Editing Xiangqi (section)

==Notation==
There are several types of notation used to record xiangqi games. In each case the moves are numbered and written with the same general pattern.

# (first move) (first response)
# (second move) (second response)
# ...

It is clearer but not required to write each move pair on a separate line.

===System 1===
The book ''The Chess of China'' describes a move notation method in which the ranks of the board are numbered 1 to 10 from closest to farthest away, followed by a digit 1 to 9 for files from right to left.<ref>Leventhal, Dennis A. ''The Chess of China''. Taipei, Taiwan: Mei Ya, 1978. ([http://www.getcited.org/pub/101996662 getCITED.org listing] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050226031808/http://www.getcited.org/pub/101996662 |date=February 26, 2005 }})</ref> Both values are relative to the moving player. Moves are then indicated as follows:

<code>[piece name] ([former rank][former file])-[new rank][new file]</code>

Thus, the most common opening in the game would be written as:

# 炮 (32)–35 {{pad|0}} 馬 (18)–37

===System 2===
{| class="wikitable floatright" style="text-align: center"
|-
! Name
! Abbr.
! Pieces
|-
| Advisor || A || [[Image:Xiangqi Advisor.png|The advisors|75px]]
|-
| Cannon || C || [[Image:Xiangqi Cannon.png|The cannons|75px]]
|-
| Chariot || R* || [[Image:Xiangqi Chariot.png|The chariots|75px]]
|-
| Elephant || E || [[Image:Xiangqi Elephant.png|The elephants|75px]]
|-
| General || G || [[Image:Xiangqi General.png|The generals|75px]]
|-
| Horse || H || [[Image:Xiangqi Horse.png|The horses|75px]]
|-
| Soldier || S || [[Image:Xiangqi Soldier.png|The soldiers|75px]]
|-
| colspan="3" style="text-align:left;" | <sup><nowiki>*</nowiki> using C would conflict with the letter for Cannon</sup>
|}

A notation system partially described in ''A Manual of Chinese Chess''<ref>Wilkes, Charles Fred. ''A Manual of Chinese Chess''. 1952.</ref> and used by several computer software implementations describes moves in relative terms as follows:

<code><nowiki>[single-letter piece abbreviation][former file][operator indicating direction of movement][new file, or in the case of purely vertical movement, number of ranks traversed]</nowiki></code>

The file numbers are counted from each player's right to each player's left.

In case there are two identical pieces in one file, symbols + (front) and – (rear) are used instead of former file number. Direction of movement is indicated via an operator symbol. A [[plus sign]] is used to indicate forward movement. A [[minus sign]] is used to indicate backward movement. A [[full stop|dot or period]] or [[equals sign]] is used to indicate horizontal or lateral movement. For a piece that moves diagonally (such as the horse or elephant), the plus or minus sign is used rather than the period.

Thus, the most common opening in the game would be written as:

# C2.5 H8+7

According to [[World Xiangqi Federation]] (WXF), in the case of [[doubled pawn|tripled, quadrupled, or quintupled]] soldiers (pawns), the S for soldier or P for pawn is omitted. Instead, the soldiers are numbered starting from the frontmost soldier, and this number replaces the usual piece abbreviation. The file number is given immediately after as usual. 

Thus the notation to move the middle of a set of tripled soldiers on the 5th file to the 4th file would be:

# 25=4

In older books written in Chinese the system is the same, except that: 
the names of the pieces are written in Chinese;
the name for the cannon on both sides is 炮;
the name for the horse on both sides is 馬;
forward motion is indicated with 進 (pronounced ''jìn''); 
backward motion is indicated with 退 (''tuì''); 
sideways motion is indicated with 平 (''píng'');
and numbers are written in Chinese either for both players or for just Black.

Thus, the most common opening in the game might be written as:

# 炮二平五 馬8進7

===System 3===
This system is unofficial and principally used by Western players.{{Citation needed|date=December 2012}} It is similar to [[algebraic notation (chess)|algebraic notation]] for Western chess. Letters are used for files and numbers for ranks. File "a" is on Red's left and rank "1" is nearest to Red. A point's designation does not depend on which player moves; for both sides "a1" is the lowest left point from Red's side.

<code><nowiki>[single-letter piece abbreviation][former position][capture indication][new position][check indication][analysis]</nowiki></code>

Pieces are abbreviated as in notation system 2, except that no letter is used for the soldier.

Former position is only indicated if necessary to distinguish between two identical pieces that could have made the move. If they share the same file, indicate which rank moves; if they share the same rank, indicate which file moves. If they share neither rank nor file, then the file is indicated.

Capture is indicated by "x". No symbol is used to indicate a non-capturing move.

Check is indicated by "+", double check by "++", triple check by "+++", and quadruple check by "++++". Checkmate is indicated by "#".

For analysis purposes, bad moves are indicated by "?" and good moves by "!". These can be combined if the analysis is uncertain ("!?" might be either but is probably good; "?!" is probably bad) or repeated for emphasis ("??" is a disaster).

Thus, the most common opening in the game would be written as:

# Che3 Hg8
=== Example ===
For example, the following game is tied with several others as the shortest possible xiangqi game (analogously to [[Fool's Mate]]), written in each of the three notations:
{{col-begin|width=auto}}
{{col-break}}
{{Xiangqi-position
|rd|hd|cl|ad|gd|  |ed|hd|rd
|  |  |  |  |ad|  |  |  | 
|  |cd|cd|  |  |  |  |  | 
|sd|  |  |  |sd|  |sd|  |sd
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | 
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | 
|sl|  |sl|  |sl|  |sl|  |sl
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |cl| 
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | 
|rl|hl|el|al|gl|al|el|hl|rl
|25}}
{{col-break}}
System 1:
#炮(38)–37 砲(38)–33
#炮(37)–77 士(16)–25
#炮(77)–107
{{col-break}}
{{col-break}}
System 2:
#C8=7 C8=3
#C7+4 A6+5
#C7+3
{{col-break}}
{{col-break}}
System 3:
# Cbc3 Chc8
# Cxc7 Afe9??
# Cxc10#
{{col-end}}
Black is mated and therefore loses. Red's cannon cannot be captured, and the advisor on e9 blocks both Black's general from escaping there and the advisor on d10 from unbecoming a platform for the cannon.