Janggi
Play Korean Chess against the computer: jumping cannons and a diagonal palace.
How to play Janggi
You are Han and move first. Click a piece to see its legal moves, then click a highlighted point to move. The General and Guards stay inside the palace and may follow its diagonal lines; Horses and Elephants can be blocked by a piece in their path; Cannons move or capture only by jumping exactly one screen piece, and they can never jump or take another cannon. Soldiers step forward or sideways one point. Deliver checkmate, or tap the 2P button to pass-and-play with a friend.
The cannon is the piece to respect
Janggi, Korean chess, rewards players who learn its cannon first, because it moves like nothing in Western chess. A cannon can only move or capture by jumping exactly one piece, called a screen, that sits between it and its target. No screen, no move. There are two hard limits on top: a cannon can never use another cannon as its screen, and it can never capture a cannon at all. Get comfortable with what your cannons can and cannot leap and half the game opens up. The flip side matters just as much. Every piece you park in a straight line in front of an enemy cannon is a free screen you have handed it, so check those files before you settle a piece anywhere.
The palace and its diagonals
The palace, the marked box at each end, is the other thing to learn early. The General and its two Guards stay locked inside it, but they can slide along the palace's diagonal lines. Other pieces get to borrow those diagonals as they pass through, and chariots (the rooks of janggi) use them to frightening effect, cutting across the fortress corner to corner. The palace's centre point is the crossroads of it all, and it sets up a classic trick: with any piece standing on the centre as a screen, a cannon lined up with one palace corner can leap the diagonal straight to the other. Defenders who leave that geometry open tend to find out about it the hard way.
Handling the pieces
- Horses and Elephants can be blocked. Each steps out through an adjacent point first, so a single piece parked in that doorway stops the whole move. Use that on defence, and watch for it when you attack.
- The Elephant covers a lot of ground (one step straight, then two out on the diagonal) but its long, blockable path makes it clumsy in a crowd. It does its best work on open lines.
- Soldiers move one point forward or sideways and never retreat. Push them thoughtfully: a sideways step is often exactly what unsticks a stalled attack, and a soldier makes a handy mobile screen for the cannon behind it.
- Rough values help with trades: a chariot is worth about 13 points, a cannon 7, a horse 5, an elephant or guard 3, a soldier 2. Swapping a chariot for a cannon is usually a bad deal, however satisfying the capture feels.
How janggi differs from xiangqi
Janggi grew from the same root as Chinese xiangqi, and the two sides still carry the names Han and Cho, after the Han and Chu kingdoms that fought over China around 200 BC. On the board, though, the games have drifted far apart. Janggi has no river. Its soldiers step sideways from their very first move, a right xiangqi pawns only earn by crossing the river. The janggi cannon needs a screen even to move (the xiangqi cannon slides freely and jumps only to capture), and janggi alone forbids cannon taking cannon. The elephant here is a genuine fighting piece rather than a stay-at-home defender, and the General starts on the palace's centre point instead of the back edge. Traditional over-the-board janggi even lets a player pass a turn, something almost no other chess relative allows.
Winning the game
The aim is checkmate: trap the enemy General so it cannot escape. A sensible opening plan looks like this. Nudge a soldier or two sideways or forward to open lines, develop the horses toward the centre, get the chariots onto open files, and keep a screen within reach of each cannon so neither ends the middlegame stranded. The classic beginner errors are moving one favourite piece over and over, feeding the enemy cannons by lining pieces up in front of them, and trading a chariot cheaply. Guards should stay near the palace diagonals, where they cover the entry points chariots love, and both should still be alive when the endgame arrives. Janggi endings are heavy on cannon and chariot checks along the palace lines, and a General defended by nothing is a target from every direction at once. You play Han and move first. Start on Easy to learn the cannon geometry against a gentle opponent, then work upward. Prefer a human opponent? Tap the 2P button to pass and play.
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Janggi: frequently asked questions
How does the Janggi cannon work?
A cannon must leap over exactly one intervening piece (of any colour) to move or capture, landing beyond it. It may not use another cannon as its screen, and it may never capture a cannon.
How is Janggi different from Chinese Chess?
There is no river, the board pieces sit on intersections, the General and Chariot can travel the palace diagonals, the Cannon jumps to move as well as to capture, and the Elephant makes a longer one-plus-two-diagonal leap. This build omits the optional bikjang (facing-generals) draw for simplicity.
Can I play against another person?
Yes. Tap the 2P button to switch to local pass-and-play; tap it again to return to playing the computer.
How does the cannon move?
It moves or captures only by jumping over exactly one piece (the screen) in a straight line, landing or taking on the far side. It can never move without a screen, never use another cannon as the screen, and never capture a cannon.
Where can the General and Guards go?
They stay inside the palace, the marked box at their end of the board, and may follow the palace's diagonal lines as well as the straight ones. They never leave the palace.
How do I block a Horse or an Elephant?
Both step out through an adjacent point before angling away, so a piece placed on that first point blocks the whole move. Parking a defender in the doorway is a reliable way to neutralise them.
How do Soldiers move?
One point forward or sideways, never backward. That sideways step means a Soldier keeps some use even deep in enemy territory, unlike a pawn that can only trudge ahead.
How do you win at Janggi?
By checkmating the enemy General: attacking it so that it has no legal way to escape capture. Manage your cannons, chariots and horses to close off every escape point.
Is Janggi the same as Chinese chess?
They share an ancestor and even a battlefield story, but no. Janggi has no river, its soldiers step sideways from the start, its elephants are real attackers, and its cannons need a screen just to move and can never touch another cannon. Xiangqi players learn it fast, then get ambushed by the differences.
Is Janggi free to play?
Yes. Janggi is completely free on Inkplay, with no download, no sign-up, and no in-game purchases. Open the page and play instantly on desktop or mobile.
Can I play Janggi unblocked?
Yes. Janggi runs entirely in your browser with no download, install, or plugins, so it loads instantly and keeps working even on school or work networks where bigger game sites get blocked.
More games to play
In the mood for more? Try Chess, Tic Tac Toe, Connect Four, Reversi, or browse all board games and the full games list on Inkplay. Janggi also appears in 2 Player Games, Strategy Games.