A curated list of xiangqi related resources.
Xiangqi, also known as Chinese chess, is a two-players abstract strategy board-game from China, with a long history of tradition, theory and tactics.
Contributions to this repository are welcome! Check out the contributing guidelines
- General websites
- Websites to play
- Games databases
- Books
- YouTube channels
- Engines
- Computer xiangqi
- Other useful tools
- Social
- World Xiangqi Federation website - Upcoming and past official tournaments.
- xqinenglish.com - Wide collection of articles on various aspects of the game, featuring embedded interactive boards to visualize the discussed concepts.
All websites allow to play with other people and watch ongoing games.
Website | Play with computer | Analysis board | Puzzles | Other |
---|---|---|---|---|
https://www.xiangqi.com | pikafish, multiple levels | pikafish | yes | chat, lessons and articles |
https://elephantchess.io | pikafish or fairy-stockfish, multiple levels | pikafish | yes | gamedatabase |
https://www.clubxiangqi.com/ | no | no | no | discussion forum |
https://www.pychess.org/ | fairy-stockfish, multiple levels | fairy-stockfish | yes | supports other chess variants, some lessons and articles |
https://www.playok.com/ | no | no | no | supports also other chess variants and board games |
- https://www.chessdb.cn/query/ - Interactive board to search positions and statistics about their outcomes and continuations.
- http://www.01xq.com/ - Game database, can be searched by opening, by player or by event.
- http://dpxq.com/ - Game database, can be searched by player or by event.
- Chinese chess for beginners - Basic overview of the game.
- Xiangqi For Absolute Beginners: Teach Yourself XIANGQI step by step - General overview of the games and its phases.
- Understanding the elephant series
- H.T.Lau: Chinese Chess: An Introduction to China's Ancient Game of Strategy - General overview of the games and its phases.
- XIANGQI Introduction to Chinese Chess for beginners - Introductory book by grandmaster Ye Lin.
- Lexicon of xiangqi - English terms related to xiangqi with Chinese translation, over 1600 entries.
- Chinese Chess: An Introduction to the Openings
- Xiangqi opening trilogy by Master Yan Wenqing and Grandmaster Zhang Qiang
- 象棋布局定式与战理 (xiangqi opening tabiat and their principles) - Systematic overview of xiangqi openings. Some articles from chapters of the book available here and some videos discussing the book available here.
- 布局骗着与对策 (Deceptions and countermeasures in xiangqi openings) - Typical traps in xiangqi opening and how to not fall for them. Video discussions of the book here. A partial English translation by WXF available here.
- 布局疑形与攻击 (dubious positions and how to attack them) - Typical opening mistakes and how to punish them. Video discussions available here.
- Xiangqi: The basic of same direction cannon openings
- Xiangqi D00-D29 Same Direction Cannons: Modern Xiangqi Opening Repertoire
- 胡, 荣华. 夹炮屏风 反宫马布局研究 (Hu Ronghua's sandwiched horse defense treatise) - A video discussion of the book is available here
- Xiangqi basic tactics - Free ebook by WXF about xiangqi tactis.
- Basic xiangqi chekmate methods - Free ebook by WXF about common checkmate techniques.
- Checkmate Methods in Xiangqi Mid-Games - Free ebook by WXF about checkmate tactics frequently occurring during middle game.
- Become a xiangqi assassin 1 - Contains several puzzles with discussed solutions in increasing level of difficulty.
- Become a xiangqi assassin 2 - Contains several puzzles with discussed solutions in increasing level of difficulty.
- Chinese chess endgames - A computer-assisted analysis of xiangqi endgames.
- 王嘉良, 象棋残局大全 - Wan Jialiang, Systematic collection of xiangqi endgames.
- Xiangqi endgame classics trilogy
- Collection of translated ancient manuals by Jim Png Hau Cheng
- Plum Flower Manual by Wang
- Plum Flower Springs Manual
- Unparalleled and Chong Ben Tang Plum Flower Manuals
- One Hundred Variations in Xiangqi & Marvelous Variations Xiangqi Manual
- Dreams of Divine Positions
- Lan Ke Shen Ji
- Secret in the Tangerine, volume 1, volume 2, volume 3, volume 4
- Elegant pastime manual, volumes 1 & 2, volumes 3 & 4, volumes 5 & 6
- Secret record of xiangqi
- The xiangqi master from the cave
- Grandmaster Hu Ronghua and his elephant openings - Commented games of grandmaster Hu Ronghua featuring the elephant opening.
- IGM Lin Ye 60 memorable games: The path to winning the world championship - Commented games of grandmaster Ye Lin.
- xiangqi.com channel - Basic lessons and some games commentaries.
- xqinenglish channel - Many lessons on various aspects of xiangqi and some games commentaries.
- Shiro speaks chess - Games commentaries in Chinese with English subtitles.
- Chengdi shen - Several game reviews and lessons in Chinese.
- Learning Chinese chess - Lessons on concepts and game commentaries.
- Sim Yip How channel - Some game reviews in English.
- Singapore Xiangqi academy - Some lessons on some openings.
- Globalization of xiangqi - Some basic tutorials.
- hk92jimmy - Lessons on openings in Chinese with English subtitles.
- pikafish - Strong engine for xiangqi based on stockfish.
- fairy-stockfish - Strong engine based on stockfish, which also supports other chess and xiangqi variants.
- Chinese Chess encyclopedia - Overview of some computer xiangqi concepts and description of ECCO opening classification.
- Chinese Chess File Format - Description of the WXF format by WXF.
- Computer Chinese Chess - Overview of the field. A bit old, but still relevant for the basic concepts.
- Tsan-sheng Hsu page - Lecture notes and several research papers on computer xiangqi.
- Xiangqi chess engine in JavaScript - Video tutorials on developing a simple xiangqi engine from scratch in JavaScript.
- A completed implementation for Xiangqi rules - Paper describing an algorithm to check for perpetual check and perpetual chasing.
- xiangqi-setup - Python script to generate board images from FEN or WXF formats.
- xiangqi-book-example - LaTeX template to write text about xiangqi, using
xiangqi-setup
to generate board images from FEN notation.
- r/xiangi - Subreddit for xiangi related discussions.
- Xiangqi international discord server - General xiangqi related discussions.
- xiangqi.com discord server - To find opponents and chat with the site developers.
- elephantchess.io discord server - To find opponents and chat with the site developer.
- pychess discord server - It has channel dedicated to xiangqi, to discuss about the game and find an opponent.
- fairy-stockfish discord server - It has a channel dedicated to xiangqi.
- pikafish discord server - To discuss pikafish development.