Iron gate bolt
铁门栓 · tiě mén shuān
A mate where a cannon on the middle file freezes the palace and a chariot delivers the blow the defender cannot answer.
The cannon controls the central file, so the General cannot step onto it and pieces on it are pinned. With the defence bolted shut, a chariot arrives on the back rank or the palace and mates.
The name is exact: the cannon is the bolt across the gate, and nothing inside can move.
You will usually see it after a defender has been dragged away from the middle. Force an Advisor to move, take the file with the cannon, and the chariot that follows is not making a threat so much as collecting a result.
In practice
The pattern needs the middle file. If you are defending, keep a piece on it that is allowed to move, and the bolt never slides shut.
Related terms
- Hollow cannon空头炮A cannon on the middle file with nothing between it and the enemy General, which paralyses the defence and usually wins.
- Cannon炮 / 砲A piece that moves like a chariot but can only capture by jumping exactly one piece, called the screen, on its way to the target.
- Chariot车 / 車The strongest piece in xiangqi, moving any distance along a rank or file exactly like a rook, and the piece that decides most games.
- Checkmate将死A check the defender cannot answer, which ends the game immediately in the attacker's favour.