Contents
- General websites
- Websites to play
- Games databases
- Books
- YouTube channels
- Engines
- Computer xiangqi
- Other useful tools
- Social
General websites
- World Xiangqi Federation website - Official website of the World Xiangqi Federation (WXF). It contains information on upcoming official tournaments, a list of xiangqi associations and federated players and the official xiangqi tournament rules.
- Xqinenglish - Wide collection of articles on various aspects of the game, featuring embedded interactive boards to visualize the discussed concepts.
Websites to play
All websites allow to play with other people and watch ongoing games.
| Website | Play with computer | Analysis board | Puzzles | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Xiangqi.com | pikafish, multiple levels | pikafish | yes | chat, lessons and articles |
| Elephantchess.io | pikafish or fairy-stockfish, multiple levels | pikafish | yes | games database |
| ClubXiangqi | no | no | no | discussion forum |
| PyChess | fairy-stockfish, multiple levels | fairy-stockfish | yes | supports other chess variants, some lessons and articles |
| PlayOK | no | no | no | supports also other chess variants and board games |
Games databases
- ChessDB - Interactive board to search positions and statistics about their outcomes and continuations.
- 01xq - Game database, can be searched by opening, by player or by event.
- DpXq - Game database, can be searched by player or by event.
Books
Introductory books
- Xiangqi For Absolute Beginners: Teach Yourself XIANGQI step by step - General overview of the game 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 game and its phases. It discusses rules, basic openings and endgames as well as some middle game strategies and tactics.
- XIANGQI Introduction to Chinese Chess for beginners - Introductory book by grandmaster Ye Lin, discussing the game rules and strategies as well as its history.
- Lexicon of xiangqi - English terms related to xiangqi with Chinese translation, over 1600 entries. This is very useful to be able to read books in Chinese on the topic. A shorter free extract of the book is available here.
Opening
- Chinese Chess: An Introduction to the Openings
- Xiangqi opening trilogy by Master Yan Wenqing and Grandmaster Zhang Qiang - Considered one of the most complete and authoritative resource on xiangqi opening.
- 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 not to 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.
Tactics / puzzles
- 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 - Exercise book with several puzzles with discussed solutions in increasing level of difficulty.
- Become a xiangqi assassin 2 - Exercise book several puzzles with discussed solutions in increasing level of difficulty.
Endgames
- Chinese chess endgames - A computer-assisted analysis of xiangqi endgames.
- Xiangqi endgame classics trilogy
Ancient manuals
- Plum Flower Manual by Wang - Ancient manual from the Qing dynasty, notorious for being one of the first introducing the screen-horse defense against central cannon.
- Plum Flower Springs Manual - Ancient manual from the Qing dynasty, discussing in details several opening systems. It is also one of the few manuals discussing handicap games.
- Unparalleled and Chong Ben Tang Plum Flower Manuals - Ancient manual from the Qing dynasty, which presents puzzles and discusses the foundations of the screen-horse defense.
- One Hundred Variations in Xiangqi & Marvelous Variations Xiangqi Manual - Collection of endgame compositions and puzzles from the Ming dynasty.
- Dreams of Divine Positions - One of the oldest collection of puzzles and endgame compositions.
- Lan Ke Shen Ji - Collection of relatively straightforward endgame compositions, suited particularly to train calculation skills.
- Secret in the Tangerine, volume 1, volume 2, volume 3, volume 4 - One of the oldest ancient manuals, considered a fundamental classic on the game.
- Elegant pastime manual, volumes 1 & 2, volumes 3 & 4, volumes 5 & 6 - Collection of puzzles and endgame compositions from the Ming dynasty. This book is also rich of Chinese culture, with each composition name being a verse from famous Chinese poems.
- Secret record of xiangqi - One of the first books from the Qing dynasty, popular for presenting more complex endgame problems compared to its predecessors.
- The xiangqi master from the cave - Ancient manual from the Song dynasty, presenting several games commentaries with detailed explanations.
Games collections
- 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.
YouTube channels
- 象棋王子 (chess prince): channel often live-streaming xiangqi tournaments in China
- CoTuong360: channel in vietnamese with several video lectures on different topics.
- Chinese Chess Outloud: basic tutorials in English. Particularly, a very good walk-through on how to setup the tiantian xiangqi app.
- 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 - Lessons on some openings.
- Globalization of xiangqi - Endgame explanations and exercises.
Engines
- Pikafish - Strong engine for xiangqi based on stockfish.
- Fairy-stockfish - Strong engine based on stockfish, which also supports other chess and xiangqi variants.
Computer xiangqi
- 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.
Other useful tools
- 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-setupto generate board images from FEN notation. - 棋弈江湖 (Xiangqi PWA) - Full-featured xiangqi platform with the world's first open-source board recognition system. Includes complete ONNX models for chess piece detection and classification, AI analysis powered by Pikafish, 7300+ puzzle database, and professional game review. All models are MIT licensed. Live demo
Social
- r/xiangqi - 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.