The board and the two sides (Han vs. Cho)
A janggi board consists of the intersections of 9 vertical and 10 horizontal lines, with two sides facing each other — Han (漢), written in red, and Cho (楚), written in blue or green. Unlike chess or other Western board games, janggi pieces are placed and moved on the points where lines intersect, not on the squares themselves. Behind each side is a 3×3 "palace," which has diagonal lines drawn across it that pieces can also move along.
Piece composition (16 pieces per side)
Each side is made up of 1 palace/general (gung), 2 guards (sa), 2 chariots (cha), 2 cannons (po), 2 horses (ma), 2 elephants (sang), and 5 soldiers (jol/byeong). The general is the piece equivalent to the king, whose fate determines victory or defeat, while the other pieces each have their own distinctive way of moving. A unique feature of janggi is that, before the game begins, each player can choose the starting placement of their horses and elephants from among several fixed formations.
How the general and guards move
The general and guards can only ever move within their own palace, moving one point at a time along the lines drawn inside it — horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. The key restriction is that they can never leave the palace under any circumstances. A state in which the opponent's general is directly threatened with capture is called "check" (jang-gun), and a state in which check cannot be avoided by any move is called "checkmate" (oetong) — once checkmate occurs, the game ends.
How the chariot and cannon move
The chariot moves any number of points horizontally or vertically without obstruction, while the cannon can only move or capture by jumping over exactly one other piece. Inside the palace, the chariot can also move along the drawn diagonal lines, making it an extremely versatile piece. The cannon requires a piece to jump over (a "screen") in order to move at all, and by rule it cannot jump over another cannon, nor can two cannons capture each other.
How the horse and elephant move
The horse moves one point in a straight line and then one more point diagonally, while the elephant moves one point in a straight line and then two more points diagonally. Both pieces are subject to a "leg-blocking" rule: if another piece occupies a point along their path, they cannot move in that direction. Though relatively slow, their paths are hard to predict, so strategy can vary greatly depending on the opening placement chosen for the horses and elephants.
How the soldier moves
A soldier can move one point forward or one point sideways, but can never move backward. Once it enters the opponent's palace, it can also move along the diagonal lines drawn inside the palace. Because there are many soldiers and they are useful for controlling space, they are considered pieces that have an increasingly significant impact on the outcome as the game progresses into its later stages.
How the opening placement is decided
A distinctive rule of janggi is that each player chooses the placement of their horses and elephants from among several fixed formations before the game begins. Because of this, unlike Western chess, there is no single fixed starting position — various approaches exist, such as choosing your placement after seeing your opponent's, or deciding it in advance. The side playing Cho is conventionally said to move first, though in practice this is often agreed upon between players or determined by a separate house rule.
The objective — how to win
You win by driving the opponent's general into checkmate (oetong), a position from which it can no longer escape. In practice, players often resign before an actual checkmate occurs, once they've accumulated too great a loss of pieces. Online janggi platforms may apply additional rules such as time limits (byzantine clocks) or a no-takebacks rule, so it's a good idea to check the specific rules of a new platform before playing.