Horse
傌 (Red) / 馬 (Black) · mǎ
The Horse looks like a knight and behaves like a completely different animal. It reaches the same eight points, but it does not jump: put a piece on the first straight step of its move and that direction is closed. Getting this one rule into your fingers is the single biggest step from beginner to competent xiangqi player.
At the start the Horse has only two legal moves. Its other directions are blocked by its own army.
How it moves
- Moves one point orthogonally, then one point diagonally outward, in one move.
- Cannot jump. A piece on the orthogonal step blocks that direction entirely.
- Captures on the point it lands on, never on the point it passes.
- Crosses the river freely and is a full attacking piece.
- Worth
- About the same as a cannon early, and more once the board opens
- Also called
- Knight
Hobbling the horse's leg
蹩马腿 means laming the horse's leg, and it is an ordinary move that strong players make on purpose. A single soldier placed on the right point can shut an enemy Horse out of the game for the whole opening.
It works on your own pieces too, which is why move order matters so much in xiangqi openings. Develop in the wrong sequence and you will hobble your own Horse without noticing.
Weak early, strong later
In a crowded position a Horse may have two legal moves and no future. Twenty moves later, with files opened and pieces traded, the same Horse can be the best piece on the board.
So do not judge a Horse by where it stands. Judge it by how many points it can reach and whether the opponent can cheaply block them.
Horses in attack
- A Horse next to the enemy palace, in the trough, checks the General and covers escape squares at once.
- A Horse on a palace corner sets up the corner horse mate with a chariot or cannon.
- A Horse standing in front of your own cannon is the screen for the cannon behind the horse mate, the most famous pattern in the game.
Common questions
- Can the Horse jump over pieces in Chinese chess?
- No. Unlike a western knight, it is blocked by a piece on the first straight step of its move. That is the most important difference between the two games.
- Why won't my horse move in that direction?
- Something is standing on the orthogonal step. Move that piece, or use a different direction, because the move does not exist while the leg is blocked.
- Is a Horse worth more than a Cannon?
- Early on they are close, with the Cannon often better because the board is full of screens. In the endgame, with few pieces left, the Horse is usually stronger.
Terms worth knowing
- Horse马 / 马A knight that moves one point straight then one diagonally, and which unlike a western knight can be blocked by a piece standing in its way.
- Hobbling the horse's leg蹩马腿Blocking the orthogonal first step of a Horse's move, which makes that move illegal because a xiangqi Horse cannot jump.
- Horse in the trough卧槽马A horse planted next to the enemy palace where it checks the General and supports a mating attack from a chariot or cannon.
- 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.