General

The pieces that are equivalent to the kings in Western chess are actually referred to as generals (將軍 janggun) in Korean. They are labelled with the Chinese character Han 한 (in Chinese pinyin: Hàn; 漢) on the red side, and Cho 초 (Chǔ; 楚) on the blue side. They represent the rival states of Han and Chu that fought for power in the post-Qin dynasty interregnum period in China (see Chu–Han contention). In North Korea, the Chu–Han setup is not used; the red general there is called jang (將, "general") and the blue general is called gwan (官, "minister"). Both kings can also be referred to generally as gung (宮, "palace").^[2]

Janggi differs from its Chinese counterpart in that the janggi general starts the game from the central intersection of the palace, rather than from the centre intersection of the back edge. The general may move one step per turn along marked board lines to any of the nine points within the palace. There are four diagonal lines in the palace connecting the centre position to the corners. When the general is checkmated the game is lost. The general cannot leave the palace under any circumstances. If the generals come to face each other across the board, and the player to move does not move away, this is bikjang—a draw. This rule is different from that of xiangqi where it is illegal for the generals to face.

In janggi, a player may pass his turn, which is called "한수쉼 (han-soo-swim)". Unless the general is in check, there is no restriction on when or how many times one can pass during the game. The game ends up a draw if both side pass. Stalemate does not result in the end of a game in janggi; if a player has no legal move left, he is just forced to pass and the other player can still continue.

In the diagram below, the blue general can move diagonally (provided that these points are not attacked by enemy pieces), but the red general cannot, since there are no diagonal markings at that point.

Guards

The pieces are labeled sa 사 (士) and are civilian government officials (i.e. council members serving the commander in chief). They are often called guards, since they stay close to the general. Other names are assistants or mandarins.

The guards start to the left and right of the general on the first rank. They move the same as the general, one step per turn along marked lines in the palace. The guards are one of the weakest pieces because they may not leave the palace. They are valuable for protecting the general.

Horses

Called the horse or ma 마 (馬). The horse moves one step orthogonally then one step diagonally outward, with no jumping. If there is a piece on its first step (the red circles in the diagram), it's restricted from moving in that direction. This piece is exactly the same as the horse in xiangqi. A horse can be transposed with an adjacent elephant in the initial setup.

Elephants

The elephants or sang 상 (象) begin the game to the left and right of the guards. They move one point orthogonally followed by two points diagonally away from their starting point, ending on the opposite corner of a 2×3 rectangle. Like the horse, the elephant is blocked from moving by any intervening pieces (the red circles in the diagram). Unlike xiangqi, which confines elephants to their own side of the board behind a "river", in janggi there is no river and elephants are not limited to one side of the board. The janggi elephant can therefore be used more offensively than the xiangqi elephant. An elephant can be transposed with an adjacent horse in the initial setup.

Chariots

These are labelled cha 차 (車). Like the rook in Western chess, the chariot moves and captures in a straight line either horizontally or vertically. Additionally, the chariot may move along the diagonal lines inside either palace, but only in a straight line. The two chariots begin the game in the corners. The chariot is the most powerful piece in the game.

Cannons

These are labelled po 포 (包). Each player has two cannons. The cannons are placed on the row behind the soldiers, directly in front of the horses (if the horses are put on the file next to the chariots). The cannon moves by jumping another piece horizontally or vertically. The jump can be performed over any distance provided that there is exactly one piece anywhere between the original position and the target. To capture a piece, there must be exactly one piece (friendly or otherwise) between the cannon and the piece to be captured. The cannon then moves to that point and captures the piece. They may also move or capture diagonally along the diagonal lines in either palace, provided there is an intervening piece in the centre (i.e. it can only happen if the cannon is at a corner of the palace) They are powerful at the beginning of the game when "hurdles" are plentiful, but lose value rapidly with attrition. The other piece over which the cannon jumps may not be another cannon, nor can a cannon capture another cannon. In the diagram below, the blue cannon can move to the blue circles but not to the red ones; it can also capture the red horse, but it cannot capture (nor be captured by) the red cannon in the other palace. The right red cannon cannot capture the blue chariot either. Unlike xiangqi, janggi requires cannons to jump to move, as well as capture. This means in the starting position, there are no valid moves available for the cannon.

Soldiers

These are labelled byeong 병 (兵) (soldiers, general term for a soldier) for Red and jol 졸 (卒) (also means soldiers, usually lowest ranking soldiers) for Blue. Each side has five soldiers, initially placed on alternating points, one row back from the edge of where the river would be in xiangqi. Unlike pawns in Western chess, they move and capture one point either straight forward or sideways (unlike xiangqi, where soldiers must cross the "river" to be able to move sideways.) There is no promotion; once they reach the end of the board they may only move sideways. Soldiers may also move one point diagonally forward along the diagonal lines of the enemy palace.