Pieces

Both players have 16 pieces:

- 5 Pawns

- 2 Rooks

- 2 Cannons

- 2 Horses

- 2 Elephants (or Mandarins)

- 2 Guards (or Advisors)

- 1 King (or General)

The pieces and their movements are listed below. There are some additional rules that prohibit certain moves. See these restrictions on the sections Prohibited Moves and Repetition Rules.

NOTE | The pieces use traditional Chinese symbols. The corresponding pieces on different sides may have different symbols. For example, the red cannon looks different from the green cannon.

Basic Movement

Pawns
| Initially a pawn can only move forward one position at a time. When the pawn has crossed the river, it gains two more moves; On opponent's side a pawn can also move one position sideways (left and right). A pawn can never move backward and it is not promoted when it reaches the far end of the board. The same moves are used to capture opponents pieces.

Rooks
| Rooks move any number of positions horizontally or vertically. Rooks may not jump over pieces. The same moves are used to capture opponents pieces.

Cannons
| Cannons are similar to rooks because they can move any number of positions horizontally or vertically. However, to capture opponent's piece the cannon must jump over exactly one piece (i.e. there must be one piece in between the cannon and the piece being captured). The piece that the cannon jumps over can be from either side (i.e. red or green).

Horses
| Horses move first one position horizontally or vertically and then one position diagonally. Horses may not jump over pieces. This means that the horse can only move to a certain direction, if the position in that direction (horizontal or vertical) is not occupied by another piece. The same moves are used to capture opponents pieces.

Elephants (or Mandarins)
| Elephants move exactly 2 positions diagonally and they can not cross the river (which means that there are only 7 positions on the board where a certain elephant can go to). Elephants may not jump over pieces. The same moves are used to capture opponents pieces.

Guards (or Advisors)
| The guards protect the king and can move only move position diagonally. They may never leave their palace (the area marked with a big X). There are only 5 positions that a guard may reach. The same moves are used to capture opponents pieces.

King (or General)
| The king can move one position horizontally or vertically. It can not leave its palace (the area marked with a big X). The same moves are used to capture opponents pieces. In addition to these rules, there are special rules that limit the movement of the king. See the Prohibited Moves section.