Xiangqi.oneXiangqi notation is a small code — a piece letter, a file number, a direction mark and one more number — and once you can read it, every game record, opening book and puzzle becomes readable. This free trainer teaches it by doing: a two-minute lesson, a level ladder that introduces one concept at a time, and timed challenges to make it automatic.
A move like C2=5 reads piece · file · direction · number: the cannon (C) standing on file 2 moves sideways (=) to file 5. WXF notation uses letters (K, A, E, H, R, C, P) and the marks + − =, Chinese notation writes the same structure with characters (炮二平五, with 進 退 平 as the direction marks), and Vietnamese notation uses its own letters with . / − as marks. The structure is identical in all three — learn it once and you can decode any of them.
The detail that trips up almost everyone: the nine files are numbered 1-9 from each player's own right-hand side. Red's file 2 and Black's file 8 are the same physical column. When Black moves, the numbers in the notation are mirrored compared to Red's — which is why the trainer drills both sides separately, and why its board can label both edges at once.
Every move uses one of three direction marks: advance (+ / 進), retreat (− / 退) or traverse (= / 平). For pieces that move straight — chariot, cannon, general, soldier — the final number counts the squares travelled when advancing or retreating, and names the destination file when traversing.
Pieces that move diagonally never travel a plain number of squares, so their notation gives the arrival file instead: H2+3 is the horse from file 2 landing on file 3. This is the most common misreading in all of xiangqi notation. And when two identical pieces stand on one file, a front/rear marker (+ / − in WXF, 前 / 後 in Chinese) replaces the file digit — the trainer has a whole level for each of these ideas.
Read it as four parts: piece, file, direction, number. C2=5 means the cannon (C) on file 2 traverses (=) to file 5. When advancing or retreating, the number counts squares for straight-moving pieces, while diagonal movers name their arrival file instead. The same structure holds in WXF, Chinese and Vietnamese notation.
WXF is the international standard of the World Xiangqi Federation: piece letters (K, A, E, H, R, C, P), a file number counted from the mover's right, and the marks + (advance), − (retreat), = (traverse). It is the notation used in international tournaments and English-language books.
The structure is identical; only the symbols change. Chinese notation writes the piece with its character (炮 for the red cannon, 砲 for the black one), the direction with 進 / 退 / 平, and Red's file numbers with Chinese numerals (一 to 九). 炮二平五 and C2=5 are the same move.
Yes — free, no account and no installation. Your progress (levels, XP, personal bests) is saved in your browser. Creating a Xiangqi One account adds puzzles, lessons and online play, but the trainer never requires one.
WXF, traditional Chinese and Vietnamese notation — the trainer follows the system set in your preferences, and every answer also shows the move written in all the other systems, coordinates included.
Prefer reading first? The full guide covers all three systems side by side: Xiangqi notation explained