Q&A for How to Play Chinese Chess

Yes, it can. (It can only do that with a piece in front though.)

No, it cannot.

The cannons can jump to take a piece, and the horse can jump as it moves in certain situations (see the diagram above). Other pieces cannot jump.

Using the moves above, pieces can cross the river differently. Some pieces cannot cross it.

Yes, but you cannot capture a piece by moving this way.

No, it must move two spaces diagonally.

No, you cannot "promote " a soldier. When he gets to the end of the board, he remain there, only able to move one square left or right.

Yes, you can - except for soldiers. Soldiers can only move forward one step at a time before they cross the lake in the middle; after that, soldiers can move to the sides or forward, but not backward.

Yes. If a General (king) faces the enemy General, they are mutually threatened.

Yes it can, but it needs to have a piece between the cannon and the piece you want to capture.

Most department stores or drugstores that have toy sections carry this classic game; however, if you can't find it in your area, you can order from eBay or Amazon.com.

Then you will lose unless you can get into a stalemate situation, i.e. get into a situation where you are not actually in check but have no legal moves.

If you mean putting two cannons in line with each other, yes, that can be a good strategy. The cannon in back can jump the front one to attack.

Try to capture right away, even though you might get captured too, but try your best.

A pawn may move and capture forwards before crossing the river, and horizontally (sideways) and forwards after crossing the river, however I believe it cannot move or capture diagonally. They also cannot retreat.

Yes, horses can pass the opposite pawn. The picture just shows that the horse is not allowed to make a move if a piece is blocking the longer part of the L-shaped move the horse is supposed to make.

“楚河” - "Chu's river", “汉界” - "Han's border". Chu and Han are two rebel powers that put an end to the Qin Empire. After that, they started another war. In 205 BC, those two armies came into a stalemate between that valley. After 2 years of continuous fighting, the Chu army was disadvantaged and suggested to make the valley their border. Those Chinese characters just come from this historic event.

If your opponent only has one piece left, there is only one possibility, which is that the piece is his/her general.

Yes, you can.

The cannon cannot capture diagonally. It moves like a Rook in Western chess - up/down or side/side only.

The most popular theory is that games similar to Chinese chess (or 'xiangqi') originated in India and a more modern form was eventually developed in China.

No, it's like a rook in international chess; it can only move forward or backwards. However, you can hop an additional piece.

No, the general (king) and his guards may not exit the palace. Only the other pieces can cross.

No. Cannons can only jump one piece in order to capture it.

In Chinese chess, no matter what soldiers are not allowed to move backwards, but they can always move left or right one step at a time instead of just going forward.

The elephants and guards aren't allowed to cross the river no matter what. The king can't even go out of its own box.

The best way to win a round of Chinese Chess is to checkmate. The best way to checkmate is to do it with your cannon, chariot, and horse, they are the strongest chess pieces in some cases. Put both of your cannons in the same row both facing the king (if you know what I mean), then the opponent's army will have to either move the king, 'eat' the second cannon, fill in space between the two cannons, or it's your win. It's not necessary to do checkmate with one of the chess pieces that I just mentioned, and you can always do it with a soldier.

Yes it can, but you need to be smart about it. Place your cannon a place that can snipe the enemy's cannon, or use your cannon to catch the enemy cannon while still protecting yours.

No. In Chinese chess, there is no point values, though there are some pieces that are less valuable to capture.

There are no values in Chinese chess. The goal of Chinese chess is only to checkmate the opponent's king and no values are taken.