Chinese Chess

Chinese Chess

English | 中文

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Overview

Obsidian plugin for Chinese chess rendering and exploration inside notes. Supports PGN file viewing, two code block types (fen, tree), full xiangqi rules via xiangqi.js, interactive board via xiangqiground, variation tree visualization, and built-in engine analysis powered by Pikafish (WASM).

PGN File Support

Open .pgn files directly in Obsidian — the plugin registers a dedicated .pgn file view with an interactive board interface.

• Manual Save: Any changes (moves, variations, comments, annotations) are saved back to the file when clicking Save button

• Variation Tree: Interactive tree graph showing all branches — click nodes to navigate

• Comments & Annotations: Supports branch diagram and board annotation symbols, comments

• Mode Toggle: Switch between icon mode and text mode in branch diagram

• Quick Create: New PGN files from the ribbon button

• Custom File Types: Set specific file types as PGN files

• Context Menu: Right-click PGN files to switch between PGN view and Markdown view

• Multi-Game Support: Navigate between multiple games within a single .pgn file using the game navigation bar; create, delete, and reorder games

Code Blocks

Two code block types — all code block names are customizable.

---

xiangqi: Display and explore Chinese chess games with variation tree

```xiangqi
1. H2-E2 H9-G7
2. H0-G2 I9-H9
3. I0-H0 B9-C7
```

---

fen: Visual board editor — set up a position and save as a xiangqi code block

```fen

```

---

Mobile Usage

For the best experience on mobile devices, it's recommended to install the Full Screen Toggle plugin (donkeypacific/obsidian-full-screen-cross-platform-plugin) or similar fullscreen plugins and adjust the top/bottom margins in Settings > Xiangqi > Board Margins to optimize the board display area.

Settings

Board Appearance

• Board Style: Auto, Light, Dark, Parchment, Green, Wood, Bamboo — switchable in settings or via the board menu's swatch picker
• Board Size: Adjust board and piece display size (0–100%)
• Show Coordinates: Show coordinate labels on board edges

Game Hints

• Show Last Move: Highlight the origin and destination of the previous move
• Show Next Moves: Whether to show next moves
• Show Other Variations: Highlight alternative variation moves on the board
• Show Turn Border: Show a highlighted border indicating whose turn it is
• Move Sounds: Sound effects for moves, captures and checkmate, with adjustable volume
• Speech: Read moves aloud (unavailable on mobile)
• Auto Jump: Where to position the board when opening a game — Never / Always / Only for default position

Move List

• Show Move List: Display the move list panel when opening a tree
• Move Text Size: Font size for the move list
• Notation: Chinese (炮二平五) or coordinates (h2e6)
• Move Marks: Eval bar, annotation badge, glyph and comment underline shown next to moves — each can be toggled independently

Board Margins

• Top Margin: Adjustable top margin (0–100 px)
• Bottom Margin: Adjustable bottom margin (0–100 px)

Code Block Names

Customize code block aliases in Settings > Xiangqi > Code Block Names:

• Code block names: Default xiangqi, tree — both names render the tree view with variation tree and engine analysis. Add custom aliases separated by commas
• FEN save as: Choose which code block name to use when saving from the FEN editor (default tree)

Note: Changes require restarting the plugin or Obsidian to take effect.

Engine Analysis

• Engine Depth: Search depth for Pikafish analysis (1–30, default 18)
• Engine Skill Level: Skill level for engine play (0–20, default 20)
• Show Best Move: Show the engine's best-move arrow (default on)
• Show Ponder Move: Show the ponder-move arrow (default on)
• Show Engine Annotations: Show engine glyphs on analyzed moves (default on)
• Show Board Annotations: Draw engine annotations on the board (default on)

Save

• Save Eval by Default: Whether to include eval annotations when saving PGN (default off)
• Save Eval Prompt: Whether to show a prompt about eval when saving (default on)

PGN File View

Enable/disable PGN file view and customize file extensions:

• Enable PGN file view: Toggle to register/unregister PGN view
• PGN file extensions: Default pgn, add custom extensions separated by commas

Note: Changes require restarting the plugin or Obsidian to take effect.

Features

• Complete Rules Engine: Check/checkmate detection, move validation — all via xiangqi.js
• Board Rendering: High-quality chessboard via xiangqiground with drag-and-drop moves
• Board Styles: 7 board styles including texture-based Wood and Bamboo, switchable from the board menu's swatch picker
• Move List: Grid-aligned move columns with Chinese/coordinate notation and per-move marks (eval, annotation, glyph, comment)
• Variation Tree: Tree graph with icon/WXF display modes for node labels
• Visual FEN Editor: Drag/click to place pieces, clear/fill board, toggle side to move
• PGN Saving:
  • Button colors — gray (empty), green (saved), orange (modified)
  • Confirmation dialog before saving
• i18n: Supports English and Chinese UI
• Board Markers: Draw arrows and highlights on the board
• Engine Analysis: Built-in Pikafish WASM engine with single position analysis, batch analysis, and auto-analysis
  • Best Move Arrow: Green arrow shows the engine's best move; yellow arrow shows the ponder move
  • Eval Bar: Left sidebar bar showing evaluation (green = red advantage, red = black advantage)
  • Eval Trend Chart: Vertical polyline in the slider background showing evaluation across moves
  • Eval Color Bar: Color bar on tree nodes indicating evaluation (green = red advantage, red = black advantage, gray = equal)
  • Eval Persistence: Engine evaluations saved as %e: comments in PGN
• Responsive Layout: Automatically switches between single-column and double-column based on screen orientation and width
• Mobile Friendly: Adjust board size for small screens

Usage

fen Code Block

1. Add a fen code block to start the editor
2. Drag pieces or click piece buttons to set up the position
3. Use clear/fill/turn buttons as needed
4. Click Save — the fen code block is replaced with a xiangqi code block containing the FEN, ready for play

xiangqi Code Block

1. Write your game inside a xiangqi code block (optionally with FEN and ICCS moves)
2. FEN is optional — defaults to the standard starting position
3. Controls:
   • The variation tree displays all branches graphically
   • Click any node to navigate to that position
   • The board menu (board icon in the toolbar) flips the board and toggles highlights, coordinates, and annotations on the fly
   • Switch board style instantly from the board menu's swatch picker
4. Click Save to overwrite the original PGN
5. Click Edit board in the Edit menu to switch to position editor mode
   • Modify the position by dragging/clicking pieces
   • Click Save to apply the new position (existing moves will be discarded)
   • Click Cancel to return to tree view
6. Use engine analysis:
   • Click Analyze for single position analysis, Batch to analyze all nodes, or enable auto-analysis
   • Green arrow = best move, yellow arrow = ponder move
   • Eval bar on the left shows position evaluation
   • Eval color bars on nodes and eval trend chart on the slider show evaluation across the game

Optional Parameters

Example

```xiangqi
r:true
p:true
2bk1a3/5n3/3Pb4/R7p/2p6/C3p2N1/PR2c3P/1nr1B1C2/4A4/1rB1KA3 w
1. G2-G9 F9-E8
2. D7-D8 D9-E9
3. D8-E8 E9-E8
4. A6-A8 E8-E9
```

• Colons can be Chinese or English; r and p are case-insensitive
• FEN value works with or without quotes
• PGN moves can be numbered together, not numbered, or written one by one

Installation

This plugin is available on the official Obsidian plugin marketplace. Search for "Chinese chess" or "xiangqi" to install.

1. Open Obsidian
2. Go to Settings
3. Click Community plugins
4. Ensure Restricted mode is off
5. Click Browse
6. Search for "Chinese chess" or "xiangqi"
7. Find this plugin and click Install
8. Click Enable

Build

1. Clone this repository:

   git clone https://github.com/west-shell/obsidian-xiangqi.git
   

2. Install dependencies (xiangqi.js and xiangqiground are installed from npm):

   cd obsidian-xiangqi
   npm install
   

3. Build the plugin:

   npm run build        # Minified production build (for release)
   npm run build:debug  # Unminified production build (with sourcemaps)
   

Donation

If you like this plugin, feel free to support me!