Learn the correct Xiangqi (象棋 / Chinese Chess) board setup: the 9×10 grid, the river, the palace, and exactly where every piece starts so you can set up a game with confidence.
Before you can play a single move of Xiangqi (象棋), also known as Chinese Chess or Cờ Tướng, you need to set the board up correctly. Get the starting position wrong and the whole game feels off — pieces end up on the wrong points and openings stop making sense. Fortunately, the setup is symmetrical and easy to memorize once you understand the board's landmarks.
In this guide we will walk through the Xiangqi board piece by piece: the 9×10 grid, the river down the middle, the two palaces, and the exact starting square of every Chariot, Horse, Elephant, Advisor, General, Cannon, and Soldier. By the end you will be able to set up a board from an empty grid in under a minute.
Reading the Board: Files, Ranks, and Intersections
The Xiangqi board consists of 9 vertical lines called files and 10 horizontal lines called ranks. The single most important thing to remember is that pieces sit on the intersections where lines cross, not inside the squares. That gives a total of 90 playable points, noticeably more room than the 64 squares of a Western chessboard.
Because pieces live on intersections, the outermost files and ranks are fully in play — there is a line of points running right along every edge. When you look at a fresh board, count nine points across and ten points from top to bottom, and picture each piece perched on a crossing. This mental adjustment is the biggest hurdle for players coming from Western chess.
Files are usually numbered from each player's own right-hand side, which matters when you start reading notation. For now, simply get comfortable seeing the grid as a lattice of points, and the placement rules will feel natural.
The River and the Palace
Running horizontally across the center of the board is the river, an open band with no lines crossing it. The river divides the two armies and enforces two important rules: Elephants may never cross it, and Soldiers gain sideways movement only after they cross it. Think of the river as the border between two kingdoms, quiet at the start but hotly contested as the game develops.
At each end of the board sits the palace, a 3×3 region marked with a large diagonal cross. The palace is home to the General and its two Advisors, and none of these three pieces may ever leave it. The cross drawn inside the palace shows the diagonal paths the Advisors travel, and it visually reminds you where your most important defensive pieces belong.
Together the river and the palaces give the board its character. The river shapes the flow of attack and defense across the middle, while the palaces anchor each side's defense. Keep both in view as you place your pieces.
The Starting Position, Piece by Piece
Set up your back rank first. On the two corner points go the Chariots. Just inside them go the Horses, and inside those go the Elephants. Next to the Elephants go the two Advisors, and dead center on the back rank sits the General inside its palace. This gives a perfectly symmetrical row: Chariot, Horse, Elephant, Advisor, General, Advisor, Elephant, Horse, Chariot.
Now place the two Cannons. They sit on the third rank from your edge, each one directly in front of a Horse — so there is one empty point between each Cannon and the Chariot behind it on that file. Cannons love this position because it lets them aim down open files while using friendly pieces as screens early in the game.
Finally, line up the five Soldiers on the rank just in front of the river on your side — specifically on the fourth rank from your edge. They are spaced with a one-point gap between each Soldier, occupying alternating points across the board. The opponent mirrors this exact arrangement on the far side, and the position is symmetric across the river.
Double-Checking Your Setup and Who Moves First
Once everything is placed, do a quick symmetry check. Your position and your opponent's should be perfect mirror images across the river. Confirm that both Generals sit in the center of their palaces, both pairs of Cannons face each other down their files, and the Soldiers form two staggered lines on either side of the river. If anything looks lopsided, a piece is on the wrong point.
Traditionally the Red side moves first, followed by Black, and the two players alternate from there. Red pieces are usually marked with red characters and Black with black or green characters, which also helps you orient the board correctly before the first move. On XiangqiPlay the setup is done for you automatically, but knowing it by heart makes you a sharper player.
With the board set and the first move decided, you are ready to begin. A correct starting position is the foundation for every opening you will ever learn, so take the extra ten seconds to verify it — especially on a physical board where a misplaced Cannon or Elephant is easy to overlook.