CHINESE ARMY CHESS

Play Army Chess Online

Army Chess, also called Chinese Army Chess or Land Battle Chess, is presented here as a reveal-and-assign variant. Fifty face-down pieces occupy a 12×5 board. Players reveal pieces to determine Red and Blue, then fight through roads, railways, and camps for the enemy flag.

Start an Army Chess game
01

How the reveal phase assigns armies

Players initially alternate reveals and cannot move pieces. After both colors appear, reveals are grouped into rounds. When the player and AI expose different colors in the same round, those colors become their armies.

Information discovered before assignment still matters. Track exposed officers, bombs, engineers, mines, and flags while avoiding positions that trap valuable pieces after movement begins.

  • The board is 12 rows by 5 columns with 50 pieces.
  • Ten camps begin empty and provide protected positions.
  • Only reveals are allowed before armies are assigned.
02

Railways, camps, and special combat

Most pieces move one step on roads and any clear distance in a straight line on railways. Engineers may turn through connected railway segments. A piece inside a camp is normally protected from capture.

Higher ranks defeat lower ranks and equal ranks remove each other. A bomb destroys itself and its opponent. Engineers defuse mines; other pieces are destroyed when attacking a mine.

03

Winning an Army Chess battle

Capture the enemy flag or leave the opponent without a legal action. Mines guarding a flag must be cleared before it can be taken, so engineer preservation, railway control, and hidden-information judgment are central.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Is this standard setup-based Army Chess?

It is a reveal-and-assign Army Chess variant that keeps flags, ranks, railways, camps, bombs, mines, and engineers.

What makes engineers special?

They defuse mines and can turn while moving through connected railways.

How do I win?

Capture the opposing flag or leave the opponent with no legal action.