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Updated 14 December |
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If you have a Java-enabled browser, click here to play through the game and notes. Moves so far:
Game Commentary has started: Opening notes from our experts and in-depth commentary from former Women's world champion Ye LIN. Readers seeking illustrative games, can find them easily by installing the CCHVIEW 3.5 database available for free from the Xiangqi homepage. Just open the program, start a new file, and play the moves of either Qin Lu/world game. At any point during the opening, you can hit the "diag query" button, and choose from a list of games with that position. Two good places for a query in this game, are after 5. Pc5, and after 10...Rb10. - Bill Brydon After move 15: Black has to save the horse. Hd4 threatens checkmate in one and also protects the Pc7 indirectly: 15...Hd4 16.Hxd4 Cxd4 17.Rxc7? Cc4 with a fork. But it also lets Red exchange the awkwardly placed horse at e2. - Jouni Tolonen As Ye LIN correctly pointed out, the game so far (up to the 18th move, with a couple of transposed steps) followed the 10th round encounter between DaHua LIU and GuanLin YANG in the 1982 Chinese national. 19.P7=8 by LU is an improvement over the 19.P7=6 by DaHua LIU in the original game. (Actually it was 19.P3=4, as the game was left-right reversed - LIU started with 1.C8=5.) The original game was drawn after 61 moves. It was voted as the 'best game' of the event. - David Woo After 20...Rf2 Black has an initiative on his left side. Red cannot afford to weaken his defence there any more. 21.Rg6 (attempting a cheap trick: Cxg10X ) loses immediately to 21...Rxf1+! 22.Kxf1 Hg3+ 23.Ke1 Rf1X. If Red cannot resist the temptation to win a horse with 21.Rxf8 Cxf8 22.Rxc8, Black will have all pieces attacking with Red's defence badly weakened: 21...Rxf1+ 23.Ke2 Rxg1. Red chooses to strengthen the defence with 21.Ade2. Moving the other advisor 21.Afe2 would leave a serious weakness: 21..Ch1 22.Ei3 Rg2! with double check threats. A good rule of thumb in Xiangqi is to counter-attack when attacked. Remembering that, Black's choices 21...Hd10 and 21...Ch8 release the pressure and let Red breathe. More likely Black will continue to press with Rg2, attacking Cg5. The board is on fire, and every step requires precise calculation. Can the world keep up with Lu? - Jouni Tolonen After 23.Rg6: Red is threatening to checkmate with Cxg10X. Defending with Ece8 attacking the Red chariot is not enough as 24.Cxg10+ Exg10 25.Rxg2 loses a chariot. Black's 23... Ege8 would link the elephants but leave the horse at c8 without protection. On the other hand unlinked elephants after Ei8 weaken the king defense. After 24.Rh6: The choice 24...Hxe3 is an exciting move which leaves the cannon at g5 and the elephant at g1 without protection. It also threatens Hc2+ forking the king and and the a3 cannon.The pinned elephant cannot recapture on e3. After Red recaptures on e3 with a horse or a cannon Black gets both elephants with Rxg1 and threatens checkmate-in-one with Rgxf1X. But is it enough compensation? After the choice 24....Ci1, saving the threat Hxe3, Red might try to relieve the pressure with Rh1 or Ci5. - Jouni Tolonen
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Choose the next move: Lu is back - after winning the Chinese championship with 8/11!
Grandmaster Qin LU is taking on the rest of the world in a xiangqi challenge similar to the one held by chess champion Garry Kasparov. Lu is the reigning Qi Wang - effectively the world champion - so this rematch generates lot of excitement in the Chinese chess community. The match began on 6 November. The rate of play is one move per day. The official site of this
match is: http://chess.online.tj.cn The same team are helping the MSO cover the
match: Bill Brydon and Peter Sung of
the Toronto Xiangqi Association, top Finnish player
Jouni Tolonen and David Woo of the Xiangqi
Review.
For the first
game, click here. For the third
game, click here. |
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The starting position of
Xiangqi: In Chinese notation, the files are numbered one to nine, from right to left, movement along ranks given as number of points moved, from the viewpoint of each player. The system we are using here is based on David Woo's from the Xiangqi Review. An alternative notation is: |
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Qin
LU vs. the World II
Algebraic
Xiangqi Notation