FUN XIANGQI GUIDES
How to Move the Cannon in Xiangqi (炮 / 砲)
By The Fun Xiangqi Team · Published · 3 min read
Video walkthrough coming soon
Steps
Find your cannons
Each side has two cannons: 炮 for Red, 砲 for Black. They start on the third line from your edge, straight in front of your horses.
Move like a chariot
When it isn't capturing, a cannon moves any distance forward, backward, left or right, and it can't pass through other pieces.
Find a screen to capture
To capture, the cannon needs exactly one piece between itself and its target, on the same line. That piece is the screen, and it can be of either colour.
Jump the screen and take the next piece
The cannon jumps over the screen and lands on the next piece beyond it, which must belong to your opponent. Any empty points in between don't matter.
Count the pieces in between
With no piece in between, the cannon can't capture. With two or more, it can't capture either. Only exactly one screen works.
Moving versus capturing
The cannon is the one piece in xiangqi that captures differently from the way it moves. When it simply moves, it behaves exactly like a chariot. When it captures, it needs a screen — one piece to jump over. That's the whole trick, and it's worth drawing out.
e
9 X enemy piece: captured
8 .
7 .
6 S screen (either colour)
5 .
4 C cannon
C = cannon on e4, S = the screen on e6, X = an enemy piece on e9. The cannon jumps over e6 and captures on e9. The empty points on e5, e7 and e8 don't matter — what counts is that there's exactly one piece between the cannon and its target. In Vietnamese the screen is called ngòi.
When the cannon can't capture
Take the screen away, or add a second one, and the capture disappears.
e e
9 X 9 X
8 . 8 S
7 . 7 .
6 . 6 S
5 . 5 .
4 C 4 C
On the left, nothing stands between the cannon and X, so the cannon can't capture it — it could only move up to e8 and stop. On the right, two pieces stand between the cannon and X, so it can't capture X. (If the piece on e8 were an enemy, though, the cannon could take it — e6 would be the one screen.) This is also why a cannon can't take a piece standing right next to it: there's no room for a screen.
Why the cannon matters
Rough values put the cannon at about 4.5 points — sources differ — a little above a horse. It's usually strongest in the opening and middlegame, when the board is full of pieces to use as screens, and weaker in the endgame when screens run out. One of the classic openings, the Central Cannon (in Vietnamese pháo đầu), starts by moving a cannon to the middle file to aim at the enemy general.
Quick questions
Can a cannon capture without a screen? No. It always needs exactly one piece in between to capture. Without one, it can only move.
Can I use my own piece as a screen? Yes. The screen can belong to either side.
Does the cannon jump when it isn't capturing? No. Jumping only happens as part of a capture. A normal cannon move stops at the first piece, like a chariot.
The cannon moves like the chariot, so read that one first if you haven't. Then finish the set with how to move the soldier, or start a free game from the Fun Xiangqi home page.