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Home > Archive > Chinese chess > February 2005 > Sufficient strength to checkmate in XiangQi?
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Sufficient strength to checkmate in XiangQi?
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| DragonSlay 2005-01-27, 12:29 pm |
| Could someone tell me what is the minimum strength needed to force
checkmate/stalemate in XiangQi? Say if my opponent has only his "King"
remaining? What pieces do I have to have to avoid a draw? And I assume
that the "King's Line of Sight" rule can play a part in this as well?
Thank you.
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| Richard 2005-01-27, 12:29 pm |
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DragonSlay wrote:
quote:
> Could someone tell me what is the minimum strength needed to force
> checkmate/stalemate in XiangQi? Say if my opponent has only his
"King"
quote:
> remaining? What pieces do I have to have to avoid a draw? And I
assume
quote:
> that the "King's Line of Sight" rule can play a part in this as well?
quote:
> Thank you.
Yes, the rule that the kings can't directly face each other plays a
very large part in this.
In order to checkmate a lone king, you need at least a chariot.
However, you can also win by stalemate with a lone horse or lone pawn.
A lone cannon isn't enough material to mate, although in combination
with an advisor or just about any other piece (besides an elephant), it
can checkmate.
I'd recommend you check out the book "First Syllabus in XiangQi:
Chinese Chess 1" by David Li. That covers these and other possibilities
in pretty good detail.
--Richard "The Fromper" Becker
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| DragonSlay 2005-01-27, 12:29 pm |
| Keith: What an incredible database! Thank you so much! I have been
overwhelmed by the generosity of the Xiangqi players I have met so far.
And 99% of the information, software, and recorded games I have found,
have been put on the net- it had to take hours- absolutely free. I will
try to be this helpful to new players one day myself. Thank you again!
Steve
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| spamtokeith@gmail.com 2005-01-27, 12:29 pm |
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DragonSlay wrote:
quote:
> Keith: What an incredible database! Thank you so much! I have been
> overwhelmed by the generosity of the Xiangqi players I have met so
far.
quote:
> And 99% of the information, software, and recorded games I have
found,
quote:
> have been put on the net- it had to take hours- absolutely free. I
will
quote:
> try to be this helpful to new players one day myself. Thank you
again!
quote:
>
>
> Steve
I just want to be sure that you know that I had nothing to do with
creating these databases. I'm just a satisfied user of them. If you use
google groups to browse old postings, then you can see the announcement
for that site.
A long time ago I had some information about Xiangqi opening statistics
on my webpage, but that particular ISP went away and it was not easy to
recreate the pages somewhere else.
Regards,
Keith
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| David H Li 2005-02-04, 12:42 pm |
| DragonSlay wrote:
quote:
>Could someone tell me what is the minimum strength needed to force
>checkmate/stalemate in XiangQi? Say if my opponent has only his "King"
>remaining? What pieces do I have to have to avoid a draw? And I assume
>that the "King's Line of Sight" rule can play a part in this as well?
>Thank you.
>
>
>
The following is from page 250 of my Xiangqi Syllabus on Horse, Chinese
Chess 5, published in October 2004. Under "Annex E - Lessons Learned:
III Winning Combinations," the first of six entries under that section
gives the following:
In general, the number of offensive players needed to subdue an opponent
is one more than the number of defenders. Thus, a 2-chaRiot-Horse trio
is usually enough to subdue an opponent that is guarded by two
Advisers. For each additional defender, another offensive player is needed.
Please note the qualifying clause: "In general." In the specific game
which gives rise to the above quotation (Annex E summarizes 71 lessons
first presented in various games (with more specifics) annotated in the
book) , the defense has a Cannon, which makes the 2-chaRiot-Horse trio
inadequate to force a win until additional resources are marshalled.
Clearly, the possibility always exists whereby one may construct
combinations where this general rule does not hold.
Concerning your "King's Line of Sight" rule, I presume you mean his
"telepotency", a term I coined which first appeared in my First Syllabus
on Xiangqi - Chinese Chess 1. As you might know, in 203 BCE, Han Xin, a
commander-in-chief and a student of Sun Tzu, invented Xiangqi by
applying teachings in Sun Tzu's "Art of War." One statement in the Art
of War, that a commander can subdue an opponent several thousand li
(miles) away, is the authority behind this telepotency rule. So, to
your question whether the King's telepotency plays a part, it can be
definitely answered in the affirmative.
David Li
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