Checkmate
将死 · jiāng sǐ
A check the defender cannot answer, which ends the game immediately in the attacker's favour.
Checkmate ends the game, and because the General lives inside a nine point palace, mates in xiangqi are patterns rather than accidents. The named ones, like the cannon behind the horse or the iron gate bolt, come up again and again in real games.
Xiangqi also has no stalemate draw. A player with no legal move loses, which means a completely paralysed position is as good as a mate.
Because there is no stalemate rule, a mating attack and a smothering attack are the same project. If you can take every legal move away from your opponent, you do not need to reach the General at all.
In practice
Learn five named mating patterns before you learn any more opening moves. They will win you more games this month than theory will win you this year.
Related terms
- Check将军A direct attack on the enemy General, which the defender must answer immediately.
- Cannon behind the horse马后炮A mating pattern where a horse covers the General's escape squares and a cannon checks along the line with the horse itself as the screen.
- Iron gate bolt铁门栓A mate where a cannon on the middle file freezes the palace and a chariot delivers the blow the defender cannot answer.
- Smothered mate in the palace闷宫A mate where the General is checked and every escape point is blocked by its own defenders.