Xiangqi — Chinese Chess Online

Xiangqi is played on the intersections of a 9 × 10 grid rather than in squares. A river divides the board between the fifth and sixth ranks, and each side has a 3 × 3 palace marked with diagonals. Every player commands 16 pieces: a general, two advisors, two elephants, two horses, two chariots, two cannons and five soldiers.

The general and advisors never leave the palace, elephants cannot cross the river, and horses can be blocked at the first step of their move. Soldiers advance one point at a time and gain the ability to move sideways once they have crossed the river — they never promote and never retreat.

The cannon is Xiangqi's signature piece. It moves like a chariot along open lines, but it can only capture by jumping over exactly one intervening piece — a 'screen' — to land on the enemy piece behind it. Building and dismantling screens is the heart of Xiangqi tactics.

The two generals may never face each other on an open file. This 'flying general' rule effectively lets your general act as a long-range piece along its file, and many endgame mates depend on it.

You win by checkmating the enemy general. Unlike Western chess, stalemating your opponent also wins — a player with no legal move loses — and perpetual check is forbidden, so the checking side must vary its play.

Play against the built-in AI on three levels, share the screen with a friend, or create an online room and send the code. Xiangqi has an estimated 300 million players, so it is the natural next game for anyone who already knows chess.