows:

[piece name] ([former rank][former file])-[new rank][new file]

Thus, the most common opening in the game would be written as:

1. 炮 (32)–35   馬 (18)–37

Name	Abbr.	Pieces
Advisor	A
Cannon	C
Chariot	R*
Elephant	E
General	G
Horse	H
Soldier	S
* for Rook, because using C would conflict with the letter for Cannon

A notation system partially described in A Manual of Chinese Chess[9] and used by several computer software implementations describes moves in relative terms as follows:

[single-letter piece abbreviation][former file][operator indicating direction of movement][new file, or in the case of purely vertical movement, number of ranks traversed]

The file numbers are counted from each player's right to each player's left.

In case there are two identical pieces in one file, symbols + (front) and – (rear) are used instead of former file number. Direction of movement is indicated via an operator symbol. A plus sign is used to indicate forward movement. A minus sign is used to indicate backward movement. A dot or period or equals sign is used to indicate horizontal or lateral movement. For a piece that moves diagonally (such as the horse or elephant), the plus or minus sign is used rather than the period.

Thus, the most common opening in the game would be written as:

1. C2.5 H8+7

According to World Xiangqi Federation (WXF) notations for tandem pawns case when there are (tandem pawns) >=3 in a file, there is no need to specify the P for pawn. Instead, the position of the pawn in the tandem line is used as the first integer (with the front most pawn designated as 1). The second integer would be the file on which it was on. This would also solve the problem of two set of tandem pawns on two different files nicely.

Thus the notation to move the middle pawn (3 tandem pawns in a file) on the 5th file to the 4th file would be:

1. 25=4

In older books written in Chinese the system is the same, except that: the names of the pieces are written in Chinese; the name for the cannon on both sides is 炮; the name for the horse on both sides is 馬; forward motion is indicated with 進 (pronounced jìn); backward motion is indicated with 退 (tuì); sideways motion is indicated with 平 (píng); and numbers are written in Chinese either for both players or for just Black.

Thus, the most common opening in the game might be written as:

1. 炮二平五 馬8進7

This system is unofficial and principally used by Western players. It is similar to algebraic notation for Western chess. Letters are used for files and numbers for ranks. File "a" is on Red's left and rank "1" is nearest to Red. A point's designation does not depend on which player moves; for both sides "a1" is the lowest left point from Red's side.

[single-letter piece abbreviation][former position][capture indication][new position][check indication][analysis]

Pieces are abbreviated as in notation system 2, except that no letter is used for the soldier.

Former position is only indicated if necessary to distinguish between two identical pieces that could have made the move. If they share the same file, indicate which rank moves; if they share the same rank, indicate which file moves. If they share neither rank nor file, then the file is indicated.

Capture is indicated by "x". No symbol is used to indicate a non-capturing move.

Check is indicated by "+", double check by "++", triple check by "+++", and quadruple check by "++++". Checkmate is indicated by "#".

For analysis purposes, bad moves are indicated by "?" and good moves by "!". These can be combined if the analysis is uncertain ("!?" might be either but is probably good; "?!" is probably bad) or repeated for emphasis ("??" is a disaster).

Thus, the most common opening in the game would be written as:

1. Che3 Hg8

An example of a brief game ("the early checkmate") is:

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 a b c d e f g h i

Cbe3 Che8 Ch6? Cb4? Cxe7+? Cexe4?? Che6# (see diagram) Black is mated and therefore loses. Red's doubled cannons cannot be blocked, and the general cannot move off the e-file.

Xiangqi involves several tactics common to games in the chess family. Some common ones are briefly discussed here.

• When one piece can attack more than one enemy piece, they are forked.
• A piece is pinned when it cannot move without exposing a more important piece to capture. Only chariot pins exactly resemble pins in western chess; pins by other pieces in xiangqi take on many unique forms: Cannons can pin two pieces at once on one file or rank, horses can pin because they can be blocked, and generals can pin because of the "flying general" rule. In pins by horses and elephants, the pinning piece never attacks the pinned piece, while in a pin by a cannon, only one of the pieces is directly attacked by the cannon. A general can only pin pieces to the enemy general, and the pinning general can never capture the pinned piece, since that would place it in check from the enemy general.
• A piece is skewered when it is attacked and, by moving, exposes a less important piece to be captured. Only cannons and chariots can skewer.

Fork	Pin	Skewer
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 a b c d e f g h i Red's horse (傌) at d5 forks black's soldier (卒) at c7 and chariot (車) at e7.	10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 a b c d e f g h i Black's cannon (砲) at e8 is pinned by red's chariot (俥) at e5.	10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 a b c d e f g h i Red's chariot (俥) at e5 is skewering black's general (將) at e8 and chariot (車) at e10. When the general moves sideways to avoid being captured, its chariot could be captured.

• A discovered check occurs when an attacking piece moves so that it unblocks a line for a chariot, cannon, and/or horse to check the enemy general. The piece uncovering the check can safely move anywhere within its powers regardless of whether the opponent has those squares under protection.
• A double check occurs when two pieces simultaneously threaten the enemy general. Unlike a western chess double check, a double check in xiangqi may be blockable, but capturing one of the checking pieces is insufficient to remove the threat (unless the general makes the capture). The only blockable cases are either a chariot and cannon on the same file as the general, with the chariot acting as a screen for the cannon, or two horses giving discovered check after another piece unblocks the attack from both. Double checks delivered by other means are not blockable.
• Unique to xiangqi is a triple check, which arises in four combinations. In the first case of a cannon, a chariot or soldier, and a horse, the horse moves to give check, uncovering a double check from the chariot and the cannon. In the second, rarer case of a chariot or soldier and two horses, the chariot moves to give check, uncovering a double check from the two horses. In the third case of two cannons and two horses, one cannon may uncover a double check from the horses and act as a screen for the other cannon. Finally, a chariot or soldier can move to give check, uncovering a check from a horse while acting as a platform for a cannon to give another check. Quadruple check is also possible, arising with two horses, a chariot, and a cannon. Triple and quadruple check cannot be blocked.

Triple check	Quadruple check	Triple check, alternate position
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 a b c d e f g h i Red's horse (傌) has moved from e5 to d7, giving check and exposing a double check from the chariot (俥) at e3 and the cannon (炮) at e2.	10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 a b c d e f g h i Red's chariot (俥) has moved from f9 to e9, giving check and exposing a triple check from the cannon (炮) at e7 and both horses (傌) at f8 and g9. Replacing the chariot with a cannon or removing a horse produces a triple check.	10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 a b c d e f g h i Red's chariot (俥) has moved from f9 to e9, discovering two checks from both horses (傌) at f8 and g9 and gives check itself.

Usually, soldiers do not support each other until the endgame, because from the initial position it takes a minimum of five moves of a soldier to allow mutual protection between two of them, and they are often prone to capture by other pieces.

Soldiers, horses, cannons and chariots can form up formations that protect each other. However, lining up chariots must be done with caution, as this risks losing one chariot to an enemy's inferior piece. Horses that support each other are called Linked Horses(Chinese: 連環馬), which is a relatively safe formation of the horses, though it can still be threatened with a soldier, a chariot plus another minor piece, or a piece blocking one of the horses thus making the protection one-sided.

It is common to use cannons independently to control particular ranks and files. Using a cannon to control the middle file is often considered vital strategy, because it pins pieces such as the advisors and elephants. The two files adjacent to the middle file are also considered important and horses and chariots can be used to push for checkmate there.

Since the general is usually safest in his original position before the endgame phase, attacking the general commonly involves forcing the general out of his original position with check or with threats. Thus, specific points and formations are very important in xiangqi.

For an attacking (Red) horse, the most fatal points are c9 and g9 (Chinese: 臥槽馬), especially since without proper defence a quick mate can follow with an extra chariot or cannon.

Liang vs. Zhao, 1982 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 a b c d e f g h i Due to the pin of two pieces by the red cannon, Black's centroid horse has become a liability rather than an asset.

For a cannon, one of the most fatal formations is the exposed cannon (Chinese: 空心炮), where the cannon directly controls the middle file with no other pieces between the cannon and the general. This formation is particularly dangerous since the defensive side cannot move any piece in front of the cannon; while with an extra cannon joining the attack, mate can follow on the spot, and with an extra rook, the defensive side can mount a double check (with the rook in front of the cannon) followed by a windmill, often winning at least a piece afterwards. If the defensive side cannot chase the cannon away or capture it, it must move the general forward to avoid these threats, leaving the general vulnerable to attacks.

Another fatal formation, called the "cannon-controlled centroid horse" (Chinese: 炮鎮窩心馬, diagram at right), also requires particularly bad coordination of the enemy pieces. In the diagram, Black's "centroid horse" occupies the centre of the palace, blocking Black's own general and advisors, and being pinned to the general by the red cannon, cannot move. Black's cannon at e8 is also pinned to its own general; it too is unable to move and restricts the movement of Black's two elephants, making them unable to protect each other. Such a formation in the middlegame often produces deadly threats of smothered mates, while in the endgame, as in the diagram, Red's cannon cannot be chased away, rendering Black's general, advisors, cannon on e8, and horse all permanently unable to move. Even though Black is up a minor piece, Red has a clear win: The game concluded 41.Hg7 (forking the elephant and pinned cannon and creating a mating threat) Eg10 42.Hh9 Ci9 43.Hf8+ Cf9 (if not for the other black cannon, it is instant mate) 44.Hxg6, and Black resigned: Black's only active piece (the cannon on f9) is absolutely helpless to stop Red's horse and soldiers, which will soon invade the palace.

A common defensive configuration is to leave the general at its starting position, deploy one advisor and one elephant on the two points directly in front of the general, and to leave the other advisor and elephant in their starting positions, to the side of the general. In this setup, the advisor-elephant pairs support each other, and the general is immune from attacks by cannons. Losing any of the pieces makes the general vulnerable to cannon, and the setup may need to be abandoned. The defender may move advisors or elephants away from the general, or even sacrifice them intentionally, to ward off attack by a cannon.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 a b c d e f g h i Red mates in 11 Solution: 1.Rh10++ 1. ...Eig10 gets mated faster: 2.Rgxg10+ Af10 (Exg10 3.Rxg10#) 3.Rxf10+ Ge9 4.Rh9#. 1. ...Eeg10 gets mated immediately with 2.Rhxg10# 1. ...Af10 2.Rh9+ Afe9 3.Rg10++ Af10 4.Rg9+ Afe9 5.Rh10++ Again both 5. ...Eig10 and 5. ...Eeg10 lead to faster mates. 5. ...Af10 6.Re9+!! A brilliant smothered-check inducing move. If 6. ...Gxe9 7. Rh9# 6. ...Adxe9 7.Rh9+ Eeg10 8.Rxe9+ (the chariot is untouchable with legal moves) Gd10 9.Re10+ Gd9 10.d8+ Gxd8 11.Rd10# Note that if Red plays 4.Re9+? instead, Red cannot force a mate: 4. ...Adxe9 5.Rg9+ Eig10 and Red cannot play Rxe9+ on the next move because the chariot is then not supported by the general, and black can simply play Gxe9. The purpose of using the g-chariot to give check is to place the h-chariot on the h9 point, blocking Black's Eig10.

Long sequences of checks leading to mate or gain of material are common both in chess compositions and in actual play. A skilled xiangqi player would often have to calculate several steps, or even tens of steps ahead for a forced sequence. In the diagram on the right, Black has an immediate mating threat which cannot be parried, forcing Red to check Black on every move. Although it requires 11 moves to mate, its general idea is clear: Induce a smothered check by sacrificing a chariot at the centre of the palace (e9), then force Black to open the centre file, enabling the Red general to assist the attack, and finally mate by facing generals.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 a b c d e f g h i The most common opening pair of moves

Since the left and right flanks of the starting setup are symmetrical, it is customary to make the first move on the right flank. Starting on the left flank is considered needlessly confusing.

The most common opening is to move the cannon to the central column, an opening known as 當頭炮 (trad.) / 当头炮 (simp.) dāng tóu pào or "Central Cannon". The most common reply is to advance the horse on the same flank. Together, this move-and-response is known by the rhyme 當頭炮，馬來跳 (trad.) / 当头炮，马来跳 (simp.) dāng tóu pào, mǎ lái tiào. The notation for this is "1. 炮 (32)–35, 馬 (18)–37", "1. C2.5 H8+7", or "1. Che3 Hg8" (diagram at right). After Black's 1. ...H8+7 (Hg8) response, the game can develop into a variety of openings, the most common being the 屏風馬 (trad.) / 屏风马 (simp.) or "Screen Horses (Defence)" in which Black develops the other horse to further protect his middle pawn (...H2+3 or ...Hc8) either immediately on his second move, or later when Black transposes the game into this opening.

Alternative common first moves by Black are developing either cannons (1. ...C8.5/1. ...Che8, or 1. ...C2.5/1. ...Cbe8); note that after either of these moves, taking the central soldier with the cannon (2. C5+4 or 2. Cxe7+) is a beginner's trap that impedes development and coordination of Red's pieces if Black plays correctly (for example, 1. Che3 Che8 2. Cxe7+?? Ade9 3. Hg3 Hg8 4. Ce5 Rh10 when Black develops the rook first, and the loss of Black's middle pawn actually enabled Black's horses to occupy the centre on the next moves).

Other common first moves by Red include moving an elephant to the central column (1. Ege3), advancing the soldier on the third or seventh file (1. c5), moving a horse forward (1. Hg3), and moving either cannon to the 4th or 6th (d- or f-) file (1. Chd3 or 1. Chf3). Compared to the Central Cannon openings, these openings are generally less restricted by theory.

General advice for the opening includes rapid development of at least one chariot and putting it on open files and ranks, as it is the most powerful piece with a long attack range. There is a saying that only a poor player does not move a chariot in the first three moves (Chinese: 三步不出車，必定要輸棋); however this is not to be taken literally, and is in fact often violated in modern Xiangqi games. Attacking and defending the centre, especially the central soldiers / central pawns, are common themes in the opening, hence the Central Cannon openings. Usually, at least one horse should be moved to the middle in order to defend the central soldier; however undefended central soldiers can also become "poisoned pawns" in the early moves, especially if the attacking side does not have an immediate follow-up to retain the pressure on the central file.

Xiangqi strategy share common themes with chess, but have some differences:

• Occupying the centre is relatively less important in xiangqi, but controlling and attacking the middle file is still one of the vital themes. Since the middle file is often well defended, players would then seek to mount an offence on either of the flanks on the enemy side, especially when the defence of one flank is neglected.
• The significance of pawn formation in xiangqi and chess are different. In xiangqi, soldiers (pawns) are often pushed to avoid blocking their own horses, and it is uncommon for them to defend each other (in contrast with a western chess pawn chain). Successfully getting a soldier to cross a river as an attacking force can often tilt the scales of the middlegame by a large margin.
• In high-level play, the initiative is highly important, and a minor mistake can doom a game.
• Sacrifices are common in xiangqi, however they are more often tactical rather than positional. Usually, at most a minor piece is sacrificed for positional advantages, or a semi-tactical attack.

Though xiangqi endgames require remarkable skill to be played well, there are a number of widely known book wins and book draws. Without a counterpart to pawn promotion, xiangqi endgames instead focus more directly on forcing checkmate or stalemate, and in this regard resemble pawnless chess endgames.

A general rule in xiangqi endgames for the advantageous side is that, when there's less material on the board, do not trade pieces easily, as with fewer attacking pieces on the board, defending is easier. Hence, if a certain type of endgame can transpose, by trading pieces, into another type of endgame which is a book win, then this endgame itself is a book win.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 a b c d e f g h i Red wins with either side to move.

Inducing zugzwang is a crucial theme in winning simple endgames, and almost exclusively in simple endgames. In the general + soldier vs general endgame shown on the right, Red's first main goal is to occupy the middle file. Red wins with 1. Gd1, a waiting move, and Black is in zugzwang. Black must proceed with 1. ...Ge8, as 1. ...Ge10 instantly loses after 2. f9#. After 1. ...Ge8 2. f9 Gf8 3. e9 Ge8 4. d9 Gf8 5. Ge1, Red's general successfully occupies the middle file. The game would conclude with 5. ...Gf9 6. e9+, and regardless of Black's reply, 7. Ge2# (stale)mates Black and thus winning the game.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 a b c d e f g h i Reciprocal zugzwang: Whoever moves first loses.

Reciprocal zugzwang is possible, but very rare and usually seen in endgame compositions. In this endgame shown on the right, whoever moves loses, since when any of the two generals moves to an open d- or f- file, a mate in 1 is threatened with this move, while the player to move only helps the enemy general occupy one of the files. For instance, Red can only move his two soldiers if he is to move. Moving the f-(or d-)soldier allows the enemy general to occupy the f-file(d-file). Even if 1. fe9+ Gf10 2. d10, when Red threatens mate in 1, Black still mates immediately with either 2. ...fe2# or 2. ...f1#.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 a b c d e f g h i Red to play wins; Black to play draws.

• A soldier, as long as it does not reach the opposite rank, wins against a bare general easily. With any extra defensive piece on the defensive side, it is a draw; however, soldier vs advisor requires skill to play well.
• Two unadvanced (i.e., on the 6th or 7th ranks) soldiers win against the following combinations: Two advisors, two elephants, a bare horse/cannon. Generally a draw against one advisor plus one elephant, or a horse/cannon plus a defending piece.
• Three unadvanced soldiers win against the following combinations: All 4 defensive pieces (2 advisors plus 2 elephants, Chinese: 士象全), a horse plus two advisors/two elephants, a cannon plus two elephants.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 a b c d e f g h i Red to play wins with 1. Hd7, preventing the elephant from getting to the opposite flank, and thus placing Black in zugzwang (1...Gd9 loses to the fork 2.Hb8+ while after 1...Ea8, 2.Hb8 puts Black in zugzwang again and the elephant is lost on the following move). Black to play draws with 1. ...Ee8.

• A bare horse wins against a bare advisor, but not a bare elephant.
• A horse plus an unadvanced soldier wins against both combinations of 3 defensive pieces, or any combination of a minor piece plus a defensive piece except horse + elephant. This combination draws against all 4 defensive pieces.
• A horse plus an advanced soldier(on the 8th or 9th rank) draws against either combination of 3 defensive pieces, but defending requires precise positions.
• A horse plus a soldier on the 10th rank wins against two advisors, or one advisor plus one elephant. This combination draws against 2 elephants.
• A horse plus two soldiers can win against one minor piece + one advisor + two elephants. With an extra advisor on the defensive side, it is a book draw.
• Two horses win against all 4 defensive pieces, or any combination of a minor piece plus 2 defensive pieces except cannon + 2 elephants.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 a b c d e f g h i After 1. Ge3, Black must lose an advisor, since 1...Gd9 is met by 2.Ae2#. Note that after 1. ...Ge10 2. Cxd8, taking the cannon with Axd8 is illegal as the advisor is pinned to its general (the generals may not face each other on the same file).

• A bare cannon, or a cannon with elephants, cannot win against a bare general due to insufficient material. Cannons need defensive pieces for cooperation, especially the advisor.
• A cannon needs only one advisor to win against two advisors, or a single elephant. Meanwhile, even with all 4 defensive pieces, it is a book draw against two elephants, one advisor + one elephant, one soldier + one advisor, or any minor piece.
• A cannon with all 4 defensive pieces needs at least an extra soldier to win against 4 defensive pieces. A bare cannon with a soldier on the 6th rank wins against any combination of 2 defensive pieces.
• A cannon + 4 defensive pieces + 2 unadvanced soldiers generally draw against one minor piece + 4 defensive pieces. But if the defensive side lacks a single piece, it is a book win.

This type of endgame is considered one of the more complex endgames. Commonly known book wins and book draws are:

• Horse + Cannon + 4 defensive pieces vs a minor piece vs 4 defensive pieces: A win if the minor piece is a horse (the attacking side does not need all 4 defensive pieces to win), a draw if it is a cannon.
• With the same combination of the two minor pieces and all 4 defensive pieces on both sides, one needs two extra soldiers for a book win.
• If both sides have 2 minor pieces and 4 defensive pieces, and the advantegeous side only has one extra soldier, then regardless of the combination of the two minor pieces, it is a book draw.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 a b c d e f g h i The ideal defensive position for chariot vs horse + 2 elephants. Other defensive positions, aside from this position's symmetrical variation, generally lose: If, instead, the elephant on g6 had been on g10, then Red to play wins, starting with 1. Rb7.

Single chariot endgames:

• A single chariot generally cannot win against 4 defensive pieces, but with 3 or fewer defensive pieces, it is a forced win.
• Chariot vs one minor piece plus 2 defensive pieces: A win if the 2 defensive pieces are not the same, or if the combination is horse + two advisors. If the defensive side has horse + two elephants, a specific defensive position is required to draw.
• Chariot vs one minor piece plus 3 defensive pieces: A draw.
• Chariot vs two minor pieces with no defensive pieces: A draw, but requires good defensive positions.

Chariot + soldiers (unadvanced):

• Chariot + soldier, with sufficient defensive pieces on his own side, wins against a chariot plus an advisor, a chariot plus two elephants, or a chariot plus a soldier.
• Chariot + soldier wins against any 2 minor pieces + 2 advisors. This combination also wins against horse + 4 defensive pieces, but not cannon + 4 defensive pieces.
• Chariot + soldier vs 2 unadvanced soldiers + 4 defensive pieces: If the offensive side has no defensive piece, it is a draw since the 2 enemy soldiers can still be a formidable force. If the offensive side has one advisor, it is a win.
• Chariot + 2 soldiers cannot force a win against chariot + 4 defensive pieces. In this endgame, both attacking and defending require great skill.

Chariot + horse:

• A chariot plus a horse needs one advisor on his own side to win against a chariot plus two advisors.
• Chariot + horse vs chariot + two elephants: With enough defensive pieces for the attacking side, it is generally a win if the move limit is not taken into consideration.

Chariot + cannon:

• A chariot plus a cannon cannot win against a bare chariot, as long as the defending chariot occupies the middle file. However, with any extra defensive piece on the attacking side, it is a win.
• Chariot + cannon + 2 advisors would win against chariot + two elephants.
• Chariot + cannon + 4 defensive pieces vs chariot + 4 defensive pieces: Draw.

Two chariots:

• Two chariots vs chariot + 4 defensive pieces: A draw with good defensive positions.
• Two chariots vs chariot + minor piece + 2 defensive pieces: The only drawing combination is chariot + cannon + 2 advisors.
• Two chariots vs 2 minor pieces + 4 defensive pieces: A win if the 2 minor pieces are 2 horses.

Although xiangqi has its origin in Asia, there are xiangqi leagues and clubs all over the world. Each European nation generally has its own governing league; for example, in Britain, xiangqi is regulated by the United Kingdom Chinese Chess Association. Asian countries also have nationwide leagues, such as the Malaysia Chinese Chess Association.

In addition, there are several international federations and tournaments. The Chinese Xiangqi Association hosts several tournaments every year, including the Yin Li and Ram Cup Tournaments.[16] Other organizations include the Asian Xiangqi Federation[17] and a World Xiangqi Federation,[18] which hosts tournaments and competitions bi-annually, with most limited to players from member nations.

The Asian Xiangqi Federation (AXF) and its corresponding member associations rank players in a format similar to the Elo rating system of chess. According to the XiangQi DataBase, the top-ranking female and male players in China, as of June 2012, were Tang Dan and Jiang Chuan, with ratings of 2529 and 2667, respectively.[19][20] Other strong players include Zhao GuanFang (female), Xu Yinchuan (male), Lu Qin (male), and Wang LinNa (female).

The Asian Xiangqi Federation also bestows the title of grandmaster to select individuals around the world who have excelled at xiangqi or made special contributions to the game. There are no specific criteria for becoming a grandmaster and the list of grandmasters was fewer than a hundred people in September 1996. The titles of grandmaster is bestowed by bodies such as the AXF and the Chinese Xiangqi Association (CXA).[21]

The game-tree complexity of xiangqi is approximately 10¹⁵⁰; in 2004 it was projected that a human top player would be defeated before 2010.[22] Xiangqi is one of the more popular computer-versus-computer competitions at the Computer Olympiads.[23]

Computer programs for playing xiangqi show the same development trend as has occurred for international chess: they are usually console applications (called engines) which communicate their moves in text form through some standard protocol. For displaying the board graphically, they then rely on a separate graphical user interface (GUI). Through such standardization, many different engines can be used through the same GUI, which can also be used for automated play of different engines against each other. Popular protocols are UCI (Universal Chess Interface), UCCI (Universal Chinese Chess Interface), Qianhong (QH) protocol, and WinBoard/XBoard (WB) protocol (the latter two named after the GUIs that implemented them). There now exist many dozens of xiangqi engines supporting one or more of these protocols, including some commercial engines.