Chinese Chess (Xiangqi) Online — Learn by Playing 6+

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Chinese chess — Xiangqi — is played on the crossings of the lines, with a river across the middle and a palace for each general. Our board is warm wood with a jade river; the pieces are turned lacquer counters with a badge for every branch of the army, so a child can tell a horse from a cannon without reading a single character.

The course is 80 levels. Each step teaches exactly one new idea — the chariot's straight road, the soldier that gains a sideways step past the river, the horse held by its leg, the cannon that fires only over a screen, the elephant that never crosses the river, the advisor locked in the palace, the two generals that must never face each other — and only then checkmate in one, two and three moves, and short games against a deterministic opponent.

How to play

Tap one of your pieces at the bottom — jade dots show every legal point.
Tap a dot to move; an amber ring means you capture the piece standing there.
If a move is not allowed, the piece that blocks it pulses and one short line says why.
Reach the goal shown in the header — capture the marked piece, or checkmate the general.

What your child learns

All real Xiangqi rules: horse leg, elephant eye, cannon screen, palace, river, flying generals.
Planning two and three moves ahead, and counting the opponent's replies.
Reading a position: what threatens what, and which road is still open.
Patience with mistakes — a wrong tap explains itself instead of punishing.

The science behind the games

Every Dad4Kids game is built on one simple truth: children want to play, not study — so we turn learning into a game worth replaying. The method draws on peer-reviewed research in game-based learning, motivation, and how memory works.

FAQ

Does my child need to know Chinese characters?

No. Every piece carries a small badge — a flag for the general, a wheel for the chariot, a cannon, a spear for the soldier — so the army is readable at a glance. The authentic characters are there as well, for the day they become interesting.

How is Chinese chess different from ordinary chess?

The pieces stand on the crossings, a river cuts the board in half, the generals never leave their palaces and may never look at each other down an open file, and the cannon captures only by jumping over exactly one piece.

Is there a single right answer to each level?

Yes. A solver checks every level before it ships: exactly one solution, and no shorter one. Random tapping wins about two times in a hundred, so the puzzle really has to be thought through.

Does the opponent play back?

In the mating levels and the short games, yes — a deterministic opponent answers every move, so the same plan always meets the same defence and the child can learn from it.

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By Evgeny Arsentiev, PhD · Last updated: September 2026