Practical tutorial
Connect practical terms, mating patterns, and representative openings to attacking and defensive decisions.
Practical tutorial
Choose a step in the inline tutorial below to review the flow.
Learning
The River, Palace, and Piece Movement
Learn the movement restrictions of cannons, horses, elephants, advisors, and generals, plus the flying-general rule.
Place pieces on line intersections, alternate moves while accounting for the river and palace, and checkmate the opposing general.
- Article Capture the Opposing General
- Pattern Move pieces on intersections alternately
- Move sequence Capture an Opposing Piece
- Pattern The general cannot leave the palace
- Move sequence A Cannon Captures by Jumping Over One Piece
- Position puzzle Cut off the general's escape routes
Learn by connecting basic terms, practical mate patterns, and representative openings.
- Article Coordinate Pieces to Corner the General
- Article Link practical terms to the position
- Article Learn representative mating patterns
- Article Typical opening setup and its aim
Xiangqi Basics
Choose a step in the inline tutorial below to review the flow.
Piece movement and special rules
Open it only when you need to check something.
Palace, river, and piece movement
Standard human-readable notation
e5e9
Move notation numbers files 1–9 from each player's right; UCCI coordinates treat Red's lower left as a0 and Black's upper right as i9.
General / Marshal
One point orthogonally within the palace A move that leaves the General and Marshal facing on the same file is prohibited.Advisor
One point diagonally within the palace This piece protects the general and cannot leave the palace.Elephant / Minister
Two points diagonally It cannot cross the river or move when the intervening point is occupied.Chariot
Any number of points orthogonally A major piece that races along an open line.Cannon
Moves like the Chariot When capturing only, it must jump over exactly one intervening piece.Pawn / Soldier
One point forward After crossing the river, it can also move one point sideways. It can never move backward.Palace and river
- The General / Marshal and Advisors move only within the 3x3 palace.
- Elephants / Ministers stay on their own side and cannot cross the river.
- Pawns / Soldiers can also move sideways after crossing the river.
Cannons and facing generals
- A Cannon moves like a Chariot normally, but must jump exactly one intervening piece to capture.
- The General and Marshal cannot face each other on the same file with no piece between them.
Next step
Choose after the tutorialOnce you are comfortable moving pieces, review anything that was unclear or practice your decisions with a short problem.