Xiangqi in one minute
Xiangqi is played by two players: Red and Black. Red moves first. Each side starts with 16 pieces: one general, two advisors, two elephants, two horses, two chariots, two cannons, and five soldiers.
In normal xiangqi, the goal is to checkmate the opposing general. If a player has no legal move, that player loses. That is different from Western chess, where stalemate is a draw.
The board
The board has 9 files and 10 ranks, but pieces sit on the intersections of the lines, not inside squares. Pieces capture by moving to an enemy-occupied point. You cannot land on your own piece.
The palace is the 3 by 3 box on each player's back side. Generals and advisors must stay inside their own palace. The river divides the board in half. Elephants cannot cross it, and soldiers become stronger after crossing it.
The pieces
General: moves one point horizontally or vertically. It must stay inside the palace.
Advisor: moves one point diagonally. It must stay inside the palace.
Elephant: moves exactly two points diagonally. It cannot cross the river. If another piece sits on the midpoint of that diagonal, the elephant is blocked.
Horse: moves in an L shape, similar to a chess knight, but it does not jump. If the adjacent leg point is occupied, the horse cannot move in that direction.
Chariot: moves any distance horizontally or vertically, like a rook. It cannot jump over pieces.
Cannon: moves like a chariot when it is not capturing. To capture, it must jump over exactly one intervening piece, called the screen, and land on an enemy piece beyond it.
Soldier: moves one point forward. After crossing the river, it may also move one point sideways. It never moves backward and never promotes.
Rules chess players usually miss
A horse can be blocked. Unlike a knight, it cannot jump over the adjacent leg point.
An elephant can be blocked, and it never crosses the river.
A cannon does not capture like a rook. It needs exactly one screen between itself and the target.
The two generals cannot face each other on the same open file in normal xiangqi. A move that exposes that direct line is illegal.
Stalemate is a loss for the player with no legal move, not a draw.
Checks and endings
In normal xiangqi, a general is in check when an enemy piece attacks it. The checked player must answer the threat. If there is no legal answer, the game ends by checkmate.
Normal xiangqi also has rules for repetition, perpetual check, and perpetual chase. Those rules can get detailed in tournament play. For this primer, the useful takeaway is simple: normal xiangqi does not allow endless forcing cycles as a free drawing weapon.
Next: Dark Xiangqi
Dark Xiangqi keeps the board, setup, and piece movement above. Then it changes the information and the ending: enemy pieces outside your vision are hidden, there are no check warnings, facing generals are allowed, and the game ends when a general is captured.
That means the same xiangqi tactics still matter, but under fog. Horse legs, elephant eyes, cannon screens, palace geometry, and river-crossed soldiers all become information signals as well as movement rules.