Introduction

In Flexible Chinese Chess (F-Xiangqi) the rules are the same as in orthodox Xiangqi except that the horses are initially placed outside the board. Any empty square on the first rank can serve as initial square, creating great opening flexibility without departing from standard opening strategy. The horses can be introduced via any empty square on the first rank and move immediately, effectively a double-move. Pieces can be introduced at any time, provided that a move exists that originates from the first rank. For instance, if the red elephant has already moved away, a horse can be introduced via c1, thus reaching the square d3, for instance (provided that it is empty). Another way of formulating the rule is that the horses are potentially present on the empty first rank squares. Flexible Chinese Chess is intended as an alternative to standard Chinese Chess, radically increasing the ramification of openings. By waiting a few moves before introducing an external piece, a player can hide his intentions.

Chinese Chess rules

The objective in Chinese Chess is to checkmate the opponent's General. It's also a win to stalemate your opponent so that he can't move - this usually only happens when a player is reduced to a lone king. A player may not force a repetition of moves. The horizontal space across the center of the board is the river separating the territories of the two sides. Elephants are not allowed to cross the river, whereas Soldiers promote once they cross it. The 3x3 box marked with an "X" is the General's imperial palace or fortress. Each General and his Mandarins may not leave their fortress. There are seven pieces in Chinese Chess:

Soldier/Pawn (zu/tsut, bing/ping = foot soldier)
Soldiers can move forward until they cross the center section of the board (called "crossing the river") where they gain the ability to move left and right. The Soldiers are initially positioned on the 4th and 7th rank.

Horse/Knight (ma = horse)
Horses move like a Knight in Chess, except that they can't jump over other pieces. They step outward on a row or column, then diagonally outward one step. If something is adjacent to a Horse on a row or column, it can't move in that direction. The Horses are initially positioned on the 2nd and 8th file.

Elephant (xiang/tseung = elephant; xiang/sheung = minister/premier)
Elephants move diagonally two steps. However, Elephants cannot jump over other pieces, so an Elephant is blocked in any direction where another piece is diagonally next to it. Elephants are defensive pieces: they must stay on their side of the board and cannot cross the 'river.' The Elephant is similar (but without the ability to leap) to the Alfil in Shatranj, the precursor to the modern Bishop. The Elephants are initially positioned on the 3rd and 7th file.

Chariot/Rook (ju/kui = chariot)
Chariots move like the Rook in Western Chess, that is, any number of squares along a row or column. The Chariots are initially positioned in the corners.

Cannon (pao = cannon)
Cannons move like Chariots/Rooks, by sliding any number of squares along a row or column, but they can capture an enemy only if there is another piece (of either side) in between. Thus to capture they leap over the intervening piece and land on the enemy piece, like a cannonball. One account of Xiangqi dates the introduction of the cannon at 839 A.D. The Cannons are initially positioned on the 3rd and 8th rank.

Mandarin (shi/see = counsellor)
The Mandarin must stay confined to the fortress, and can only move a single step along the diagonal lines shown. This gives it only 5 possible positions. This piece is often translated into other names such as Assistant, Guard, Counsellor, and Officer. The Mandarins are placed beside the General.

General/King (jiang/cheung = general, shuai/sui = general)
The General is confined to the fortress and can only move a step at a time horizontally or vertically. It also has the special power to threaten an enemy General across the board along an open column. For this reason, it is not permitted to make a move that leaves the two Generals facing each other with nothing in between. The object of the game is to checkmate the opponent's General. The General is positioned in the middle.