Janggi — Korean Chess Online
Play Korean chess free in your browser: choose your horse-and-elephant setup, pass a turn when it suits you, and use the palace diagonals to attack.
- Family
- Traditional chess of Asia
- Origin
- Korea
- Board
- 9 × 10 intersections, no river
- Players
- 2
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
Choose a mode inside the board: two players, vs computer, or online with a room code.
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About Janggi
How Janggi differs from Xiangqi
Janggi uses the same 9 × 10 board and 16 pieces as Chinese chess but has no river, so elephants and soldiers move freely across the whole board. The general starts in the centre of the palace, and every piece inside the palace — including chariots and soldiers — may travel along its diagonal lines.
Before play begins each side chooses one of four arrangements for its horses and elephants. The elephant moves one point orthogonally then two diagonally, a long stretched move that is easily blocked, so the setup you choose shapes the whole opening.
Cannons, passing and bikjang
The Janggi cannon must jump over exactly one piece both to move and to capture, and it can never jump over or capture another cannon. Because it needs a screen to move at all, cannons are often locked in place for many moves.
A player may pass instead of moving — unique among chess games. If the two generals face each other on an open file (bikjang), the player who created the position must break it or offer a draw, which is how many even endgames conclude.
Winning the game
Checkmate wins and a player with no legal move loses. Soldiers do not promote, so material advantages are permanent — trade carefully and keep your palace guarded.