Feral Worlds: Tabletop Games · Board Games · Classic rules
Xiangqi
Cross the river. Trap the general.
Setup
- Players: two: you and a bot. Red moves first, at the bottom.
- Board: nine lines by ten, with the river across the middle and a palace at each end.
- Pieces: sixteen each: a general, two advisors, two elephants, two horses, two chariots, two cannons and five soldiers.
- Start: back rank first, cannons on the third line, soldiers on every other point of the fourth.
How to play
- 1The general and advisors. The general steps one point along a line and never leaves its palace. Advisors step one point diagonally inside the palace.
- 2Elephants. An elephant jumps exactly two points diagonally, cannot jump a piece on the point in between, and never crosses the river.
- 3Horses. A horse steps one point straight, then one diagonally outward. A piece on the straight step blocks it.
- 4Chariots and cannons. The chariot slides any distance. The cannon slides the same way, but to capture it must jump exactly one piece on the way to its target.
- 5Soldiers. A soldier steps one point forward. Once it has crossed the river it may also step sideways. Soldiers never move backward.
- 6Check and the generals. You may never leave your own general attacked, and the two generals may never face each other with nothing between them.
Winning
Trap the other general so that no move saves it. A player with no legal move loses, whether the general is in check or not.
Scoring
| Piece | Worth |
|---|---|
| Chariot | 9 |
| Cannon | 4 to 5 |
| Horse | 4 |
| Advisor | 2 |
| Elephant | 2 |
| Soldier | 1 (2 across the river) |
| General | Lose it, lose the game |
Cannons get weaker as pieces come off the board, since they need screens, and horses get stronger. The practice table shows the material count for both sides beside each name.
Key terms
- River:
- The gap across the middle of the board. Elephants never cross it, and soldiers gain a sideways step across it.
- Palace:
- The nine points marked with an X at each end. The general and advisors stay inside.
- General:
- The piece you must protect. It steps one point along a line, inside the palace.
- Screen:
- The piece a cannon jumps over to capture.
- Flying general:
- The rule that the two generals may not face each other with nothing between them.
- Perpetual check:
- Giving check with every move of a repeating cycle. The side that does it loses.
- Point:
- A crossing of two lines. Pieces stand on points, not in squares.