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If you
have a Java-enabled browser, click here
to play through the game and notes.
Moves so far:
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Algebraic
Notation
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Chinese
Notation
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1.
Che3 Che8
2. Hg3 Hg8
3. Rh1 Hc8
4. Pg5 Ca8
5. Hc3 Rb10
6. Rb1 Rb4
7. Ca3 Rxb1
8. Hxb1 Ri9
9. Cac3 Rb9
10. Ha3 Rb5
11. Ce2 Rd5
12. Ege3 Pe6
13. Ch2 Cxa4
14. Pc5 Pe5
15. Ch5 Hce7
16. Cxe5 Pg6
17. Cxe8 Ecxe8
18. Pxg6 Hxg6
19. Afe2 Hf4
20. Rf1 He7
21. Hc4 Heg6
22. He5 Hxe5
23. Pxe5 Rd4
24. Cxc7 Ade9
25. Rf3 Ca5
26. Pc6 Exc6
27. Cf7 Ece8
28. Hf5 Cxf5
29. Rxf4
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1. C2=5
C8=5
2. H2+3 H8+7
3. R1=2 H2+3
4. P3+1 C2=1
5. H8+7 R1=2
6. R9=8 R2+6
7. C8=9 R2+3
8. H7-8 R9+1
9. C9=7 R9=2
10. H8+9 R2+4
11. C5-1 R2=4
12. E3+5 P5+1
13. C5=2 C1+4
14. P7+1 P5+1
15. C2+3 H3+5
16. C2=5 P7+1
17. C5+3 E3+5
18. P3+1 H5+7
19. A4+5 H++6
20. R2=4 H7+5
21. H9+7 H5+7
22. H7+5 H7+5
23. P5+1 R4+1
24. C7+4 A4+5
25. R4+2 C1-1
26. P7+1 E5+3
27. C7=4 E3-5
28. H3+4 C1=6
29. R4+1
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The World's Slow, Steady Slide
Bill Brydon, with help from Peter Sung
Click here for Chinese notation.
In this third game, LU has played to win from the beginning. His plan
beginning with 3... Hc8, has taken the world team out of the books,
and tested its grasp of basic theory.
With 1... Che8, Black initiated the Counter Cannon Defence,
the most fundamental of xiangqi openings. Strong players advise beginners to
study and play it before anything else. It is extensively analyzed in
"The Secret of the Orange", which dates from the late Ming Dynasty
(mid-17th century). All serious students must know this book.
In most Counter Cannon games, both chaRiots (rooks) on the right side
are positioned early. After 2. Hg3, Red is free to either take the open
file with 3. Rh1, or position the chariot horizontally with 3. Ri2 and
4. Rd2. Black normally plays 3... Ri9 after 3. Rh1, and 3... Rh10
after 3. Ri2.
In recent years, the Chinese grandmasters have been experimenting with
delaying these moves in various ways. LU's 3... Hc8 follows
this trend. It forced Red into a battle of fundamental ideas, as
opposed to published theory.
Toronto master, Peter Sung, says that LU is famous for his "atypical
openings". He doesn't think that LU knows the openings as well as the
other grandmasters, and must rely on "strength and chess feeling". He
adds: "In Southern China, most of the players are like street fighters.
They usually don't have a lot of books to learn from."
Peter thinks that Red has played a number of "soft moves", and is
probably lost. He finds it difficult to pinpoint a single bad error. He
was surprised when LU exchanged chariots with 7... Rxb1. He thinks that
LU knew he could gain some advantage by rapidly bringing the other
chariot across the board.
The Counter Cannon Defence is a clash between attacking formations. If
Red fails to attack, the advantage can quickly pass to Black. That has
happened in this game. Peter is very suspicious about the move 11. Ce2,
after which Red could not find an attacking plan. Peter thinks that 11.
Ei3 was the best choice.
Peter thinks that Red has probably made a number of small mistakes.
After seeing 25...Ca5, he decided that Red is losing. Black threatens
Cxe5 with a winning attack. Peter says that Red must play 26 Pe6,
allowing 26... Hxe6, which wins two pawns. Peter calls this "slow
suicide".
LU is having a brilliant year. During the period he has been playing
games against the world, he has won the Chinese championship, and the
Five Ram Cup. The Five Ram Cup is considered to be xiangqi's most elite
GM tournament. It is held every year in Guangzhou, Lu's home base.
Information about both of these events can be found on the
Xiangqi home page. Annotated
games from both will soon begin to appear in
Beidou Xiangqi.
Resources:
An abundance of GM-level Counter Cannon games can be found on the
Xiangqi homepage's
Xiangqi Master Database.
The "Secret of the Orange" appears as an appendix in H. T. Lau's
"Chinese Chess". This is the most widely available English language
xiangqi book. It can be purchased from
http://www.amazon.com.
The "Secret of the Orange" has also been discussed, and sample analysis
presented, in several issues of the Xiangqi Review.
Another draw!
Qin LU's draw offer in the game took our experts - who had predicted a downhill
ride for the World team - by surprise. The continuation chosen by LU, 28. Hf5 Cxf5
29. Rxf4, leads by force to a cannon endgame with no chances to win for either side
after 29... Rxf4 (otherwise the black cannon is lost) 30. Cxf4. More analysis to
come.
- Jouni Tolonen
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The world accepts LU's offer of a draw.
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Taking
on the world - AGAIN |
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 21
December. The rate of play is one move per day.
The official site of this
match is: http://chess.online.tj.cn
and instructions for non-Chinese users (for the first match) can be found here.
The site has revised the web page, which is supposed
to add more features and to let more people take part.
It looks good if you use MS IE. However, the background is way too dark to read
the (Chinese) text in Netscape. (David Woo)
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 second
game, click here.
Readers seeking illustrative games, can find them easily in the
Xiangqi
Master Database on the
Xiangqi homepage, or
in the CCHVIEW 3.5 database available for free from the same source.
The games in the database have a diagram query feature on the right. In
CCHVIEW 3.5, just open the program, start a new file, and play the moves
of any 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. - Bill Brydon
| Oops! We blew it!
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Peter realized after talking to me that Red
might draw, and didn't phone. He was feeling sick. I was rushing to leave town.
Those are are excuses, for what they're worth.
Neither of us properly considered 26. P7+1 (Pc6). This saves Red's valuable
central pawn, and leaves the outcome in doubt.
Peter says: "After 26. P7+1, Black doesn't have enough manpower to win.
Red's central pawn has a lot of power. So Qin LU chose a drawing line."
Looking back, the game is a good, gritty recovery by Red after a soft opening.
It is notable that the world couldn't match the grandmaster in the early
opening, but showed good positional technique. This is no doubt due to high
quality move selection by the world's team leaders, and by large numbers of
votes from skilled players in China.
- Bill Brydon
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Algebraic Xiangqi Notation
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| Red pieces and their abbreviations: |
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| chaRiot |
R |
a1,i1 |
| Horse |
H |
b1,h1 |
| Elephant |
E |
c1,g1 |
| Advisor |
A |
d1,f1 |
| King |
K |
e1 |
| Cannon |
C |
b3,h3 |
| Pawn |
P |
a4,c4,e4,g4,i4 |
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| Click on the board to learn more! |
The notation of a move consists of the abbreviation of the piece plus the destination square. For example, a chariot move from a1 to b1 is Rb1.
If more than one piece of the same type can move to the square, the original rank or file of the moving piece is added. For example, in the starting position two advisors can move to e2, the other move being Ade2, the other Afe2.
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 the World Xiangqi Federation standard (we use "=" for sideways moves).
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