Xiangqi.com Release Notes
We update the xiangqi.com software every Friday, based on feedback from our users. Below is the list of features that we have released each week. You can also see our upcoming features on our Roadmap.
If you have a feature request, please send it our way, as we love user input!
Friday, 26th April 2024
Puzzle Customization: Introducing precise puzzle filtering by sub-themes, enabling users to focus on specific tactics.
Anti-Cheat Enhancement: Strengthened anti-cheat measures for a more effective detection system, ensuring fair play for all users.
Rating Redemption: In cases where an engine cheater is identified, users who lost against them previously will have their lost ratings restored, maintaining the integrity of the rating system.
Fixed multiple bugs and UX issues
Friday, 29th March 2024
Rating Integrity: Guest players can no longer participate in rated games to ensure fair competition of rated games.
Accessibility: Users now have the option to set the accessibility of their games, puzzles, and notes to friends only or private, providing more control over who can view their content.
Fixed multiple bugs and UX issues
Friday, 23rd February 2024
Reply Button: We've introduced a "reply" button for each message in the chatroom, making it easier for you to respond directly to specific messages.
Direct Sharing to Lobby Chat: You can now directly share games, notes, puzzles, and more from the page to the lobby chat with a simple click.
Fixed multiple bugs and UX issues
Friday, 26th January 2024
Draw Arrows and Highlight on Board: Now, you can right-click on the board to draw arrows and highlight spots, helping you visualize moves easier.
Like or Dislike Puzzles: After finishing a puzzle, you can click 'Like' or 'Dislike' to give your feedback on it.
Friday, 29th December 2023
Lesson: Dive into Xiangqi with our brand new interactive lessons! Whether you're a beginner or looking to polish your skills, these lessons are designed to enhance your understanding and love for the game.
Save Your Analysis: Now you can save your moves on the analysis board and annotate them in the game note.
Friday, 24th November 2023
New Game Annotation Feature: Introducing an annotation tool for players to add notes and insights to their games. Users can click on the “Study” button on a completed game page to annotate them.
Save Completed Computer Games: Players now can save completed games against the computer, allowing for future review and analysis.
Adjusted Rating Calculation Logic: Enhanced the rating system to improve the integrity and accuracy of player ratings, ensuring a fairer competitive environment.
User Interface Improvement: Implemented an arrow indicator to display engine suggestions to make the displau more intuitive.
Friday, 27th October 2023
UX Enhancements for Game Review and Analysis Board
Can create game / puzzle / analysis with a black moves first position
Friday, 29th Septemer 2023
Enhanced the Game Review feature, giving you the ability to review and analyze your completed games.
Visualize the ebb and flow of the game with the Game Trend Line Chart
Assess move quality with Accuracy Ratings, showing how well you and your opponent played.
Implemented the Xiangqi Analysis Board, where you can customize a position to analyze
Can start computer games with custom position
Can start multiplayer games with custom position by sending direct challenge
Push notification for opponent’s piece moves
Friday, 25th August 2023
Added “resign” and “draw request” options in computer game
Improved the scroll bar design
Improved notification settings
Published 2000+ puzzles
Friday, 28th July 2023
Implemented a new UI for the Game Leaderboard
Released the Puzzle Leaderboard to display the top puzzle players
Friday, 23rd June 2023
Improved responsiveness: We've optimized the page to better adapt to certain screen sizes, ensuring that your Xiangqi game looks great no matter what device you're using.
Faster loading times: We've also improved the page loading speed, so you can get into your game even faster.
Bug fixes: We've fixed a bug that was causing issues with moving pieces during gameplay, so you can play with confidence and without interruption.
Friday, 26th May 2023
Implement the option choose the side when playing against bots.
Added 5 more levels, making a total of 10 levels to test your skills against the computer.
Reduced the difficulty of the first two levels to make them more beginner-friendly.
Added a background story of the bots
We have added more quick game options to give you more variety and faster access to games.
We have optimized the loading speed of the platform to improve your overall experience.
Friday, 21st April 2023
Added the display of puzzle theme in Puzzle Challenge mode - Assign puzzles to players according to their levels
Upgraded the anti-cheat algorithm
Friday, 24th March 2023
Implemented Puzzle Challenge mode - Assign puzzles to players according to their levels
Implemented Puzzle Practice mode - Select puzzles based on the theme and difficulty
Implemented New UI Design for Puzzle
Allowed guests to play custom games
Added credit for Pikafish
Bug-fixes and UX optimizations
Friday, 18th November 2022
Allowed guests to play quick games
New Board & Pieces design
Implemented standard notation
Added new game timer option of 15 mins
Bug-fixes and UX optimizations
Friday, 21st October 2022
Removed Google Translate service to optimize page speed in China
Implemented the New Editor design
Changed resource links to the Chinese pages when the language is Simplified Chinese or Traditional Chinese
Friday, 14th October 2022
Implemented New Game Lobby
Added quick game creation section with predefined game settings
Created an auto-pairing mechanism for finding the best pairs
Added custom loader when user waiting to match with an opponent
UCI FEN compatible editor. Users can now copy & paste FEN from other xiangqi software on our board editor to create puzzles or start a game against the computer
Friday, 9th September 2022
Added delete account functionality on player profile
Added pop-up box after computer game ends
Puzzle creator can now delete their puzzles
Bug fixes on move limit
Friday, 26th August 2022
Released public tournament feature
Users can now create or challenge checkmate or capturing puzzles against engines
Friday, 22nd July 2022
Fixed some bugs related to the tournament leaderboard and pairing
Changed the design of the tournament badges
Friday, 24th June 2022
A stylish new game page design with a bigger Xiangqi board and the option to hide the chatroom is implemented.
The piece moving speed has been accelerated
Players who achieve a top 3 ranking in a tournament would get a trophy badge on your username to honor your achievement
Friday, 13th May 2022
Users can now claim credit for the puzzles they created
Players who registered to the tournament will receive email reminder 10 minutes before the start time
Bug-Fixes on move-limits
Friday, 1st April 2022
We have released the tournament feature.
Translation improvements.
Friday, 11th March 2022
User can now analyze their game using our post game engine analysis feature.
We have translated the marketing site into Simplified Chinese for Chinese Audiences.
Other UX improvements.
Friday, 28th January 2022
Users can now choose to add social links to their public member page, by editing their profile and adding in their username for different social platforms.
The site has now been translated into Traditional Chinese, along with major improvements to the existing Simplified Chinese translations.
Disconnection timer has been removed from timed games. Now, when your opponent (or you) disconnects from a game, the game will not end until the game/move timer has completely expired.
Users accessing a private game as spectators will not be able to follow you to the rematch unless explicitly invited (by manually sharing link with them etc.)
Friday, 31st December 2021
We updated the game page design such that the game controls (draw, resign etc.) are more readily available available to use and easily visible. The side bar has also been updated to show moves/users and chat tabs at the same time.
Users can now change the language to Vietnamese in addition to Chinese and English from the language toggle located at the top right of the website.
User added bio links are now clickable!
Friday, 17th December 2021
Users can now see the game configuration (duration, visibility etc.) in the game chat when they join a game room.
Users can see the Won-Lost-Drawn record against each of the popular opponents on the member page.
Other improvements and design fixes.
Friday, 26th November 2021
Users can now make a pre move even when it is not their turn; useful in fast paced games. Pre moves have to be manually turned on from game settings.
Various chat, disconnection timer and move limits related fixes
Friday, 19th November 2021
Major updates to the server code to make faster and even more reliable! If you still face a bug, please let us know.
Introduced check and checkmate animations, the first couple of many more to come.
Players and observers can now flip the board at any time, both during the game and after it has ended, and even when navigating history.
Other smaller design and performance related fixes.
Friday, 5th November 2021
Dark mode is here! You can now toggle between dark and light modes for the website from the toggle button at the top of every page. We will remember your dark mode preference for each device.
Friday, 29th October 2021
Users can now add emojis using the emoji keyboard in lobby chat, game chat, and while editing their bios.
Fixed the broken board design on the puzzle page for mobile.
Various admin user related improvements.
Other small design and functionality fixes.
Friday, 15th October 2021
Users can now create and play correspondence games with 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, or 14 days long move timers.
The /help chat command now shows more detail of each command.
Updated the country selection drop down design for a better experience.
Multiple other smaller design fixes all across the game.
Friday, 8th October 2021
Users will now see their threatened pieces right after the opponent makes their move.
Fixed a bug that made the game controls invisible for users on mobile devices with smaller height.
Various other design and smaller bug fixes.
Friday, 1st October 2021
Ability to specify increment per move in timed games.
Fixed the broken game controls design for iPads.
Various improvements and fixes in the new playable puzzles feature.
Other small design improvements and bug fixes
Friday, 24th September 2021
Users can now play the puzzles featured on the platform. The system maintains a state of the puzzles users have already played, and shows the next playable puzzle in the lobby.
Friday, 17th September 2021
Tabbed region to the right of the game board for chat, users and game moves.
Lobby chat now resides in a separate tab in the navigation bar.
Updated each bot’s difficulty settings respective to their level.
Fixed a few major, user-reported bugs on the profile and lobby page.
Friday, 3rd September 2021
All levels of the Xiangqi engine are now available to play across all devices.
Language defaults to Chinese for new users from Chinese speaking countries.
Fixed the bug where loading more puzzles loaded the same puzzles again.
Effectively handled different ways to challenge bot users to a game.
Various other performance and design improvements, along with bug fixes.
Friday, 20th August 2021
More slash commands in chat. Type /help to get details the commands available so far.
Blocked users can no longer join the game as a player.
Internal progress on anti-cheat system.
Various other performance and design fixes
Friday, 6th August 2021
Users can now type /who in the chat, both in any game and on the lobby, to see who else is online there at that moment. This is the first of many slash commands we will be releasing in the future.
Numerous fixes and improvements in the recently released Friends feature.
Revisited move limits and ensured the limit correctness.
Various other smaller design and functionality improvements.
Monday, 19th July 2021
You can now add other players on Xiangqi.com as friends
Play with 5 different bots, each with a different skill level and personality
We introduced Google Translate so you can now translate the entire app along with chat messages in any language.
Fixed the bug where creating a game as the black player and not being on the game page when opponent joins resulted in a loss.
Friday, 9th July 2021
You can now mute others from the chat, or block them to hide all of their activity
You can report other players from their member page
Xiangqi.com now supports multiple chess engines, with the introduction of Fairy-Stockfish (playable on Chrome for desktop), on multiple difficulty levels.
When a piece captures another piece, the capturing piece is now shown with a purple and yellow border. This helps you better notice when your opponent has captured one of your pieces. (The captured pieces are shown above and below the board, with the current captured piece with a yellow circle.)
Fixes for the chat snapping behavior and other chat related design inconsistencies
Various other design and functionality improvements
Friday, 2nd July 2021
Users may now choose “International“ as their country
User selected piece stays selected even after the opponent moves, allowing to make moves quicker than before
Users can now abandon an untimed game if their opponent has not made a move in the last one hour.
Other smaller design and functionality improvements
Friday, 25th June 2021
Users can now create a game or join an open table as soon as they create an account, without having to activate it first
Xiangqi.com now celebrates your checkmate wins with lots of confetti
Fixed the confirm move dialog notation for the black player
Lots of other design and functionality improvements for the web and mobile
Friday, 18th June 2021
New lobby design, along with various other design improvements all over the platform
Block repeating threat move patterns (rule#4)
Other small fixes and UX improvements
Friday, 11th June 2021
Draw game on four consecutive non-threatening repetitions from both players
Users can now edit puzzle titles and delete their puzzles
Improve mobile app chat experience and design
Other small fixes and improvements
Friday, 4th June 2021
Implementation of the anti-bullying rule, preventing continuous threats
Ability to mark moves on games to study and discuss at a later point
Ability to disable draw requests in games
Better games/puzzles section controls on the member page
Few other optimisation and improvements
Friday, 28th May 2021
Users can now rate the chat messages both in the lobby and on the game
The game controls and settings are now both available in one place, in the menu under the game board
Others smaller bug and design fixes
Friday, 21st May 2021
Ability to create and play private games is back!
You can now set up any board position on the editor, and “Start Game“ with the computer from that move.
Fixed the server disconnection issue, where games were abruptly being marked as ended.
iOS version of Xiangqi’s mobile app now available on App Store.
Other minor bug fixes and improvements
Friday, 7th May 2021
Ability to enable the option that asks you to confirm the move you just made, acts as a safety net for when you mis-click.
Nicer boards with bigger pieces on the profile page, now also specifying the games that ended in a checkmate.
“Time Played“ on untimed games, give users the visibility to see how long an untimed game has been going on for.
Android version of Xiangqi’s mobile app now available on Play Store.
Friday, 30th April 2021
Users can now request to take back their last move from their opponent. Take backs also work in games against the computer.
Clicking the new “Edit“ button below the board opens up the historical game moves in the board editor.
Users can now copy a shareable link for any position created on the board editor.
Various small fixes and improvements.
Friday, 23rd April 2021
Users can now request an extra minute from their opponent to their game timer during timed games
New sounds for game start/end, chat mention, and expiring timers
Fixed a bug where users were some users were stuck with the old version of the website
Lots of other small fixes
Friday, 16th April 2021
Introduction of Xiangqi.com Achievement badges
Real time system messages on the lobby
Lifted the checkmate restriction when publishing a puzzle
Other small fixes and improvements
Friday, 9th April 2021
Users can now abandon games that have not yet started
Optimized game board (especially for Safari/Mobile users)
Export boards from the editor as PNGs
Lots of other small fixes and improvements
Friday, 2nd April 2021
Updated chat design for better readability and visual appeal.
Move numbers can now be specified in the chat like #1 to be used as a reference for others in the chat. Clicking the move number from chat will take users to that move in the game!
User can now visit their profile by directly going to https://play.xiangqi.com/profile and edit it on https://play.xiangqi.com/profile/edit.
Numerous other technical fixes to improve your experience of the site!
Friday, 26th March 2021
We have a brand new homepage for Xiangqi.com, with improved navigation and better visuals, and a new logo!
Now you can sign in with Apple on our iOS app
Better in-game notifications
Improved visuals for captured pieces
Moderation controls for Xiangqi.com Admins
And as always, various technical and bug fixes to improve your experience of the site!
Friday, 19th March 2021
Introduced the Leaderboard, where players can check their ranking among the top players in their country and check out the top players throughout Xiangqi.com
Move history can now be viewed using arrow keys on the keyboard
Improvements to the Challenge experience
Pieces toggle between Chinese/English when changing the site language
Several small improvements and enhancements to give you an awesome experience on the site!
Friday, 12th March 2021
We have a Chess Engine integrated in the site, and now you can play an unrated and untimed game against the computer!
Improvements and bug fixes in Puzzles and Puzzle Editor
Miscellaneous improvements throughout the site