If you play chess, you already know the language of tactics: forks, pins, skewers, discovered attacks, deflections, double checks. All of these exist in xiangqi. What changes is the geometry. A horse can be blocked, a cannon attacks the second piece on a line instead of the first, and your own general pins pieces from across the board. Chess players who learn how each familiar tactic is reshaped by these rules start winning material almost immediately — because most of their opponents at club level have never thought about tactics in these terms.
Forks
The horse fork
The horse forks like a knight: from one point it attacks up to eight others. Two differences matter:
- The leg can be blocked. A horse only attacks a point if its leg point — the point next to it in that direction — is empty. When you calculate a fork, check each leg. A fork that attacks the general and a chariot is useless if one of the legs is blocked.
- The general cannot run far. Because the general is confined to its palace, a horse fork that includes a check is often more devastating than in chess: the general may have only one legal answer, and the other forked piece falls.
The most common horse fork in xiangqi attacks the general and a chariot at the same time. Before every chariot move near an enemy horse, list the points that horse can reach.
The chariot fork
A chariot attacks along a rank and a file at once, like a rook, so it forks two unprotected pieces on different lines. It is the same as in chess, and just as common.
The cannon fork
A cannon can attack two pieces at once if each is the second piece along a different line from the cannon. This is invisible to chess eyes: you have to count screens on both lines. Cannon forks often appear after a capture, when the cannon lands on a point with screens in two directions.
Pins
The general pin
A piece that is the only piece between the two generals on a file cannot move off that file. This pin comes from the rule that the generals may never face each other with nothing in between. It is the most powerful pin in xiangqi, because it works over the whole length of the board and needs no attacking piece at all. See flying general mates.
The chariot pin
As in chess: a chariot attacks a piece that cannot move because a more valuable piece — or the general — stands behind it on the same line.
The cannon pin
A cannon pins two pieces at once. When exactly two pieces stand between an enemy cannon and your general, neither can leave the line: whichever stays becomes the screen, and the cannon gives check. Chess has nothing like it. See the cannon explained.
Skewers
The chariot skewers exactly like a rook: it attacks a valuable piece that must move, exposing a piece behind it. Because the chariot is by far the most valuable non-general piece, skewers against the general and a chariot behind it are the ones that decide games.
The cannon produces a strange cousin of the skewer: when the first of two pieces on its line moves away, the second is no longer attacked — but a third piece farther along may suddenly be, if the second becomes the new screen. Counting pieces on the line is again the only way to see it.
Discovered attacks
Moving a screen
In chess, a discovered attack happens when a piece moves out of the way of a line piece. In xiangqi, the cannon adds a second kind: moving a piece onto a line can create an attack, by providing a screen. A horse that jumps onto the file between your cannon and the enemy general turns the cannon into a checking piece. That is the heart of the cannon behind horse mate.
Double check
Double checks are common in xiangqi. A typical one: a horse moves off a line and gives check itself, while the piece behind it — a chariot or, with a remaining screen, a cannon — also checks. As in chess, a double check can only be answered by moving the general, and the general's tiny palace often makes that impossible.
Deflection and decoy
Deflection — forcing a defender away from its job — is one of the most common winning ideas in xiangqi, because the defenders have very specific jobs. An advisor that protects the point in front of the general, or an elephant that guards a horse's landing point, can be attacked or captured to open the way for mate. Many xiangqi combinations start with a sacrifice on an advisor or elephant precisely for this reason.
Decoy — luring the general onto a bad point — is also common, especially luring it onto a file where it can be checked by a cannon with a ready screen.
Overloaded defenders
With so few defensive pieces, overloading is everywhere. A single advisor often has to guard two points at once; a single elephant may have to protect a soldier and block a horse leg. Look at each enemy defender and ask what would happen if it had to do two things at once.
Tactics chess does not have
A few xiangqi tactics have no chess equivalent at all:
- Blocking a horse leg as an attack. Placing a piece on the leg point of an enemy horse can freeze it, sometimes winning it outright.
- Blocking an elephant eye. The same idea against elephants.
- The no-move win. Tactics that aim not at checkmate but at leaving the enemy with no legal move. See stalemate is a loss.
A tactical checklist for chess players
Every move, before you think about strategy:
- Checks, captures, threats — as in chess.
- Horse legs: can any horse move where I think it can?
- Cannon screens: how many pieces lie between each cannon and each target?
- The generals' file: which pieces are pinned between the generals?
- Defenders' jobs: which advisor or elephant is doing two things?
Practise it
- Play the computer at a comfortable level on the home board and look for one of these tactics every game.
- Replay your games from your account, mark every piece that was lost to a tactic, and label the tactic. You will soon see which xiangqi-specific ones you keep missing.
- Continue with traps for chess players and xiangqi for chess players.
Frequently asked questions
Do forks work the same in xiangqi as in chess?
The idea is the same, but horse forks depend on the leg points being empty, and cannon forks depend on counting screens.
What is the strongest pin in xiangqi?
The pin between the two generals. A piece that is the only one between them on a file cannot leave that file at all.
Can a cannon pin two pieces at once?
Yes. If exactly two pieces stand between an enemy cannon and your general, neither can move off the line.
Are double checks common in xiangqi?
Yes, more common than in chess, largely because of cannons and horses combining on the same line.
What tactic should chess players learn first?
Cannon screen counting. It is the one chess players have no instinct for, and it causes most early losses.
