 Xiangqi for everybody
16 December 1999
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By Jouni Tolonen
Winning with a horse/chariot
The Horse
A horse can only achieve the winning stalemate with the help of the king's waiting moves - the tempo moves of western chess. Although there are some stalemate patterns with just the horse against the king, usually the friendly king needs to help the horse by controlling the central e-file.
Steps to win with a horse
- Drive the enemy king from the central file with the horse:
- Move your king to the central file.
- On the enemy king file, take control of the palace corners or the point in-between with the horse
- If necessary, make a waiting move with your king on the file it stands on.
In the first example, Red is to start and win. The solution is given move by move below the diagram. Note that there are many paths to win.
In the second example, Red has to save the horse first.
The Chariot
The Chariot is the most powerful piece in Xiangqi - no wonder it can win in just a few moves from almost any position. It does not in fact need help from the king but can drive the enemy king into stalemate easily.
Steps to win with a chariot
It is often possible to win faster with a chariot by just entering the enemy palace and restricting the king to stalemate. The following winning steps give a more general method which can be applied even with some extra material on the board.
Give a check on the central file
Move your king to the central file
Checkmate with a sideways chariot move
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