Game rules
1. General concepts
- The game is played between two sides: the South side and the North side.
- The South side always plays the first move.
- The sides then take turns, one move each.
- A move consists of moving a single piece of one's own side, according to the rules described below.
- The terminal piece of a side is its general, or its dragon if a transformation has occurred.
- Capturing the terminal piece immediately ends the game.
1.1 Check and checkmate (informative notions)
In Xiongqi, check and checkmate exist, but these notions are purely informative: they do not restrict the allowed moves.
-
Check: a situation where the terminal piece of a side
(general or dragon) is attacked by at least one enemy piece.
It is courteous to announce
check
, but not mandatory. - Checkmate: a check situation with no possible defense. The side in checkmate is in a losing position; it is customary to resign rather than wait for the capture.
Nothing forbids playing a move that places or leaves one's own terminal piece in check. Such a move remains legal, but the opponent can then capture that terminal piece and immediately win the game.
1.2 Definition of a legal move
In the rest of this document, a legal move is a move that respects: (1) the rules of movement and capture, (2) the rules of face-to-face and promotion, and (3) the prohibition of repetition. The check situation is not part of this definition.
2. Board and starting position
2.1 Board
- Xiongqi is played on a board of 8 columns by 8 rows (8×8).
- From the South side's point of view, the columns are named from left to right: a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h.
- From the South side's point of view, the rows are numbered from bottom to top: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.
- The South side occupies the rows close to 1, the North side those close to 8.
- The
river
is located between rows 4 and 5.
2.2 Pieces
At the start of the game, each side has the following pieces:
- 1 general
- 1 advisor
- 2 chariots
- 2 bears
- 2 horses
- 2 cannons
- 8 soldiers
The dragon is not placed at the start: it only appears if the two generals end up face-to-face. The empress is not placed at the start: it only appears through soldier promotion.
2.3 Starting position
The starting position is structurally identical for both sides, arranged as a mirror image.
2.3.1 South side
- Row 1 (a1 to h1): chariot, horse, bear, advisor, general, bear, horse, chariot.
- Row 2: a cannon on c2 and a cannon on f2; the other squares are empty.
- Row 3: a soldier on each square (a3 to h3).
2.3.2 North side
- Row 8 (a8 to h8): chariot, horse, bear, advisor, general, bear, horse, chariot.
- Row 7: a cannon on c7 and a cannon on f7; the other squares are empty.
- Row 6: a soldier on each square (a6 to h6).
2.4 Piece designation conventions
By convention, each piece type is associated with a character and a distinct Latin abbreviation depending on the side (uppercase for South, lowercase for North). These conventions are useful in notation and implementation, but do not modify the rules.
| Piece type | South side | North side | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Character | Abbr. | Character | Abbr. | |
| Advisor | 仕 | A |
士 | a |
| Bear | 雄 | B |
熊 | b |
| Cannon | 炮 | C |
砲 | c |
| Dragon | 鳳 | D |
龍 | d |
| Empress | 妃 | E |
騛 | e |
| General | 帥 | G |
將 | g |
| Horse | 傌 | H |
馬 | h |
| Chariot | 俥 | R |
車 | r |
| Soldier | 兵 | S |
卒 | s |
3. Movement, capture and pieces
3.1 General principles
- On their turn, a side moves exactly one piece of their own side.
- A move takes a piece from a starting square to a destination square.
- The destination square must be either empty or occupied by an enemy piece.
- A piece can never move to a square occupied by a piece of its own side.
- If the destination square is occupied by an enemy piece, that piece is captured: it is removed from the board and the moving piece takes its place.
- Unless otherwise stated in a piece's description, a piece cannot jump: all squares between the starting square and the destination square must be empty.
3.2 Pieces
The following sections describe, for each piece type, its movement and capture rules. Unless explicitly stated, a piece captures by moving according to its normal rules onto a square occupied by an enemy piece.
3.2.1 Advisor
- The advisor moves one square diagonally.
- It can move to any square on the board.
3.2.2 Bear
- The bear moves any number of squares diagonally.
- It cannot jump: all intermediate squares must be empty.
3.2.3 Cannon
- Movement without capture
-
- The cannon moves horizontally or vertically, any number of squares.
- All intermediate squares must be empty.
- Capture
-
- The cannon must be aligned with its target (same row or same column).
-
Between the cannon and the target, there must be exactly one piece (of either side),
called the
screen
. - No other piece may be between the screen and the target.
- The cannon captures by moving to the target's square, jumping over the screen.
A cannon cannot capture if there is no screen, nor if there are two or more pieces between it and the target.
3.2.4 Dragon
The dragon (also called flying general
) only appears after the generals are face-to-face.
Once it appears, it permanently replaces its side's general and becomes the terminal piece.
- Movement without capture
-
- The dragon moves one square, horizontally or vertically.
- Capture
-
- The dragon captures on its row or column, at any distance.
- It cannot jump: all squares between the dragon and the target must be empty.
3.2.5 Empress
The empress is not in the starting position: it appears through promotion. On each move, it chooses a single movement mode.
- Chariot mode
-
- Horizontal or vertical movement, any number of squares.
- No jumping: all intermediate squares must be empty.
- Knight mode
-
- Movement in an
L
shape: two squares in one orthogonal direction, then one square perpendicular to it. - This mode allows jumping.
- Movement in an
The empress's knight
mode differs from the horse's movement, because the horse can be blocked.
3.2.6 General
- The general moves one square, horizontally or vertically.
- It can move to any square on the board.
- The general is the terminal piece as long as it has not been replaced by a dragon.
3.2.7 Horse
-
The horse moves in two steps:
- one square in an orthogonal direction (up, down, left or right);
- then one square diagonally outward.
-
The horse cannot jump: the adjacent orthogonal square (the horse's
leg
) must be empty. If it is occupied, movement in that direction is blocked.
3.2.8 Chariot
- The chariot moves horizontally or vertically, any number of squares.
- It cannot jump: all intermediate squares must be empty.
3.2.9 Soldier
The soldiers of each side advance in opposite directions:
- South side soldiers advance toward the North (increasing rows: from 3 toward 8).
- North side soldiers advance toward the South (decreasing rows: from 6 toward 1).
3.2.9.1 Before the river
- A South side soldier is
before the river
as long as it is on rows 1 to 4. - A North side soldier is
before the river
as long as it is on rows 5 to 8. -
Before the river, a soldier:
- moves one square forward;
- captures in the same way;
- cannot move backward or sideways.
3.2.9.2 After the river
- A South side soldier has crossed the river once it reaches row 5 or beyond.
- A North side soldier has crossed the river once it reaches row 4 or a lower row.
-
After the river, a soldier:
- keeps its one-square forward movement;
- gains a one-square sideways movement (left or right);
- captures forward or sideways;
- still cannot move backward.
4. Face-to-face and dragons
The two generals are said to be face-to-face
when:
- they occupy the same column;
- no piece is between them;
- the South side general is on a lower row than the North side general.
As soon as this configuration occurs, both generals immediately transform into dragons.
- The transformation applies to both sides, even if only one side played the move that created the face-to-face.
- A dragon permanently replaces its side's general.
- The terminal piece of each side then becomes the dragon.
5. Soldier promotion
- When a soldier ends a move on the last row of the enemy side (row 8 for South side, row 1 for North side), the player may choose to promote it.
- Promotion is optional: the player may promote immediately or leave the soldier as is.
- A soldier already on the last row may be promoted later, provided the player has just moved it.
- Upon promotion, the soldier is removed and replaced on the same square by a piece of choice among: empress, advisor, cannon, chariot, bear, horse.
- Promotion to general (and therefore to dragon) is forbidden.
- The choice is free: a player may have multiple pieces of the same type.
6. End of game
6.1 Victory by capture
A side wins immediately when it captures the enemy terminal piece: the general, or the dragon if a transformation has occurred.
6.2 Loss by stalemate
A side loses immediately if, on its turn, it has no legal move available. The presence or absence of check has no effect on this rule.
6.3 Loss by position repetition
Repetitions are forbidden.
A position includes the board configuration and the side whose turn it is to play.
A move is said to be repetitive if it meets these two conditions:
- it recreates a position that has already occurred during the game;
- it is identical to the move that previously led to that position (same piece, same starting square, same destination square, same promotion choice if applicable).
A repetitive move is forbidden. If a player makes a repetitive move, they immediately lose the game.
6.4 Draw by insufficient material
The game is declared a draw if both sides have only their terminal piece left on the board.
6.5 Draw by 50-move rule
The game may be declared a draw if 50 moves by each player (i.e. 100 half-moves) are played without any capture and without any soldier move. Depending on the context (arbiter, platform), this draw is either claimed or automatic.
6.6 Other cases
The game may also end by resignation, time expiration, or mutual agreement to draw between the players.