Banqi Rules - How to Play Chinese Dark Chess
Learn how hidden pieces, rank captures, the soldier-takes-king exception, and cannon jumps work on a 4×8 board.
The board and the first flip
Banqi, also called Chinese dark chess or half chess, uses a 4×8 board and a full set of xiangqi pieces for each color: one king, two advisors, two elephants, two horses, two chariots, two cannons, and five soldiers. All thirty-two pieces start face-down and shuffled. The first player to flip a piece claims that color; the opponent takes the other color. After that, you may flip another hidden piece or move one of your own face-up pieces.
Moving and capturing by rank
A face-up piece of your color steps one square orthogonally — never diagonally. Captures follow rank: king, advisor, elephant, chariot, horse, cannon, soldier. Equal ranks may capture each other. Face-down pieces cannot be captured; turning one over uses the whole turn.
Soldiers, kings, and cannons
The famous exception is the soldier and the king: a soldier may capture the king, but the king may not capture a soldier. Cannons step one square like any other piece when they are not capturing. To capture, a cannon must jump exactly one screen — any face-up or face-down piece — along a rank or file onto an enemy piece that is already face-up. Cannon captures ignore rank.
How the game ends
You win by capturing every remaining enemy piece, or when the opponent has no legal flip or move. If one hundred and twenty half-moves pass with no capture and no flip, the game is drawn. There is no check and no palace: Banqi is a hunt on a small board, not a mate puzzle.
Banqi rules FAQ
- Is Banqi the same as xiangqi?
- No. Banqi uses the same piece types and artwork, but the board is 4×8, every piece starts hidden, and there is no river, palace, or check. Combat is decided by rank and by cannon jumps.
- Who plays red?
- Nobody chooses red or black at the start. The first flipped piece assigns that color to the player who turned it; the other player takes the opposite color.
- Can I capture a face-down piece?
- No. A hidden piece can only be revealed by flipping it on your turn. Until it is face-up, nothing can take it.
- How does the cannon capture in Banqi?
- It still needs exactly one screen along a rank or file, then lands on an enemy piece that is already showing. The screen can be any piece, hidden or not, and the cannon may capture any rank.
- Does the soldier really beat the king?
- Yes. A face-up soldier can capture a face-up king. The king cannot capture a soldier in return. That reversal is the main trap around high-value pieces.
Practice Banqi
Open a board, flip a piece to claim a color, then try a one-step capture and a cannon jump over a screen. The easy AI and undo make the rank table easier to remember.