View source for Jieqi (Reveal Chess)


'''Jieqi''' (揭棋), or '''Reveal Chess''', is a variant of Xiangqi in which most pieces are shuffled and placed face down on the usual starting squares. A concealed piece first moves according to the piece normally assigned to its starting square. It is then revealed and follows its own movement rules.<ref name="patent"/><ref name="yahoo"/><ref name="states"/> Rulesets differ on who may see the identity of a captured hidden piece and on some draw conditions.<ref name="qizhe"/><ref name="baodian"/><ref name="rules2014"/><ref name="excerpt"/>

[[File:Xiangqi_rs1.png|thumb|alt=Blank marker used to cover a Jieqi piece|Covered-piece marker used in Jieqi and related variants. Artwork by 彭鹏; dedicated to the public domain.<ref name="icon">Chinese Wikipedia, [https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Xiangqi_rs1.svg ?暗棋子 (Xiangqi rs1.svg)?], file description; creator 彭鹏’s public-domain dedication.</ref>]]

The schematic below shows the conventional starting squares described in the cited accounts. It does not encode concealed piece identities.<ref name="patent"/><ref name="yahoo"/><ref name="app"/>
<xiangqi-player>{"id":"jieqi-starting-square-setup","initialFen":"rnbakabnr/9/1c5c1/p1p1p1p1p/9/9/P1P1P1P1P/1C5C1/9/RNBAKABNR w - - 0 1","moves":[],"caption":"Schematic Jieqi setup: pieces occupy their usual Xiangqi starting squares; most identities are concealed in play."}</xiangqi-player>
<!-- Pikafish verification: Static board position matches the standard starting-square placement represented by the cited Jieqi setup accounts. The conventional position FEN was accepted and searched by Pikafish to depth 20 (verification/pikafish-visible-start-depth20-output.txt, depth 20 completed); no moves or game-theoretic claim are made. -->

== Name and terminology ==

A Yahoo! Hong Kong feature gives 冚棋 as a colloquial name for Jieqi, while the JieqiOnline app listing uses Chaozhou Xiangqi (潮州象棋).<ref name="yahoo"/><ref name="app"/>

The lexicon's headword ‘REVEAL’ has a separate tactical meaning in Xiangqi: moving a friendly piece out of another piece's way so that the latter can act. It has no entry for Jieqi or Reveal Chess.<ref name="lexicon">Jim Png Hau Cheng, ''A Lexicon of Xiangqi (Chinese Chess) Terms in English'', printed p. 449 (PDF p. 465).</ref>

== Rules and variants ==


In the setup described by a 2010 patent, the general and king remain face up while the other pieces are turned face down, shuffled, and placed on their ordinary Xiangqi starting squares.<ref name="patent">巫小舟 and 黄炳奎, [https://patents.google.com/patent/CN201613002U/zh “一种棋子”], Chinese utility-model patent CN201613002U, 27 October 2010, background and description.</ref>

A piece on a cannon square first moves as a cannon and is then revealed; subsequent moves follow the revealed piece's own movement rules, according to the Yahoo! Hong Kong account.<ref name="yahoo">[https://hk.sports.yahoo.com/news/%E6%8F%AD%E6%A3%8B-%E4%B8%AD%E5%9C%8B%E8%B1%A1%E6%A3%8B%E7%9A%84%E5%8F%A6%E9%A1%9E%E7%8E%A9%E6%B3%95-000416926.html “揭棋 – 中國象棋的另類玩法”], Yahoo! Hong Kong, 19 December 2016.</ref> A 2025 paper on the number of game states and the JieqiOnline description give the same rule.<ref name="states">刘丰瑞, 田少杰 and 任玉昕, “动态规划求解状态总数算法在揭棋上的应用,” ''智能计算机与应用'', no. 6 (2025), pp. 151–152, 155.</ref><ref name="app">[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?hl=zh_TW&id=com.sohomob.jieqionline “揭棋Online - 暗象棋”], Google Play listing for SohoMob Limited, updated 28 September 2026.</ref> The patent also describes revealed elephants and advisors as able to cross the river.<ref name="patent"/>

Rulesets differ on the visibility of captured hidden pieces. The Qizhe (棋者) platform rules state that the owner cannot see the identity of their captured hidden piece.<ref name="qizhe">棋者, [https://qizhe.org.cn/home/?p=848 “揭棋玩法规则”], 27 May 2026.</ref> “Jieqi Baodian” (揭棋宝典) describes the capturer as seeing the captured piece while its owner does not.<ref name="baodian">天马飞刀, [https://blog.stkme.com/Blog/View/1232/data.htm “揭棋宝典”], sections 1 and 3; hosted article credits an original dated 28 May 2017.</ref> The regulations for the third Zhongyi Cup (中弈杯), held in 2014, specify Hong Kong-style Jieqi in which captured pieces were visible.<ref name="rules2014">综合报道, [https://m.gdchess.com/Show.asp?id=15630 “2014年第三届‘中弈杯’象棋揭棋公开赛规程”], 广东象棋网, 14 March 2014.</ref>

Draw conditions also depend on the ruleset. Qizhe specifies fivefold repetition, an 80-move no-capture draw condition, a 200-move maximum, and restrictions on perpetual checking and chasing.<ref name="qizhe"/> A Baidu Baike rules excerpt reproduced in a book preview gives a threshold of 40 consecutive rounds without a capture.<ref name="excerpt">来自天空的马匹, [https://blog.csdn.net/zhyjie2008/article/details/129221368 “新书《揭棋人工智能探秘》预告”], CSDN, 2023, rules excerpt attributed to Baidu Baike (s015).</ref>

=== Equipment ===

A 2010 utility-model patent proposes magnetic piece cores and shells that can be separated and exchanged during shuffling, to make it harder for players to mark or identify hidden pieces.<ref name="patent"/>

=== Skill and chance ===

Players interviewed after the 2017 Sanya event offered different assessments of chance and Xiangqi skill. Xu Guoyi (许国义) described Jieqi as more accessible and more dependent on luck than Xiangqi, while Chen Ningqin (陈宁钦) said a strong Xiangqi foundation helped a player perform better at Jieqi.<ref name="sanyaInterview">任玩堂, [https://www.sohu.com/a/211010596_204810 “2017腾讯棋牌揭棋竞标赛前四采访：全民化的揭棋比象棋更看运气”], 17 December 2017.</ref> A ''Guangzhou Daily'' report also quoted the saying that Jieqi is “three parts luck, seven parts technique”.<ref name="guangzhou">施绍宗, [https://news.jstv.com/a/20171023/1508723916968.shtml “揭棋给象棋注入强心剂？下揭棋运气技术三七分”], report reproducing ''Guangzhou Daily'', 23 October 2017.</ref>

== History ==

A 2010 patent background says Jieqi had appeared “in recent years” without identifying a place of origin.<ref name="patent"/> In a 2017 interview, Hong Kong player Chen Ningqin recalled more than 40 years of development there.<ref name="sanyaInterview"/> A 2026 game listing attributes creation in the 1980s to Luo Jinsheng (羅錦勝) and his elder brother without citing a historical source.<ref name="popoko">Popoko VM Games, [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?hl=zh&id=com.popoko.mxiangqi “揭棋”], Google Play listing, updated 20 July 2026.</ref>

A 2019 white paper reports that the first Zhongyi Cup Jieqi tournament took place in Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong, in May 2011, jointly organized by the Tsuen Wan Xiangqi Association and China Zhongyi Chess Culture Communication Co.<ref name="whitepaper">象棋白皮书课题组, ''象棋白皮书——关于象棋现状的调查报告（2019年）'', p. 93.</ref> It reports 42 entrants, six preliminary rounds, and an eight-player best-of-three knockout won by Fu Chuanyong (符傳詠).<ref name="whitepaper"/> The exact day is not established by the white paper; a 2011 forum repost gives 1 May but is derivative of an interview whose original page was unavailable for verification.<ref name="ptt">bank1000, [https://www.ptt.cc/bbs/ChineseChess/M.1316826884.A.AA6.html “[好文] 專訪趙汝權：揭棋耐人尋味，革新魅力無窮”], PTT, 24 September 2011.</ref>

=== Tournaments ===

The regulations for the 2014 Third Zhongyi Cup called for 13 rounds, 15 minutes per player, and Hong Kong-style captured-piece visibility.<ref name="rules2014"/> Zhao Ruquan (赵汝权) won the event with 11 wins, one loss, and one draw.<ref name="results2014">[https://m.gdchess.com/Show.asp?id=15663 “2014第三届中弈杯揭棋公开赛落幕，赵汝权夺冠”], 广东象棋网, 28 April 2014.</ref>

Guangdong's first provincial open was scheduled for 12–13 August 2017, with nine rounds and 15 minutes per player; its regulations referred other matters to the 2014 Jieqi competition rules.<ref name="gdopen">广东天机星文化发展有限公司, [https://www.xqipu.com/node/73516 “广东省首届揭棋公开赛竞赛规程”], 8 June 2017.</ref>

The 2017 Sanya Jieqi Championship final involved 32 players, with a nine-round first phase followed by a knockout for the top 16.<ref name="sanya">棋友汇, [https://www.sohu.com/a/210411993_495629 “〖三亚杯〗揭棋锦标赛首日之战盘点”], 14 December 2017.</ref> A subsequent interview report identifies Xu Guoyi, Feng Jiajun, Chen Ningqin, and He Wenjin as the top four.<ref name="sanyaInterview"/>

A 2019 report on the Pingshan Qixin Cup described about 100 players, seven Swiss rounds followed by a 32-player knockout, and a top prize of 18,000 yuan.<ref name="qixin">[https://m.sohu.com/a/309530310_120065753/ “启新杯坪山揭棋公开赛盛大开幕 五湖四海揭棋高手奉献精彩佳局”], 20 April 2019.</ref>

The first international GT Cup online team open concluded on 27 December 2020. The event report recorded 72 teams and more than 300 registered players, with Brothers Jie Group Team 1 (兄弟揭群1队) winning the tournament.<ref name="gtcup">葛万里, [https://k.sina.com.cn/article_5787187353_158f17899020016obp.html “首届国际揭棋团体网络公开赛收枰”], ''Yangcheng Evening News'' media, republished by Sina, 28 December 2020.</ref>

== Digital play and artificial intelligence ==

A 2024 study describes Jieqi as a game of incomplete information and explores alpha-beta pruning, heuristic search, a hidden-piece expansion layer, and piece-value evaluation. Its authors characterize the work as an initial exploration.<ref name="alphabeta">刘丰瑞, 田少杰 and 任玉昕, “基于Alpha-beta剪枝树的揭棋算法的设计与实现,” ''现代信息科技'', no. 18 (2024).</ref>

A 2025 paper calculates an upper bound of 1.14 × 10<sup>53</sup> for the number of Jieqi states and concludes that its dynamic-programming method is unsuitable for an exact count.<ref name="states"/> A NetEase Youdao patent proposes using “x” and “X” for hidden pieces in a Jieqi-mode FEN representation.<ref name="fenpatent">汤文彬, 郑可佳 and 倪洪生, [https://patents.google.com/patent/CN115518382B/zh “行棋图像的生成方法及相关方法、装置、设备及存储介质”], Chinese patent CN115518382B, 14 October 2025, description §§ 280–281.</ref> In its sample opening string, lowercase x marks concealed black pieces and uppercase X concealed red pieces, without specifying their identities.<ref name="fenpatent"/>

== References ==
<references responsive />

[[Category:Xiangqi variants]]
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