Xiangqi, otherwise known as Chinese chess, has very unique, but somewhat similar moves to traditional English Chess. The pieces that are involved in Xiangqi include the soldier, the chariot, the horse, the elephant,the adviser, the cannon, and the general.

Before telling about how the pieces operate, we must understand the structure of the board and how it effects the movement of the pieces later on. To start off, pieces are placed onto the lines of the board instead of the spaces of the board. You might surprisingly find the movement of the pieces just as easy as if you were moving them on the spaces. Another fact about the board is that the board is separated into two sections, each side known as yours and the opponents side. The one space that perfectly across the center is called the river. So in this way, using the lines make it so you go across the river in one line instead of going in the river using the spaces for the pieces. Also, at the far rear in the center, is a 2X2 box called the fortress. You can tell where this section is by depicting the diagonal lines made where the fortress is. All of these factors, the two sides separated by the river, the river, and the fortress are all a part of how pieces move within this game. Now that you may or still may not have a decent understanding of the board, we can now move on to the movement of the pieces.

The soldier: This would be your equivalent of a pawn with a few distinctions. The soldier can only move one forward when it is on your territory, and also only attacks by moving one space forward when it is on your side as well. Although, when it is on the opponents side, it's abilities are modified. When it is on then opponents side, it can move one space horizontally either way.So thus, be careful when moving your soldier, it can never take any spaces backwards.

The Chariot: This piece is actually your exact equivalent of your English chess rook. So if you don't know how English chess works, then information of how the piece works will still be provided here. The piece can move any amount of spaces it wished horizontally and vertically and captures pieces by moving these amount of spaces. This piece is known for being an extremely valued piece and is considered as the most valued, other than from the general of course.

The horse: The horse is an interesting piece that moves in a different pattern than any other piece. The horse moves by moving one line horizontally or vertically, then moves diagonally across one space. This would be similar to the English chess Knight of you would like to correlate to that. There is one major exception though. A horse CAN NOT jump pieces in front of it. This means, that if there is a piece directly in front of it, it can not move in that direction since there is a piece in front of it. This can be used to peoples advantage and their disadvantage. The term for blocking off their path is called "Hobbling the Horse."

The elephant: This piece may be hard to utilize for some but it can be used for many good strategies as well. The elephant moves in a specific way with many exceptions, this would be why it would hard to utilize. The elephant moves by going diagonally two spaces exactly. Now for the exceptions of this. The elephant can only stay within your own side of the board. This means that there are only eight possible positions in which the elephant can be in including it's original position. Also, the elephant cannot jump as well as the horse. So if there is a piece that is one space diagonally in front of it, the elephant can not move in that direction. The terminology for blocking the direction of the elephant is called "blocking the elephant's eye."

The adviser: The adviser is one of the most restricted, but helpful pieces. You have two advisers, both within the fortress. They both can only move within the fortress. The movement is made by going on one line diagonally within the fortress. So this piece is known for being a defensive piece for the general.

The cannon: This piece may be the most extraordinary piece of all the pieces within this game. This piece does move like a chariot but it attacks in a peculiar way. It attacks by jumping over the first piece, and then capturing the piece that is on the other side of the piece it just jumped. You do not capture the piece you jumped as well; only the piece that you captured from capturing the piece on the other side of the piece you jumped over. The piece that you jump over is called the screen or the platform for the cannon. So therefore if there is only one piece in your desire path, you cannot attack but only move.

The general: Last but not least, is the general. The general is a piece that cannot be lost or else you lose the game, like the English chess king. The general is also a piece that cannot move outside of the 2X2 fortress. This piece can only move one space horizontally and vertically. Also, with one special move called the flying general. This is only when there is one line completely free of any pieces, except for the general. This is when the general moves from his side of the board to the other side taking the opponents general in the process. This does not happen often since there is usually a piece that is pinned between the two generals so that this does not occur. The reason of this would be because if one person removed the piece from that position, the general could perform the technique and then you'd lose the game. So with this in mind make sure you always have pieces protecting your general.

So, with all of this in mind, you should now be able to finally be able to play the game of Xiangqi! If you do not understand some of the context within then I am truly sorry for the misunderstanding and hope you can learn easier form other sources. Also, a fun fact about this game is that pieces may be the same but differently written for a reason. it was believed this was done since effective dyes weren't used bacl when this game was first played so they needed to make pieces with different characters to depict one's pieces from their opponents. Good luck!