Sooner or later every xiangqi player who is curious about Vietnam runs into Vietnamese notation: a Vietnamese book, a YouTube video, a forum post full of moves like P2-5, M8.7 and X1/1. If you already read WXF notation — the system used in most English-language material — you are ninety percent of the way there. Both systems describe a move the same way; only the letters and symbols differ.
The shared idea: piece, file, direction, destination
Both systems describe a move with four parts:
- Which piece moves.
- Which file it starts on.
- Which direction it goes: forward, backward or sideways.
- Where it ends up — either a file number or a number of points, depending on the piece and direction.
Files are numbered 1 to 9 from each player's own right-hand side. So Red's file 1 is Black's file 9, and so on. This is the same in both systems, and it is the part chess players find strangest at first.
The letters
| Piece | Vietnamese letter | WXF letter |
|---|---|---|
| General | Tg (Tướng) | K |
| Advisor | S (Sĩ) | A |
| Elephant | T (Tượng) | E |
| Chariot | X (Xe) | R |
| Cannon | P (Pháo) | C |
| Horse | M (Mã) | H |
| Soldier | B (Binh) or Tốt | P |
Watch out for the two letters that clash: P means cannon in Vietnamese notation but soldier in WXF, and T means elephant in Vietnamese. When you copy moves between sources, convert the letters first.
The direction symbols
| Direction | Vietnamese | WXF |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | `.` (tiến) | `+` |
| Backward | `/` (thoái) | `-` |
| Sideways | `-` (bình) | `=` |
Here is the second trap: the minus sign means sideways in Vietnamese notation but backward in WXF.
The last number
The meaning of the last number depends on the piece and direction, and it is the same in both systems:
- Sideways moves: the number is the destination file.
- Forward or backward moves by pieces that move in straight lines (chariot, cannon, soldier, general): the number is how many points the piece moves.
- Forward or backward moves by pieces that move diagonally (horse, elephant, advisor): the number is the destination file, because the file always changes.
Worked examples
| Vietnamese | WXF | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| P2-5 | C2=5 | Cannon on file 2 moves sideways to file 5 (the central cannon) |
| M8.7 | H8+7 | Horse on file 8 moves forward, landing on file 7 |
| X1.1 | R1+1 | Chariot on file 1 moves forward one point |
| X9-8 | R9=8 | Chariot on file 9 moves sideways to file 8 |
| T3.5 | E3+5 | Elephant on file 3 moves forward, landing on file 5 |
| S4.5 | A4+5 | Advisor on file 4 moves forward to the centre of the palace |
| B7.1 | P7+1 | Soldier on file 7 moves forward one point |
| M2/3 | H2-3 | Horse on file 2 moves backward, landing on file 3 |
Read each pair aloud and the pattern clicks quickly.
Two identical pieces on one file
When both chariots, horses or cannons of one side stand on the same file, the file number no longer identifies the piece. Both systems replace it with front/rear markers:
- Vietnamese uses t (trước, front) and s (sau, rear): Xt.1 is "front chariot forward one".
- WXF uses + for the front piece and - for the rear one. Sources place the marker slightly differently; on this site it goes before the letter: +R+1 is "front chariot forward one".
"Front" means the piece closer to the opponent.
Why notation is worth learning
- Books and videos. A huge amount of good Vietnamese xiangqi material exists, and all of it uses Vietnamese notation.
- Replaying games. Writing your moves down helps you find mistakes. On this site, your saved games in your account show the move list in WXF, and you can step through them move by move.
- Talking to players. Vietnamese players announce moves in the same structure: "Pháo hai bình năm", "cannon two sideways five". See Vietnamese xiangqi words.
A quick conversion routine
- Convert the piece letter (watch out for P and T).
- Convert the direction symbol (watch out for the minus sign).
- Keep both numbers exactly as they are.
That is all. The file numbers and the meaning of the last number never change between the two systems.
Reading a short opening in both systems
Here is a common opening sequence written both ways, so you can see the systems side by side. Red plays the central cannon; Black answers by bringing out a horse, and so on.
| Move | Vietnamese | WXF |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Red | P2-5 | C2=5 |
| 1. Black | M8.7 | H8+7 |
| 2. Red | M2.3 | H2+3 |
| 2. Black | X9-8 | R9=8 |
Notice that Black's moves use Black's own file numbers, counted from Black's right. Black's horse on file 8 is on the same side of the board as Red's horse on file 2. This mirroring is the single most common source of confusion for beginners; once you accept that each side counts from its own right, the notation reads naturally.
How to practise
Take any game from your saved list in your account, read the WXF move list, and rewrite the first ten moves in Vietnamese notation on paper. Then do the reverse with a Vietnamese source. After two or three games, conversion becomes automatic, and a whole library of Vietnamese books and videos opens up to you.
What the numbers never mean
A frequent misunderstanding: the numbers in either notation are never rank numbers. Xiangqi notation does not name the rank a piece lands on. For straight-line pieces moving forward or backward, the number is a distance; for everything else, it is a file. If you ever find yourself looking for "rank 7" on the board, you have misread the move.
Frequently asked questions
What does P2-5 mean?
In Vietnamese notation, cannon on file 2 moves sideways to file 5. In WXF it is C2=5, the central cannon opening.
Why do the file numbers differ for Red and Black?
Each player counts files from their own right-hand side, so the same file has number 1 for one player and 9 for the other.
What is the most common conversion mistake?
Reading the Vietnamese minus sign as "backward". In Vietnamese notation it means sideways.
Does this site use Vietnamese notation?
No. On this site the move list is shown in WXF, which is what most English-language books and videos use. The conversion table above lets you read Vietnamese sources alongside it.
Is there a notation with letters and numbers like chess?
Yes, some computer formats use coordinates, but players almost always use the piece-file-direction style described here.
