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Guide · Updated October 2026 · Free options first

The best xiangqi apps for iPhone
for people who don't read Chinese (yet).

Search the App Store for "Chinese chess" and you get dozens of near-identical boards with near-identical names. This guide picks out the handful worth installing and covers what each one is best at, which ones work in English, what is free, and how much the characters on the pieces matter. One disclosure first: Xiangqiful is our app. We say so every time it appears, and we say when something else is the better pick.

The short version

Best free all-rounder: Xiangqi.com
The main English-language site for xiangqi, with online games against people, computer bots, thousands of puzzles, lessons, tournaments, and an International piece style. Free on iPhone, Android, and the web, with an optional ad-free subscription. If you install one app, make it this one. App Store →
Best for learning & improving: Xiangqiful (ours)
Start with 80 free lessons and play 40 opponents (the first 10 free). Pikafish reviews your games on your device, grades every move, and names each mistake in xiangqi terms: a screenless cannon, a trapped horse, a missed Iron Bolt mate. It has 902 mate problems and more than 150 drills, and works offline with no account and no ads. Free with daily limits; Premium from $1.99/mo, $19.99 lifetime. Full details →
Best free web platform: PyChess
The Lichess of chess variants: open-source and donation-funded, with online xiangqi, Fairy-Stockfish analysis, puzzles, and internationalized pieces. There is no native iOS app, so you use it in the browser, but no free option beats it for playing and analysing on the web. pychess.org →
Best free offline opponent: Chinese Chess - Best XiangQi
Eight AI opponents, 600+ endgame puzzles, western or Hanzi pieces, hints, and unlimited undo, with no in-app purchases. Its privacy label lists tracking identifiers for advertising, so expect the usual trade-off of a free app. App Store →

All seven compared

Summarised from each app's or site's public listing, checked 1 October 2026. Prices and features change, so check the current listing before installing.

App Best at Offline Without reading Chinese Price
Xiangqi.comOnline play in English, plus bots, puzzles, and lessonsPartly: offline mode vs computerYes, International piece styleFree; optional ad-free subscription
Xiangqiful (ours)Lessons and coaching: games reviewed by Pikafish, mistakes named, training from your mistakesYes, fullyYes, western and hybrid setsFree; Premium from $1.99/mo, $19.99 lifetime
PyChessFree open-source web platform: play, analysis, puzzlesNo (browser)Yes, internationalized piecesFree, donation-funded
Chinese Chess - Best XiangQiFree offline AI play and endgame puzzlesYesYes, western symbolsFree, no in-app purchases; ad tracking
Club XiangqiLive club games, Top 100 ranking, English and VietnameseNo (browser)English interfaceFree; optional paid membership
PlayOKA live game in moments, guest playNo (browser)English interfaceFree
Xiangqi OneNewcomer: 40 bots, online play, Pikafish analysisNot advertisedSeveral piece stylesFree

Deeper one-on-one comparisons: Xiangqiful vs Xiangqi.com · vs PyChess · vs Chinese Chess - Best XiangQi · vs Club Xiangqi · vs PlayOK

Honorable mention: if you read Chinese, Tencent's 天天象棋 (Tiantian Xiangqi) is where mainland China plays online, with game review and a large problem database. It is a Chinese-language app on the China App Store, so most readers of this guide won't see it in their store.

The character question

Every xiangqi piece is a flat disc with a Chinese character on it, and the two sides use different characters for most of the same pieces: the red general is 帥, the black one 將; red's elephant is 相, black's 象; red's soldier 兵, black's 卒. For a newcomer that can be as many as fourteen characters to learn before the first move. This is easier to get around than in shogi, because the major xiangqi apps have already solved it: Xiangqi.com has an International piece style, PyChess has internationalized pieces, and Best XiangQi has western symbols. Xiangqiful (ours) adds a hybrid set that shows each symbol with its character, so you can move to the traditional set when you're ready. Whichever app you choose, learn the characters eventually: books, diagrams, and every wooden set in a park use them.

A sensible path from zero to online games

1. Learn the moves against a patient computer
Start offline and untimed. The rules that catch chess players out (the cannon's jump, the blocked horse, the palace, the generals that may not face each other, stalemate as a loss) are easier to absorb when nobody is waiting on you.
2. Build a stock of mating patterns
Xiangqi's native puzzle is the consecutive-check problem, where every move must give check. A few classical shapes finish most games. Xiangqiful has 902 of them; Xiangqi.com and PyChess have puzzle sections too.
3. Understand your losses
Most players skip this step. An engine line tells you the better move, but it won't tell you that you keep handing an enemy cannon its screen. A review in plain language will. (Xiangqiful was built for this job, so read this as our opinion.)
4. Then go online
Xiangqi.com has the English-speaking community, PyChess has free open-source play, Club Xiangqi is a bilingual club, and PlayOK gives you a quick game as a guest. Timed games against people are the deep end, and much more fun once you stop losing your chariot to a cannon fork.

Our entry, for transparency

Xiangqiful Learn Chinese chess from your first move, then play, review, and train. Learn xiangqi (Chinese chess) on iPhone, iPad, and Mac: 80 free lessons, 902 mate puzzles, 40 opponents, and on-device Pikafish game review. Free · ProiPhone · iPad · Mac

Questions

FAQ

What is the best xiangqi app for iPhone?
It depends on the job. Xiangqi.com is the best free all-rounder in English, with online games against people, computer bots, puzzles, lessons, and an International piece style, on iPhone, Android, and the web. Xiangqiful is the best for learning and improving: the Pikafish engine reviews your games on your device, grades every move from best to blunder, names each mistake in xiangqi terms, and builds your daily plan from what you missed, all on your device (disclosure: Xiangqiful is made by the publisher of this guide). PyChess is the best free web platform. Most improving players end up with two apps: one to play people, one to train.
What is the best free xiangqi app?
Xiangqi.com, with free online games, bots, thousands of puzzles, and lessons, and an optional ad-free subscription. For free play in a browser, PyChess is open source and donation-funded, and Club Xiangqi and PlayOK are free rooms for live games. For a free offline opponent, Chinese Chess - Best XiangQi has eight AI levels and 600+ endgame puzzles with no in-app purchases. Xiangqiful's free tier includes all 80 lessons, unlimited games against the first 10 of its 40 opponents, and 2 game analyses, 3 training puzzles, and 2 coach hints a day, with no ads.
Can I play xiangqi without reading Chinese characters?
Yes, and more easily than in shogi. Xiangqi.com has an International piece style, PyChess offers internationalized pieces for every Asian variant, and Chinese Chess - Best XiangQi has western symbols. Xiangqiful has three sets (traditional characters, western symbols, and a hybrid that shows both), simplified or traditional characters, and WXF or Chinese notation, so you can start with symbols and move to the characters when you're ready. The characters are worth learning eventually, because books, diagrams, and over-the-board sets use them.
Can I play xiangqi offline on iPhone?
Yes. Xiangqiful runs everything on your device, including the Pikafish engine, game analysis, lessons, drills, mate problems, and all 40 opponents, with no account (only purchases and Game Center go online). Chinese Chess - Best XiangQi is a free offline opponent, and Xiangqi.com has added an offline mode for games against the computer and local two-player games. PyChess, Club Xiangqi, and PlayOK are online platforms and need a connection.
Which xiangqi app do Chinese and Vietnamese players use?
In mainland China the giant is Tencent's 天天象棋 (Tiantian Xiangqi), a Chinese-language app on the China App Store with online play, game review, and a large problem database. Vietnamese players call the game cờ tướng; Club Xiangqi runs in English and Vietnamese, and Xiangqi.com and Xiangqiful both offer Vietnamese. If you read Chinese and want to play people in China, Tiantian Xiangqi is where they are.
Should I learn xiangqi if I already play chess?
Yes. It is the closest cousin of chess and quick to pick up, but several chess instincts will mislead you. The cannon moves like a rook but captures only by jumping exactly one piece; the horse can be blocked at the leg; elephants cannot cross the river; the two generals may never face each other on an open file; and having no legal move is a loss, not a draw. Learn those against a patient computer before you go online. If you like the idea, our Chessful and Shogiful are built on the same play-review-train loop.

Start here

Curious which mistakes you'd make?

Xiangqiful reviews your games and names your mistakes in xiangqi's own terms: screenless cannons, trapped horses, broken advisors, and missed mates. It is free to try with daily limits, needs no account, and works on a plane.

See Xiangqiful Or compare it with Xiangqi.com

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