How to Set Up Chinese Chess Pieces: A Complete Beginner’s Guide

Chinese Chess (Xiangqi or shiang‑chee) is a popular board game in Asia with hundreds of millions of players throughout Asia and the world. It is of a common progenitor with the Western chess, but over the centuries it developed a totally different tactical system, unique board layout and the rules of movements. The number one skill one needs to learn when one is starting out is the correct setup – it may sound like a trivial skill but it is the foundation of all the games that you will ever play. When you're unable to place pieces even correctly, the rest of the openings and endgame skill in the world is irrelevant and you'll be lost all over.

This guide shows you how many pieces are in each set, where to place them at the outset and the necessary movement rules for each set. At the end you'll be confident in creating a physical board or launching an app.

Chinese Chess How Many Pieces?

In a full Xiangqi set, there are a total of 32 pieces, 16 for each army (red and black). Both armies are generated with the same types of pieces and same number of pieces; the only difference between the colors is the name and characters of the pieces.

• Red Army: 1 General (帅), 2 Advisors (仕), 2 Elephants (相), 2 Chariots (车), 2 Horses (马), 2 Cannons (炮), and 5 Soldiers (兵).
• Black Army: 1 General (将), 2 Advisors (士), 2 Elephants (象), 2 Chariots (车), 2 Horses (马), 2 Cannons (砲), and 5 Soldiers (卒).

The board is 9x10 or 90 intersection points for pieces to be placed. The horizontal band in the middle is “River”, the historical Chu-Han border is open. There are a 3×3 area to the left and right of the river marked by diagonal lines, which are referred to as the “Palace” (or “Fortress”) – the Generals and Advisors cannot move in these areas.

How to start Chinese Chess?

The regular starting layout is rigid and balanced. Black always plays from the top of the board; Red from the bottom. Put each piece on the intersections, NOT in the squares. Do these things, in order – the mnemonic “Generals in the center, then advisers, elephants, horses, chariots, cannons, and soldiers at the front” will help you remember.

Step 1: Set up the Generals (Red 帅 / Black 将).
Place the Red General in the middle square of the bottom row (5th square from the left) and the Black General in the middle square of the top row. They are placed facing down the same file and when the file becomes fully unoccupied (all pieces are captured) it is an illegal position – the General is deemed “in check” and must be moved or captured.

Step 2: Set up the Advisors (Red 仕 / Black 士).
Locate one Advisor to the left of each General, and one Advisor to the right of each General (that is, on the 4th line to the left and on the 6th line to the right of the bottom/top row). They are the closest bodyguards of the General and are restricted to move one step diagonally and can be only in the Palace.

Step 3: Put Elephants (Red 相 / Black 象).
Place the Elephant in the 3rd and 7th squares of the back row of the Advisor's. Elephants will defend the General by blocking out a longer range, but if the centre of the “field” (a 2-step diagonal) is occupied, they cannot cross the river, and they are blocked if the centre of the “field” is blocked (as is known as “blocking the elephant's eye”).

Step 4: Put the Horses (Red 马 / Black 马).
Have 1 Horse on each side of Elephants on 2nd & 8th line of back row. Horses require space to move around; they take one step left, right, up or down, followed by one step diagonally outwards (an “L” step). If, however, there is a piece right next to the horse in one of the orthogonal directions (the “leg”), then the leg is “blocked” and the horse can't move “along” the leg.

Step 5: Put the Chariots (Red 车 / Black 车) in.
Place one Chariot on the far left (1st line), and one on the far right (9th line) of the back row. The Chariot is the most powerful attacking piece – it can move orthogonally (in the four directions) any number of squares, except the Cannon which we'll come to. They can be easily placed on the sides, which allows them to have open lines to sweep across the board.

Step 6: Put the Cannons (Red 炮 / Black 砲).
The Cannons are placed on the 3rd row from the bottom (for Red) and 3rd row from the top (for Black), that is, on the 8th and 2nd files, right next to the Horses with one empty row between them. These places are known as “cannon platforms” and are the typical locations for cannon firing. During its move The Cannon moves like the Chariot in all other respects, but when capturing an enemy piece, it must move over exactly one piece (friendly or enemy) – this is the famous “cannon shot.”

Step 7: Set the Soldiers (Red 兵 / Black 卒) in.
Lastly, set the five Soldiers next to each other on the fourth row from the bottom (Red) and fourth row from the top (Black) – the row which is one row before the row of the River. These are in the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th and 9th files. The soldier positions are called “soldier platforms” and they constitute the front line of defence. On crossing the River, Soldiers can move one square per turn, but they cannot retreat. Soldiers can move sideways one square after crossing the River but they cannot move backwards.

Standard starting position for Red (bottom) and Black (top). The board is a grid of intersections, where each cell symbolizes an intersection:

In official tournaments, Red always plays first. In addition, the characters on Red pieces are usually written in positive (raised) style, whereas the characters on Black pieces are negative (engraved) style – another helpful visual distinction when using a physical set.

Instructions for basic movement for each piece.

It's not enough to know where they go, you have to know how they go. In the official Chinese Chess rules the defines the movement of each piece as follows:

General (帅/将) – Moves 1 step orthogonally (forward, backward, left, right) but only in the Palace. The two Generals should not be on an open file facing each other with no piece between them – that is a position that is considered to be “direct exposure” and is illegal.

Advisor (仕/士) – Only moves one step diagonally, and limited to the Palace. Does not have the ability to escape from the 3×3 fortress.

Elephant (相/象) – Moves exactly two steps diagonally (a “field”), and cannot cross the River. The diagonal jump is blocked if the center point (the “elephant's eye”) is already occupied.

Horse (马/马) – One step orthogonally followed by one step diagonally outwards (L shape). If a piece is orthogonally adjacent to the Horse (the “leg”), however, then that leg is “blocked” and the Horse cannot move in that direction.

Chariot (车/车) – Can move orthogonally (forward, backward, or sideways) any number of squares without jumping. The most deadly piece on the board.

Cannon (炮/砲) – Moves just as a Chariot, except that it does not capture. It must jump over exactly one piece (the “screen”) – this is the unique “cannon across the mountain” rule.

Soldier (兵/卒) – Soldier can move one square forward prior to crossing the River. Once crossed, it can only move forward or sideways one square, not backwards.

Making common mistake in setting up and some practical advice.

Even when players are very experienced, they sometimes set up incorrectly when playing on the physical board. Here are the possible mistakes to avoid – and how to avoid making them.

Inverting the Advisors and Elephants – The most common mistake is placing the Advisors (next to General) with the Elephants (outside Advisors). Memorize: Advisors are the inside guards, Elephants are the outside defense. Remember Advisors are always on 4th and 6th files; Elephants are always on the 3rd and 7th files.

Ignore the “Eye” and “Leg” restrictions – Initially, it's easy to move the Elephant or Horse as if they are free moving. There will always be blockers at the center of the Elephant's diagonal (the eye) and at the Horse's orthogonal adjacent point (the leg) – otherwise your piece will be stuck or you'd be making an illegal move!

On the wrong row – Cannons should be on the third row to the side (row behind the Soldiers) and on the same row as the Horses. Some beginners may place them on the back row with the Horses – this is wrong.

Incorporating Soldiers on the incorrect files – Soldiers are to be on the odd numbered files (1, 3, 5, 7, 9) in the fourth row. They will not be valid if placed on even files.

Always check if your General and the opponent's General are on the same open file - after you have begun the game, you must find out if your General and the opposing General are on the same open file between which there is no other General. If so, it is illegal and you must get off the property right away.

The Cannon cannot capture without a screen – 4 points over the Cannon's capture rule. A lot of novices attempt to take a foe piece outright as a Chariot – that is not allowed. Always find precisely one piece in between your Cannon and the target.

Final Thoughts

Learning how to set up Chinese Chess is not just a routine exercise; it's an initial step towards a game that has captivated strategists for more than a millennium. There are 7 roles (7,000 combinations), 7 distinct variations, 32 pieces, a fixed starting grid, and the rules of Xiangqi have a bit of foresight to them. No matter whether you're using a mobile phone application or a park table with a grandmaster, proper placement is a sign of respect to the game and to your opponent – and of the fact that your plan of action will actually play on the board.

Now that you know how to arrange the pieces and how each one moves, the next step is to practice. Arrange the board, take Red side (playing with the red side first), and play your first game. No need to be concerned with winning, simply move every piece in a legal way and slowly develop your intuition. The more you play, the more natural the setting up will be and the more natural the moves will look. Good luck and enjoy the trip and one of the certainly one of the most interesting strategy games in the world.