There are three kinds of moves. A player may turn a piece face-up, move a piece, or capture an enemy piece. In some game variants, multiple captures may be made in one turn.
Capturing an opposing piece
A player may only capture with a face-up piece of their own color, and may only capture a face-up piece of the opposing color. In all captures, the captured piece is removed from the board and its square is occupied by the capturing piece.
The pieces are ranked, forming a hierarchy with the general at the top and soldiers at the bottom. Only pieces of equal or lower rank may be captured, with one exception. For instance, a chariot may capture a horse, and the general may capture either, but a horse cannot capture a chariot, and neither can capture the general. The one exception concerns generals and soldiers: the general cannot capture soldiers, and soldiers can capture the general.
In the Taiwanese version, the ranking goes as follows: General>Advisor>Elephant>Chariot>Horse>Soldier. Except for the cannon, the pieces capture with the same motion as for movement: one square up, down, left, or right. The cannon is not included in the ranking because it is exceptional: it can capture a piece of any rank, and yet is vulnerable to capture by any piece except the soldier. A cannon captures as in xiangqi: it moves any distance along a single row or column of the board, jumping over exactly one intermediate piece (called a screen). Any other squares between the cannon and its target must be empty. The color of the screening piece does not matter; it may be friend or foe, or even face down. While a cannon may capture any piece, it must jump a screen to do so. Since a cannon must jump to capture, it cannot capture a piece in an adjacent square.
In the Hong Kong version, the pieces are ranked in this order: General>Chariot>Horse>Cannon>Advisor>Elephant>Soldier. This ranking reflects the approximate value of the corresponding pieces in xiangqi (though the relative rank of horse and cannon is arguable). All pieces capture exactly as they move: one square up, down, left, or right.
The Mainland Chinese version is similar to the Taiwanese version, except that cannons cannot jump. The rank of a cannon is just above that of a soldier, so the ranking is: General>Advisor>Elephant>Chariot>Horse>Cannon>Soldier. Another difference is that a General/Marshal may capture a Soldier/Pawn if the General/Marshal moves first.
There are many other variations on the cannon capture rule that may add variety if desired:
- One variation gives cannons the ability to capture soldiers and other cannons directly, without jumping over a screen. In other words, the cannon acts like the other pieces, ranking between horse and soldier, but with the added ability of capturing any piece by catapulting.
- Another popular variation allows the attempted capture of a face-down piece, which if it can be captured is done so. If the piece cannot be captured due to its rank or color, then it is left face-up, and no movement takes place.
- A popular variation with children, allows multiple captures on the same turn for already exposed pieces as well as face-down pieces as long as they are successful.
- A variation that may change the strategy is that the cannon can not use a face down piece for a screen but can capture multiple pieces in a single turn. The cannon can not capture face down pieces in this variant.
Stalemate
A stalemate threat occurs when one player forces an endless cycle of moves. In a typical stalemate, the instigator repeatedly attacks, but cannot capture, an enemy piece. The legality of stalemating varies by culture:
- Some players consider stalemate illegal. This is consistent with the rules of Chinese Chess, which require the instigator to cease the continual attack, else the victim wins.
- Some players consider stalemate a legal strategy. The ability to instigate a stalemate in an otherwise losing game is one of the ways that skill can overcome luck, since the victim must accept either a drawn game or the loss of a piece. Handling a stalemate situation requires skill for the winning player, as well — the necessity of heading off a potential stalemate adds spice to an otherwise overwhelming victory. And deciding whether you can still win, even without that piece, requires great expertise.
Games in which stalemate is allowed tend to produce much more even games — many a lopsided game is turned into an interesting match by the surrender of a piece to avoid a stalemate.
