Janggi Basic Rules: The Palace and How Pieces Move

The board and the two sides

The janggi board has 9 vertical and 10 horizontal lines, and as in Go, pieces sit on the intersections rather than inside squares, as they would in chess. There are 90 intersections in all. In the middle of each side is an area of nine intersections, three by three, crossed by two diagonal lines, called the palace. The two players are called Cho and Han, and Cho moves first. Unlike Chinese chess, there is no river dividing the board, so every piece can travel across the whole board, with the exception of the general and the guards.

Pieces and setup

Each player has 16 pieces. The general goes in the centre of the palace, and the two guards go not beside it but at the two ends of the palace's bottom line. The chariots go at both ends of the back row, the horses and elephants inside them, the cannons on the third row, one line in from each edge, and the five soldiers on the fourth row, one point apart. Before the game each player may choose which side the horse and elephant go on, and this choice shapes how the opening unfolds. Once both sides have set up, play begins.

• General: centre of the palace
• Guards: both ends of the palace's bottom line
• Chariots: both ends of the back row
• Horses and elephants: inside the chariots, order chosen
• Cannons: third row, one on each side
• Soldiers: fourth row, five, one point apart

The general, the guards and the palace

The general and the guards cannot leave the palace and move one step at a time along its lines. On the diagonal lines drawn in the palace, they can also move diagonally. The general is confined because the aim of janggi is to capture it, so with no escape outside the palace, defence around the palace decides the game. The guards move just like the general and stand beside it as defenders. Note also that inside the palace an attacker's chariots, cannons and soldiers can move along the diagonals too.

Chariots and cannons

The chariot moves any distance in a straight line along the lines and is the strongest piece; inside the palace it can also move along the diagonals. The cannon is unique to janggi. It moves in straight lines but can only move or capture by jumping over exactly one other piece. With nothing to jump over, it cannot move at all. The piece jumped over can belong to either side, but there must be exactly one. A cannon also cannot jump over another cannon, and it cannot capture an opposing cannon. As a result, cannons are strong in the opening and middlegame when the board is crowded, and weaker in the endgame as pieces disappear.

Horses and elephants

The horse moves one point along a line and then one point diagonally outward. The elephant moves one point along a line and then two points diagonally outward, reaching further than the horse. Unlike the knight in chess, neither can jump, so if another piece stands on an intermediate point along the way, it cannot move in that direction. This blocking is an important defensive idea: placing a piece on the path of an opposing horse or elephant shuts down its movement.

• Horse: one point straight, then one diagonal
• Elephant: one point straight, then two diagonal
• Both are blocked by a piece on the intermediate point

Soldiers

Soldiers move one point forward or sideways, and can never move backwards. Once inside the opposing palace, they can also move diagonally forward along the palace diagonals. Unlike pawns in chess, they do not change into another piece when they reach the far row, and they capture in the same direction as they move. Each soldier is weak, but because they can also move sideways, a group of soldiers side by side forms a wall that is hard for opposing pieces to break through. In the endgame, a soldier that reaches the opposing palace can put heavy pressure on the general.

Check, checkmate and facing generals

When you threaten to capture the opposing general on your next move, you announce check (janggun), and the other side must get out of it on that move. When there is no way to escape, it is checkmate and the player giving check wins. Janggi also has a situation called bikjang, where the two generals face each other on the same vertical line with nothing between them. How bikjang is handled, as a draw or decided by counting remaining material, varies between organisations and rule sets, so settle it before the game. When counting, a widely used scale gives the chariot 13, cannon 7, horse 5, elephant 3, guard 3 and soldier 2 points, with 1.5 points added to Han for moving second, but check the regulations for any tournament.

Differences from chess

Janggi and chess share the goal of trapping the king, but there are many differences that trip up newcomers. If you already play chess, getting these differences firmly in mind will let you learn janggi quickly.

• Pieces go on intersections, not squares
• The general and guards cannot leave the palace
• The cannon must jump over exactly one piece to move
• Horses and elephants cannot jump and can be blocked
• Soldiers do not promote on reaching the far row