Zhuxiangzhai

中国象棋Xiangqi · Chinese Chess

A board divided by the river, a studio scented with bamboo

Play xiangqi online with friends, challenge the AI, and crack classic endgame puzzles. Anytime, anywhere — a good game is always waiting.

iOS · Android — coming soon

Opening demo · Central Cannon vs. Screen Horses

Features

Four Pleasures of the Studio

Play, train, solve, learn — beginner or veteran, everyone finds their own game here.

Play with Friends
Send an invite link or share a room code to play a friend online — or sit side by side and play on one phone.
- Invite link
- Room code
- Pass and play
Train with AI
Six levels, from Beginner to Master — pick the one that suits you. After every game, the AI reviews it move by move, pointing out brilliancies and mistakes.
- Six levels
- Move-by-move review
- Best-move hints
Endgame Challenges
Seven Stars Gathering, Wild Horse Ploughing the Field… a curated collection of classic endgame compositions, with a new puzzle every day.
- Classic compositions
- Daily puzzle
- Annotated solutions
Beginner’s Academy
From how the pieces move to basic checkmates and opening basics, explained with diagrams and animations. Like a soldier crossing the river — one step at a time.
- Rules
- Basic mates
- Opening basics

Daily Puzzle

A new position every day from Shiqing Yaqu, a Ming-dynasty puzzle manual — the same puzzle as the app’s Daily Puzzle.

Source: Shiqing Yaqu 《适情雅趣》 (Ming dynasty, Longqing edition), “三请诸葛” (excerpt).

Red to move. Once you’ve thought it through, press “Next” to see the solution.

Our Story

Our name comes from an old xiangqi manual, the Zhuxiangzhai Xiangxi Pu (竹香斋象戏谱).

Zhuxiangzhai (竹香斋) — zhu, bamboo; xiang, fragrance; zhai, a scholar’s studio: a studio scented with bamboo.

Bamboo: hollow within and upright without, it would rather break than bend — to the ancients, the very image of a gentleman’s integrity.

Studio: a quiet room, incense burning and tea brewing — a place to read, and a place to play.

Xiangqi asks the same of us: watch in silence, never take back a move, win without pride, lose without despair.

Zhuxiangzhai hopes to keep a quiet table for every player.

— Zhuxiangzhai

Get the App

The Zhuxiangzhai app is being carefully polished and will launch soon on iOS and Android.

QR code
Coming soon

Scan to download once the app launches.
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