[citation needed] In 2009, the first world janggi tournament was held in Harbin, Heilongjiang, China.

The pieces consist of disks marked with identifying characters and are placed on the line intersections (as in the Chinese games xiangqi and Go).

Janggi pieces are traditionally octagonal in shape, and differ in size according to their rank.

The palace contains four diagonal lines extending outwards from the centre, forming an "X" shape.

Therefore, the space created by the vertical and horizontal lines takes the shape of a slightly wide rectangle.

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).

The general may move one step per turn along marked board lines to any of the nine points within the palace.

The pieces are labeled sa 사 (士) and are civilian government officials (i.e. council members serving the commander in chief).

If there is a piece on its first step (the red circles in the diagram), it's restricted from moving in that direction.

The elephants or sang 상 (象) begin the game to the left and right of the guards.

Like the horse, the elephant is blocked from moving by any intervening pieces (the red circles in the diagram).

Like the rook in Western chess, the chariot moves and captures in a straight line either 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.

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.

Unlike xiangqi, janggi requires cannons to jump to move, as well as capture.

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.)

In this situation, the opponent can either call a draw, or make a move that breaks the condition.

If both players have less than 30 piece points, however, a draw is allowed by both repetition and perpetual check.

To compensate for this, Red receives 1.5 points (called 'deom' (點; 덤) in Korean), the half-point being to avoid ties.