Xiangqi openings
The named lines every Chinese chess player knows, in English and Chinese, with the one line idea behind each.
Xiangqi openings are named for the shape they build, not for the player who invented them. 屏风马 is a “screen of horses” because that is what it looks like. Learn the shape and the name comes free.
Every line below is the book this site plays with: the board names your opening as you play it and stops once the game leaves theory.
Red’s first move
Red moves first, and this choice sets the character of the whole game.
- Move 1 of 1
The most aggressive and most played first move. The cannon eyes the enemy general down the middle file from move one.
Read the Central Cannon guide - Move 1 of 1
The same central battery, developed from the other wing.
Read the Central Cannon from the left guide - Move 1 of 1
A quiet, solid start: shore up the centre first and let Black commit.
Read the Elephant Opening guide - Move 1 of 1
Flexible development that keeps every central plan available.
Read the Horse Opening guide - Move 1 of 1
"The immortal points the way", a waiting move that asks Black to show their setup first.
Read the Pawn Opening guide - Move 1 of 1
The cannon takes the advisor's diagonal, a flexible and less charted alternative to the centre.
Read the Palcorner Cannon guide
Black’s replies
How Black answers, and above all how Black answers the Central Cannon.
- Move 2 of 2
The great main line of Xiangqi. Black's two horses defend each other in front of the general like a folding screen.
Read the Central Cannon vs Screen Horses guide - Move 2 of 2
Black answers a central cannon with one on the same side: sharp, symmetrical and famously double edged.
Read the Same-Direction Cannons guide - Move 2 of 2
Black meets the centre cannon from the other wing, unbalancing the position immediately.
Read the Opposite-Direction Cannons guide - Move 2 of 2
Black develops a horse to the edge, keeping the central file clear for a counterattack.
Read the Central Cannon vs Single Horse guide - Move 2 of 2
Black rushes the chariot out along the back rank, three moves to an active piece.
Read the Three Steps Tiger guide - Move 2 of 2
Black seizes the centre that Red declined.
Read the Elephant Opening vs Central Cannon guide - Move 2 of 2
Two solid setups facing each other. The slow, strategic xiangqi game where nobody blunders early and the win comes from the better plan.
Read the Elephant Opening vs Screen Horses guide - Move 2 of 2
Red develops a horse, Black grabs the middle file. How to handle a central cannon when you have not built a battery of your own.
Read the Horse Opening vs Central Cannon guide - Move 2 of 2
The standard sharp answer: Black's cannon takes aim at the pawn Red just advanced.
Read the Pawn Opening, Cannon Reply guide
Main lines
Where the well-trodden variations lead once both sides have committed.
- Move 4 of 4
Both sides complete the standard setup; the fight is about who gets a chariot across the river first.
Read the Central Cannon vs Screen Horses, Chariot Files guide - Move 6 of 6
Red's chariot heads for the fifth rank to pressure Black's horse before the defence is set.
Read the Central Cannon, Chariot Crosses the River guide - Move 4 of 4
The classical same direction main line. Red develops the chariot straight up the file, Black brings it along the rank, and the fight starts immediately.
Read the Straight chariot against horizontal chariot guide
Reading the Chinese names
Opening names are built from a handful of words. Learn these nine and most names read themselves.
| 炮 | pào | cannon, the piece that must jump one man to capture |
| 马 | mǎ | horse |
| 车 | jū | chariot, the rook |
| 相 | xiàng | elephant (Red's) |
| 中 | zhōng | central |
| 对 | duì | versus, separating Red's setup from Black's |
| 屏风马 | píng fēng mǎ | screen horses, two horses defending each other like a folding screen |
| 过河车 | guò hé chē | a chariot that has crossed the river |
| 仙人指路 | xiān rén zhǐ lù | “the immortal points the way”, the pawn opening |
More characters, including every piece in red and black, are on chess in Chinese.
Common questions
- What is the best opening in Xiangqi?
- The Central Cannon (中炮) is the most played and the most testing first move, because it points a cannon at the enemy General down the middle file immediately. It is not objectively winning, and at every level the Elephant Opening (飞相局) and Horse Opening (起马局) are entirely sound, quieter choices.
- What is the most common reply to the Central Cannon?
- Screen Horses (屏风马). Black develops both horses so they defend one another in front of the General. Central Cannon versus Screen Horses is the single most analysed structure in Xiangqi.
- How many opening moves should a beginner learn?
- Two or three. Learn the Central Cannon as Red and Screen Horses as Black, understand why each move is played, and stop there. Xiangqi punishes memorised lines played without the plan behind them faster than it punishes not knowing them.
- Does XiangqiPlay tell me which opening I am playing?
- Yes. The board names your opening as you play, from this same book, and stops naming it once the game leaves known theory.
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