How to choose a Chinese chess set: what a complete set contains, which piece materials and sizes to pick, and how to match the pieces to the right board.
A good Chinese chess set gives you 32 round pieces, 16 red and 16 black, that sit neatly on the points of a matching board. For most players the sweet spot is a wooden or melamine set with engraved characters, pieces about 3 to 4 cm across, and a board whose grid is slightly wider than the pieces.
The rest of this guide explains the trade-offs behind that answer. We have left out brands and prices on purpose: both change quickly, and the checks below work on any set you come across.
What should be in the box
Xiangqi (象棋) pieces are flat discs rather than carved figures. Each one carries a Chinese character that names it, and the two armies are told apart by colour, almost always red and black. A complete set has 32 of these discs. Many sets also include a board, which might be a sheet of printed vinyl, a folding wooden board or the lid of the box itself, plus a bag or case to keep everything together.
The board is not always included, so read the description carefully. A pieces-only set is fine if you already own a board, as long as the sizes match.
Counting the pieces
When a set arrives, lay it out in the starting position before you do anything else. It is the fastest way to catch a missing or duplicated piece. Each side should have one General, two Advisors, two Elephants, two Horses, two Chariots, two Cannons and five Soldiers, which makes 16.
On the red side you will usually see 帥 for the General, 仕 for the Advisors, 相 for the Elephants, 傌 for the Horses, 俥 for the Chariots, 炮 for the Cannons and 兵 for the Soldiers. The black side normally uses 將, 士, 象, 馬, 車, 砲 and 卒. Sets differ in the details. Some use 炮 for both Cannons, some black Cannons are marked 包, and simplified-character sets print 马 and 车 for both colours. None of that is a defect, as long as each side has the right number of each piece and you can tell the two armies apart at a glance.
While the pieces are laid out, check the backs. If you think you might ever play Banqi, the half-board game in which every piece starts face down, all the backs need to look identical. Sets with symbols or characters printed on the reverse are fine for normal xiangqi but spoil any hidden-piece game.
Plastic, melamine, wood or stone
Most modern pieces are plastic, and there is nothing wrong with that. Plastic is light, cheap to replace and survives being dropped. The weak point of thin or hollow plastic pieces is the feel: they can skid across a smooth board and they make a rather hollow click.
Melamine is a hard resin often used for sturdier sets. The pieces are denser than ordinary plastic, resist scratches well, and the characters are usually engraved and filled with paint. If you want a set that will survive a school club or years of games in the park, this is a sensible place to look.
Wood is the traditional choice and the one many players simply enjoy most. Wooden pieces tend to be thicker, have a pleasant weight, and give a satisfying knock when placed firmly on a point. Quality varies with the timber and the finish, so look for smooth edges and an even coat. Wood also reacts to its surroundings, which matters for care.
Stone, marble and jade sets are mostly decorative. They look handsome on a shelf and make a lovely gift, but they are heavy, cold to the touch and can chip if a piece falls on a hard floor. Older sets were also made from horn, bone and ivory. Ivory is restricted or banned in many countries, so steer clear of antique listings unless you know the rules where you live.
Matching piece size to the board
Sets are normally described by piece diameter. For a sense of scale, the Chinese Xiangqi Association's 2020 competition rules call for pieces 3.0 to 4.0 cm across and 1.0 to 2.0 cm thick, on a board whose squares measure 4.0 to 5.0 cm per side. A board built to those rules is 40 to 50 cm long and 36 to 45 cm wide.
The ratio matters more than the exact numbers. Pieces sit on intersections, so two pieces on neighbouring points are exactly one square apart, centre to centre. If the pieces are wider than the squares they overlap, and if they are only a hair narrower they touch and nudge each other off their points. Read the competition figures together and you get a handy rule of thumb: leave roughly a centimetre between the piece diameter and the square size. Pieces of 3.5 cm on a grid of about 4.5 cm feel right.
To check a board you already own, measure the distance between two neighbouring lines, not the whole board, and compare it with the listed piece diameter. Larger pieces are easier to read for children and for anyone whose eyesight is not what it was, while smaller ones make sense for travel. Thickness is a matter of taste, though very thin pieces are harder to pick up and slide around more.
Engraved or printed characters
Characters are either engraved, meaning cut into the surface and filled with paint, or printed on top. Engraving lasts. Even when the paint wears, the carved shape stays readable. Printed characters can look sharp at first but may rub away on the pieces you move most, usually the Chariots, Cannons and Horses. Laser-etched wooden pieces sit somewhere in between: durable, though often less crisp than a deep engraving.
Look closely at photos of the actual pieces if you can. You want clean, well-proportioned characters that are easy to read upside down, because half the time you will be reading your opponent's pieces from across the table.
Traditional, simplified or picture pieces
Most sets, even many sold in mainland China, still use traditional characters, and they are what you will meet in most books and diagrams. Traditional sets also give the two sides different characters for several pieces, which helps when you glance at a crowded position. Simplified sets are perfectly playable and suit players who read simplified Chinese every day.
Beginner sets with Western-style symbols, such as a horse head or a small cannon drawn next to or instead of the character, can help young children and complete newcomers start playing on day one. The catch is that you will outgrow them. Club sets and most study material use characters, so if you buy a symbol set, treat it as a bridge and learn the seven characters alongside it. Some sets print a symbol on one face and the character on the other, which is a neat compromise, although it rules out Banqi.
Roll-up, wooden or folding boards
Historically, many xiangqi boards were simply lined sheets of paper, often thrown away after use. Today you will mostly choose between three types. Roll-up boards in vinyl or cloth are light, cheap and easy to pack. Vinyl lies flatter once it has warmed up, while cloth can wrinkle but survives being stuffed into a bag. A few captured pieces on the corners will stop the edges curling while you play.
Solid wooden boards give the best playing surface. They stay flat and the pieces glide well. The downside is weight and storage space. Folding boards are the practical middle ground. A well-made one folds along the river, which is a tidy bit of design: no points lie inside the river, so the hinge never runs through a spot where a piece needs to stand. Many folding boards double as a box for the pieces.
Whatever the type, check that the board shows the two palaces with their diagonal lines, a clearly marked river (often labelled 楚河 and 漢界), and the small corner marks that show where the Cannons and Soldiers start. A light background with red or dark lines, which the competition rules also specify, is easiest on the eyes.
Travel and magnetic sets
Magnetic sets are made for trains, planes and picnic tables. The pieces are small and thin with a magnet underneath, and the board usually folds into a case that holds them. Test the grip if you can: a good magnetic set lets you tilt the board without pieces sliding. Expect small characters, so these suit adults better than young children. Count the pieces every time you pack up, because tiny magnetic discs are very easy to lose.
Keeping a set in good shape
Wood dislikes heat, damp and strong sunlight. Keep wooden pieces and boards away from radiators and sunny windowsills, wipe them with a barely damp cloth, and let them dry fully before putting them away. Never soak them. Plastic and melamine pieces can be washed in lukewarm water with a little mild soap, then dried with a towel. Roll vinyl boards loosely rather than folding them, and store stone pieces in a padded box so they do not knock against each other.
Finally, get into the habit of counting sixteen and sixteen at the end of each session. A missing Soldier is annoying. A missing General ends the evening.
Before you buy
If you would like to try the game before choosing a set, you can play the computer for free on XiangqiPlay once you have made a free account.
XiangqiPlay Team
XiangqiPlay newsroom
