Play Four-Player Junqi (Siguo) Online: vs Computer or on One Screen
Four-player Junqi, Siguo Junqi in Chinese, is army chess for four. Facing armies are allies; an army is out when its flag is taken or it cannot move, and a team loses when both of its armies are out. Play it free in your browser against the computer, with an AI partner and four levels, on a hidden, allies-shown or all-shown board. With every piece shown you can also switch the computer off and share one screen. No download or account.
Why play Four-Player Junqi here?
Three ways to see the board: each army hidden from the others, allies shown to each other, or all four face up. The computer can be your ally, or you can command both of your team's armies; with every piece shown, two to four people can share one device with no computer at all. Each computer army is given only what its own seat can see. A hidden piece that has fought carries a mark you can open to read what is known about it. You can undo, ask for a suggested move, arrange your own setup or take a balanced, aggressive or defensive one, and save setups by name. Four levels; games save automatically.
How You WinFacing armies are a team. Take an army's flag, or leave it without a legal move on its turn, and it is out; a team loses when both of its armies are out. Seventy moves in a row without a battle is a draw.
Board
Cross-shaped, 129 stops: 30 per army and 9 in the centre
Pieces
25 per army; facing armies are a team
Turns
South, east, north, west; south moves first
How to play Four-Player Junqi in one minute
Four armies take one arm of the cross each, twenty-five pieces apiece. The army facing you is your ally; the two beside you are the opponents.
Set up your twenty-five pieces in your own territory: the flag in a headquarters, mines in the last two rows, bombs anywhere but the front row.
Armies move in turn: south, east, north, west, one piece per turn. A road move is one stop. On a railway a piece runs any distance along a straight or curved line and cannot jump.
Moving onto an enemy piece is a battle: the higher rank wins, equal ranks both go. A bomb takes anything with it, and only an engineer clears a mine.
A piece in a camp cannot be attacked. Only engineers turn corners on the railway.
Take an army's flag, or leave it without a move on its turn, and it is out. Put both armies of a team out and you win.
A new game starts hidden: you command the south army and the computer plays your ally. To learn the board first, set Pieces to All shown and every army is face up.
Playing Four-Player Junqi here: common questions
Is four-player Junqi free here? Do I need to download or sign up?
It is free, with nothing to download and no account. The computer armies run in your browser, so a game starts at once with no table to fill.
Can I play other people online?
No. There is no matchmaking, room or lobby here; your ally and your opponents are the computer. To play people beside you, use the shared-screen mode with every piece shown.
Can several of us play together?
Yes, on one screen. Set Pieces to All shown and Mode to Local play and there is no computer: all four armies are moved by hand, two people with two facing armies each, or four people with one army each, passing one device around. With Both armies selected, two people can also take one army each and play the computer together.
What is the difference between Hidden, Allies shown and All shown?
Only who sees whose pieces. Hidden: each army sees its own. Allies shown: you and your ally see each other and not the enemy. All shown: all four armies are face up. The board and the rules are the same.
Does my computer ally look at my hidden pieces?
No. Each computer army is given what its seat can see: its own pieces, which pieces have moved, and who won each battle. It does not know what your hidden pieces are and has to work it out from those public facts.
Does it work on a phone?
Yes. On an upright phone the board stretches taller, and where stops are small a tap beside a piece counts for the nearest one. It plays the same on a tablet or computer.
Can I arrange and save my own setup?
Yes. Click or drag two pieces to swap them, or take a balanced, aggressive or defensive setup. A setup can be saved under a name and loaded next time.
Can I undo, and come back to a game later?
You can undo. Games save automatically in this browser on this device. The Mode setting in the sidebar switches to the two-army game or the flip game, and each keeps its own saved game.
Complete Rules
Seats and teams: four armies take one arm of the cross each, and facing armies are a team (south with north, east with west). They move in the order south, east, north, west, one piece per turn, south first; an army that is out is skipped.
Pieces: twenty-five per army, the same as in two-army Junqi — 1 flag, 1 field marshal, 1 general, 2 each of division, brigade, regiment and battalion commander and bomb, and 3 each of company commander, platoon commander, engineer and mine.
Board: 129 stops. Each territory has 30: 23 posts, 5 camps and 2 headquarters. The centre has 9 posts, and a piece may stop on any of them.
Setup: pieces go on the 25 stops of your territory that are not camps. The flag goes in one of the two headquarters, mines in the last two rows, and bombs anywhere except the front row.
Roads: one stop along a line. A camp is joined to all eight stops around it.
Railways: an ordinary piece runs any distance along a straight or curved line, without jumping a piece and without turning a square corner. The curved line at each corner joins two neighbouring territories, and ordinary pieces may follow it. An engineer may turn anywhere on connected railway, also without jumping.
Pieces that stay put: mines and the flag never move, and any piece that enters a headquarters stays there. You cannot move onto your own piece or your ally's.
Battles: moving onto an enemy piece is a battle. Ranks from highest are field marshal, general, division, brigade, regiment, battalion, company and platoon commander, then engineer; the higher rank wins and equal ranks both go. A piece in a camp cannot be attacked.
Bombs and mines: a bomb and whatever it meets are both removed. An engineer attacking a mine clears it; any other piece attacking a mine is removed.
Flag and field marshal: any piece that can move takes a flag by attacking it. When an army's field marshal falls, the position of that army's flag is shown to everyone.
Out and winning: an army is out when its flag is taken or it has no legal move on its turn, and its remaining pieces leave the board. The game goes on while a team has one army left; when both are out the other team wins. Seventy consecutive moves without a battle, counted across all four armies, is a draw.
Hidden, Allies shown or All shown
Hidden: each army sees only its own pieces. You command south and the computer plays your ally against the two computer armies beside you.
Allies shown: you and your ally see each other; the other two armies are face down. Play with the computer as your ally, or command south and north yourself.
All shown: every piece is face up, which suits learning and review. Play with a computer ally, command both of your armies, or switch the computer off and share the screen.
The board and rules are identical in all three; only what each seat can see changes. A battle announces who won, never the rank of a piece you cannot see.
Your First Game
Play a game or two with All shown first. With every army face up you can see how the railways join, how the corner curves run and which pieces the camps protect.
Start the setup from the flag: put it in one headquarters with mines beside and in front of it. The other headquarters must hold a piece too, and that piece never moves, so make it a small one.
Scout along the railways with platoon and company commanders before the field marshal moves. Lose the field marshal and your flag is shown to everyone.
Controls: select one of your pieces and the stops it can reach light up; then select the stop. A long railway move is played along its route.
Keep one engineer back. Clearing mines and turning corners behind the lines are things only an engineer does.
Watch your ally across the board. Helping it out of a siege is often worth more than one more capture of your own.
Practical Strategy
Two against one: a team loses only when both armies are out, so concentrate on one opponent. When it goes, all its pieces leave and the other opponent has lost half its help.
Flag before captures: when the flag is taken every piece of that army leaves with it. Keep the stops in front of the flag occupied.
Remember each result: in a hidden game you do not see ranks, but who beat whom is public. A piece that took your regiment commander is at least a brigade commander; a back-row piece that never moves is probably a mine or the flag.
Save bombs for big pieces: a bomb for a field marshal or general is the best trade there is.
The centre is the junction: its nine stops are all railway and join every front line. Holding it lets you reach any side in one move and blocks the other team.
If your ally is out, steady the position: you face two armies now, so shelter your strong pieces in camps and hold the roads to your flag.
Winning and Special Rules
Being out is not losing: your team loses only when both armies are out. If yours goes while your ally is still in, the game continues.
Two ways out: the flag is taken, or the army has no legal move on its turn. Armies are checked in turn order, so if both teams are stuck the one whose turn comes first is out.
A fallen field marshal shows the flag, whether it was captured, traded with its equal or met a bomb.
A battle announces only its result. The only identities shown to everyone are a flag shown this way, a fallen field marshal and a captured flag.
When the game ends every piece left on the board is turned face up.
Common Mistakes
Trying to turn a square corner on the railway with an ordinary piece. Only engineers turn; ordinary pieces follow straight lines and the corner curves.
Thinking the centre stops cannot be occupied. All nine are posts.
Treating your ally as an opponent. You cannot capture its pieces or move onto a stop it holds.
Leading with the field marshal. Its fall shows your flag, and bombs are waiting for it.
Trading away every engineer early and having nothing left to clear the mines around a flag.
Four-Player Junqi FAQ
How do you play four-player Junqi?
Four armies of twenty-five pieces take one arm of a cross-shaped board, with facing armies allied. They move in turn, and moving onto an enemy piece compares ranks. Take an army's flag and it is out; put both armies of the other team out to win.
How is it different from two-army Junqi?
The pieces and ranks are the same. The board is a cross with a nine-stop centre and curved railways at the corners, four armies play as two teams, and the game goes on after one army is out.
Why does the flag appear when a field marshal falls?
That is the rule: when an army loses its field marshal, the position of its flag is shown to everyone. The field marshal is the strongest piece and also the one keeping the flag secret.
What happens to an army's pieces when it is out?
They all leave the board and the army's turn is skipped from then on. Its ally plays on until the game is decided.