Chariot
车 / 車 · jū · cart or chariot
The strongest piece in xiangqi, moving any distance along a rank or file exactly like a rook, and the piece that decides most games.
If you learn one thing about xiangqi strategy, learn this: chariots decide games. They move like rooks, they are worth roughly twice a horse or a cannon, and an attack without one is almost never real.
Because the board has open files from the very first move, chariots get into play far faster here than rooks do in western chess. That is why opening theory is largely an argument about which file each chariot takes and which of them crosses the river first.
One warning to go with the praise. A chariot is worth roughly two lesser pieces, so a chariot that wanders off to win a soldier while the other side builds an attack is not active, it is absent.
In practice
If you are ever unsure what to play in the opening, develop a chariot. It is rarely the best move and almost never a bad one.
Related terms
- Crossing the river过河Moving a piece into the opponent's half of the board, where soldiers gain sideways movement and chariots become attackers.
- River patrol chariot巡河车A chariot placed on the rank just in front of the river, where it defends its own soldiers and watches the crossing points.
- Horse马 / 马A knight that moves one point straight then one diagonally, and which unlike a western knight can be blocked by a piece standing in its way.
- Cannon炮 / 砲A piece that moves like a chariot but can only capture by jumping exactly one piece, called the screen, on its way to the target.