Dark Chess (Banqi)

2026-07-28

Rules quick reference

Banqi ("half chess"), also called Chinese dark chess, is played on a 4×8 grid of 32 tiles, one for each piece from a full Xiangqi-style army split between two colours. Every tile starts face down. Nobody knows which colour they're playing until the very first tile of the game is flipped — that reveal fixes the colours for the rest of the game.

A normal move is either flipping any face-down tile, or sliding a revealed piece one step into an adjacent empty tile, or capturing an adjacent enemy piece whose rank your piece is allowed to beat. The cannon is the one piece that breaks this pattern entirely: it can't capture anything adjacent to it at all, but it can capture at any distance in a straight line as long as there's exactly one piece — face up or down, either colour — directly between it and the target.

Reading the board while it's still half hidden

Don't rush every flip

Early in the game, flipping is the only information you have, and every flip is public to both players once it happens. Flipping near your own strong pieces, rather than deep in enemy territory, keeps newly revealed weak pieces closer to support instead of exposed next to a piece that can immediately capture them.

Track the cannon's screen constantly

A cannon's threat changes every time any piece — yours or the opponent's — moves onto or off of the line between it and a target. After every move on the board, not just your own, it's worth rechecking whether a cannon now has a clear screen it didn't have a moment ago.

Remember the soldier-general exception before every capture

Because the general can't take a soldier back, an exposed soldier next to an opponent's general is a real threat even though soldiers are the weakest piece on the board. Conversely, don't assume your general is safe from a piece with a lower rank — checking specifically for adjacent enemy soldiers is a habit worth building early.

Turning revealed information into an advantage

Count what's already been flipped

Since every reveal is permanent and public, you can build a running picture of which pieces are still hidden. Late in the game, when only a few tiles remain face down, the odds of what's underneath any specific one become calculable rather than a total guess.

Use plain moves to bait a capture

A piece moved one step into an open tile isn't always about repositioning — sometimes it's designed to leave an opponent's cannon without a screen, or to place a lower-ranked piece where a higher one is forced into a trade rather than a clean capture. Look for moves that change what's threatened, not only moves that advance your position.

Don't reveal a piece into a loss

Flipping is the only "blind" move in the game, so a flip that lands your best-case piece directly next to a stronger enemy piece is simply bad luck — but flipping near a cluster of already-revealed enemy pieces increases the odds of exactly that outcome. Prefer flips that, even in the worst case, don't hand over an immediate capture.

Common mistakes

Treating the cannon like every other piece. A cannon that's adjacent to an enemy piece can't capture it at all — it needs a screen and distance. Forgetting this leads to missed captures and misjudged threats in both directions.

Forgetting the soldier can take the general. An overlooked enemy soldier near your general is a live threat regardless of how many stronger pieces you still have on the board.

Flipping without regard to position. Every flip is a bet, but flipping deep in contested territory next to several revealed enemy pieces stacks the odds against you compared to flipping somewhere quieter.

Losing track of which pieces are still hidden. Late-game decisions depend heavily on what's left face down — playing without that running count leaves you guessing when you don't have to.

Chasing a single capture and ignoring the rest of the board. A tempting capture that leaves your own pieces scattered and undefended can cost more than it wins, especially once the cannon's screen options shift as a result.

Frequently asked questions

How does a game of Banqi start?

All 32 pieces are shuffled face down across a 4×8 grid. Whoever flips the very first tile of the game is assigned whichever colour that piece turns out to be — the other player automatically gets the opposite colour.

What can I do on my turn?

Either flip any face-down tile, or move one of your own revealed pieces one step into an adjacent empty tile, or capture an adjacent enemy piece if the rank allows it.

What's the rank order, and what's the exception?

From strongest to weakest: General, Advisor, Elephant, Chariot, Horse, Cannon, Soldier. The one exception is the soldier, which is the only piece that can capture the general — and the general can never capture a soldier back.

How does the cannon capture?

Differently from every other piece. A cannon must jump over exactly one other piece — of either colour, face up or face down — in a straight line, and captures whatever sits immediately beyond it. Rank doesn't matter for a cannon's capture.

How do I win?

Capture every one of your opponent's pieces, or leave them with no legal move on their turn — a flip is always available while face-down tiles remain, so this usually happens once the board is fully revealed and your opponent's remaining pieces are boxed in.