Play Janggi Online – Free Korean Chess

What Is Janggi? Korean Chess Explained

Janggi (장기) is the traditional strategy board game of Korea, usually called Korean chess in English. It belongs to the same family as Chinese xiangqi and Western chess: two armies face each other, every piece has its own way of moving, and the goal is to checkmate the enemy King. It has been played in Korean homes, parks and clubs for centuries.

The two sides are called Cho (楚 / 초), shown in blue-green, and Han (漢 / 한), shown in red. The names come from the rival states of Chu and Han that fought for control of China in the 3rd century BC. Cho sits at the bottom of the board and always makes the first move; Han moves second.

The pieces do not stand inside squares. They sit on the intersections of a grid of 9 vertical files and 10 horizontal ranks. Unlike xiangqi there is no river across the middle of the board, so soldiers can step sideways from their very first move and elephants can cross the whole board. At each end there is a 3×3 palace (궁성) on the middle three files (files 4–6) of the first three ranks, marked with an X of diagonal lines. The King and its Guards live inside the palace, and several pieces can use those diagonal lines as extra paths.

You win by checkmating the opposing King, by your opponent resigning or, in online games, when the opponent runs out of time. Janggi also has two rules you will not find in chess: a player who is not in check may pass the turn, and if both players pass in a row the game is decided by counting the points of the pieces left on the board.

Janggi Pieces: How They Move and What They Are Worth

Each side has 16 pieces: 1 King, 2 Chariots, 2 Cannons, 2 Horses, 2 Elephants, 2 Guards and 5 Soldiers. Janggi pieces are flat octagons in three sizes, so you can recognise them at a glance: the King is the largest, the Chariots, Cannons, Horses and Elephants are medium-sized, and the Guards and Soldiers are the smallest. The King is named after its camp, 楚 (초) for Cho and 漢 (한) for Han, and the soldiers are written 卒 (졸) for Cho and 兵 (병) for Han.

At the start, the King stands in the centre of its palace, not on the back rank. The back rank holds, from left to right, a Chariot, a horse and an elephant in the order set by your formation, a Guard, an empty point, a Guard, another horse and elephant, and a Chariot. The two Cannons stand on the third rank in front of the second file from each edge, and the five Soldiers stand on the fourth rank on files 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9.

Pieces move along the lines from one intersection to another. You capture an enemy piece by moving onto its point, and you can never move onto a point occupied by one of your own pieces. Every piece except the King has an official point value, which this site adds up live during the game.

King (楚 / 漢 · 초 / 한) — no point value

Also called 궁 (將). Moves one step along any line inside its own palace, including the diagonal lines, and can never leave the palace. If your King is checkmated you lose the game, which is why it has no point value.

Guard (士 · 사) — 3 points

Moves exactly like the King: one step along any line of the palace, diagonals included, and never outside it. The two Guards are the King’s closest bodyguards.

Chariot (車 · 차) — 13 points

The strongest piece. Moves any distance along a file or rank as long as the way is clear. Inside either palace it can also slide along the diagonal lines if no piece is in the way.

Cannon (包 · 포) — 7 points

Moves and captures only by jumping over exactly one piece, called the screen (다리 or 포다리), along a file, a rank or a palace diagonal. Without a screen it cannot move at all. A Cannon may never jump over another cannon, whether it is friend or foe, and may never capture a cannon.

Horse (馬 · 마) — 5 points

Moves one step straight (up, down, left or right) and then one step diagonally outward, tracing the shape of the character 日. It does not jump: if the first point straight ahead is occupied, the Horse is blocked in that direction (this is called 멱).

Elephant (象 · 상) — 3 points

Moves one step straight and then two steps diagonally outward, tracing the shape of the character 用. It is blocked if either the first straight point or the first diagonal point on its path is occupied. With no river to stop it, the Elephant can travel across the whole board.

Soldier (卒 / 兵 · 졸 / 병) — 2 points

Moves one step forward or one step sideways, right from its very first move, and never backwards. Inside the enemy palace it may also step forward along the diagonal lines.

Both sides start with 72 points. Because Cho has the advantage of moving first, Han receives a bonus of 1.5 points (덤, similar to komi in Go), so the game starts at Cho 72 vs Han 73.5. Thanks to that half point, a points tie is impossible. The live point meter always shows the current score, for example “Cho 72.0 vs Han 73.5”, together with the pieces each side has captured.

The 4 Janggi Formations (Sangcharim) and How to Choose One

Before the first move, each player chooses a formation (상차림, sangcharim): the order of the horses and elephants on the back rank. Everything else is fixed. On each side of the palace, the two points between the Chariot and the Guard hold one horse and one elephant, and you decide which goes where. That gives four official formations. Left and Right are always counted from each player’s own seat.

Your formation shapes the whole opening. Horses develop quickly and fight in the centre, while elephants are slower but reach far, so the formation decides where your pieces will be strong and where you will be thin.

Inner Elephant (안상차림 · 내상) — Horse, Elephant, Elephant, Horse

Back rank: Chariot, Horse, Elephant, Guard, empty, Guard, Elephant, Horse, Chariot (마상상마). Both elephants stand on the inside next to the Guards and both horses on the outside. It leads to the 원앙마 setup, “mandarin-duck horses” that protect each other, and to 양귀상 setups with the elephants at the palace corners. It gives a solid, compact, defensive centre.

Outer Elephant (바깥상차림 · 외상) — Elephant, Horse, Horse, Elephant

Back rank: Chariot, Elephant, Horse, Guard, empty, Guard, Horse, Elephant, Chariot (상마마상). The horses stand on the inside and can jump quickly to the palace “ears”, leading to the 양귀마 setup with both horses at the palace corners. It gives strong, fast horse play in the centre, while the elephants work from the flanks.

Left Elephant (왼상차림) — Elephant, Horse, Elephant, Horse

Back rank: Chariot, Elephant, Horse, Guard, empty, Guard, Elephant, Horse, Chariot (상마상마). The setup is asymmetric and leads to 귀마, with one horse at a palace corner. It is the most popular and most flexible choice, because it keeps both attacking and defensive plans open.

Right Elephant (오른상차림) — Horse, Elephant, Horse, Elephant

Back rank: Chariot, Horse, Elephant, Guard, empty, Guard, Horse, Elephant, Chariot (마상마상). It is the mirror image of Left Elephant and is also a 귀마 setup. Many players simply pick whichever of the two feels more natural to them.

• New to janggi? Left or Right Elephant (귀마) is a safe, flexible start that lets you learn both attack and defence.
• If you like to defend patiently and counter-attack, Inner Elephant gives you a sturdy centre that is hard to break.
• If you like to attack, Outer Elephant brings both horses into the centre quickly and tends to create early pressure.
• Many players adjust their plan once they see the opponent’s formation, for example by aiming their Chariots and Cannons at the side where the opponent’s horses are slow to come out.
• Whatever you choose, watch the blocking points (멱) of your own horses and elephants: one piece standing on the first step of their path can freeze them.
• Try every formation against the AI to find the one that fits your style before you play online.

Special Janggi Rules: Janggun, Meonggun, Bikjang, Passing and Point Count

Janggi has a few rules that surprise players who know Western chess or xiangqi. Here is how each one works on this site.

Check: Janggun (장군)

When a move attacks the enemy King, it is check, traditionally announced with “Janggun!”. A move or a pass may never leave your own King in check, so the board will not let you make one.

Answering a check: Meonggun (멍군)

Escaping a check by blocking the attack, capturing the attacking piece or moving the King away is announced with “Meonggun!”. The back-and-forth of janggun and meonggun is one of the best-loved sounds of a janggi game.

Checkmate: Oetongsu (외통수 / 외통)

If your King is in check and you have no legal move that escapes it, you are checkmated and lose the game.

Passing a turn: Hansu-swim (한수쉼)

If you are not in check, you may pass instead of moving. If both players pass one after the other, the game ends and is decided by the point count.

Point count (기물 점수 판정)

Each side adds up the values of its pieces still on the board: Chariot 13, Cannon 7, Horse 5, Elephant 3, Guard 3, Soldier 2, plus 1.5 points for Han. The higher total wins, and the half point means there can never be a tie.

Facing Kings: Bikjang (빅장)

If the two Kings stand on the same file with nothing at all between them, the player to move must break the line, either by moving their King off that file or by putting a piece between the Kings, or accept a bikjang draw (빅장 무승부). If no move can break the line, the game is drawn.

No stalemate

Stalemate does not exist in janggi: a player who is not in check can always pass, so there is always something legal to do.

Other ways a game ends

You can resign (기권) at any time. In online games, running out of time on the clock also loses the game.

House rules vary between clubs, especially for bikjang and the point count. On this site, bikjang is always on in online games and can be switched off in games against the AI or a local friend.

How to Play Janggi Online on This Site

Janggi Online is free, needs no sign-up and runs in your browser on desktop and mobile. Choose one of three modes. Against the AI you pick Cho or Han, a difficulty level and your formation, and the AI chooses its own. Local 2-player lets two people share one device and take turns. Online Quick Match pairs you with a random opponent.

The AI has three levels. Easy (입문 / 급수) looks two moves ahead and adds some randomness, so it suits beginners. Medium (중수 / 유단자) looks three moves ahead and prefers tactical captures. Hard (고수 / 명인) searches four or more moves deep with iterative deepening and thinks for up to 1.5 seconds per move. The AI runs in a background Web Worker, so the page never freezes while it thinks.

When you start an Online Quick Match, a waiting screen shows how long you have been searching. If no opponent turns up, press “Start Immediately with AI” to leave the queue instantly and begin a game against the AI without reloading the page. Online games use a clock of 10 minutes per player followed by three 30-second byoyomi periods (초읽기); if your time runs out, you lose. Every move is checked by the server.

To move, select one of your pieces and then the point where you want it to go. The game controls let you:

• Choose your formation before the first move (상차림 선택).
• Pass your turn when you are not in check (한수쉼).
• Flip the board to see it from the other side (판 뒤집기).
• Undo a move in games against the AI and in local games.
• Resign the game (기권) or ask for a rematch when it is over (재대국).
• Switch piece labels between Hanja (車 包 馬 象), Hangul (차 포 마 상) and international letters (R, C, H, E, G, S, K) with small chess-style icons, which is handy if you do not read Korean or Chinese characters.
• Turn the sound on or off: a wooden “ttak” snap on every move, plus janggun, meonggun and checkmate callouts with banners.