Angler Horse in Xiangqi: How the 钓鱼马 Mate Works

What 钓鱼马 means

钓 is to fish with a hook and line, 鱼 is fish and 马 is the Horse, so the name reads fishing horse. Xqinenglish gives Angler Horse as the World Xiangqi Federation translation, and you may meet either version in English. The Chinese name describes a position rather than one particular move: mates in which a Horse on that point works with other pieces are filed under it.

Where exactly is the point? Chinese texts describe it with numbers: the third or seventh file, on the opponent's third rank. Seen from Red's side, attacking Black, it is the point on Black's third rank, the rank where Black's Cannons start, on the third file in from either edge.

Do not confuse it with the high angler horse, 高钓马, which stands one rank further from Black's back rank, on the soldier rank. That one belongs to the tiger silhouette mate. Xqinenglish notes that at least one Chinese xiangqi dictionary uses a single name for both points, although most books on basic mates keep them apart, as we do here.

Two points from one spot

Put a Red Horse on the angler point on the right, the third file in from Red's right-hand edge. Two of its leaps land inside Black's palace. One goes to the back corner on that side, where Black's right Advisor starts the game. The other reaches the palace centre. Each leap has its own leg: the point directly in front of the Horse for the corner, and the palace's front corner beside it for the centre.

Now count the options of a General on its home point. It has three moves at most: left, right, and forward into the centre. The angler Horse takes away two of them. If the third is blocked by Black's own Advisor or watched by another Red piece, one check along the right line ends the game.

Notice what the Horse does not touch. It does not attack the General's home point, and it cannot reach the far side of the palace. The angler Horse is a net, and something else has to pull it tight.

Worked example: the Chariot takes the back rank

Black's General is on its home point, with one Advisor on the back corner on Red's left and an Elephant on its starting point beside it. Red has a Horse on the right-hand angler point, a Chariot on the right edge of the board just across the river, an Elephant on the middle point of its own palace's front edge to keep the central file closed, and its General at home. Red to move.

The Chariot runs up the edge file to the corner of the board, the point where Black's Chariot began the game, and checks along the back rank. The General cannot step right, because that point is on the Chariot's line and the Horse covers it too. It cannot step into the palace centre, which the Horse also covers. Its left is filled by its own Advisor. Nothing can drop onto the back rank in between, since the Advisor can only move into the centre and the Elephant has no route there. XiangqiPlay's rules engine confirms checkmate.

Two comparisons show what each piece is doing. Remove the Horse and the same Chariot check is answered by the General stepping into the palace centre. Keep the Horse but give Black a second Advisor in the palace centre, and that Advisor drops back to the right corner to block the check. One missing Horse or one extra defender turns mate into an ordinary check.

When the Horse gives the check itself

The angler Horse can also be the checking piece. Its leap to the back corner hits a General that has moved onto that corner, and Chinese descriptions of the pattern mention this use alongside the quieter one.

Here is a short example. Black's General stands on the back corner on Red's right, with one Advisor on the opposite back corner. Red has a Chariot on the right edge of Black's second rank, a Horse on Black's river bank rank on the second file from the right edge, and its General at home with the central file completely open. The Horse jumps to the angler point and checks.

The General has two neighbouring points. Stepping forward along the side of the palace runs into the Chariot on the second rank. Stepping left onto its home point would put it face to face with the Red General on the open file, which the rules forbid. No Black piece can capture the Horse or block its leg, so it is mate. Close the central file, for instance with a Red Advisor in the middle of Red's palace, and the General simply slides left. It is the same rule that powers the white faced general mate, borrowed for a single move.

Getting a Horse to the angler point

From Black's river bank rank, a Horse on either file next to the angler file can jump there, as in the example, as long as the point directly in front of it is empty. From the soldier rank, a Horse can come in sideways from the edge file or from the central file, provided the point beside it in that direction is empty.

Chinese descriptions name the Chariot and the Soldier as the usual finishers. A Chariot on an open edge file or rib file is the most flexible partner, because it can switch to whichever line the General is left on. A Soldier is slower, but in endgames it is often the partner you have.

Keeping the angler out

Because the angler point lies outside the palace, Advisors cannot reach it, and it is not one of the points an Elephant can use either. Only a Chariot, Horse or Cannon can contest it, so keep one of them within reach when an enemy Horse is crossing the river on that side.

The legs are the cheaper answer. The angler Horse's grip on the palace centre runs through the palace's front corner beside it, so an Advisor stepping up onto that corner cuts the centre off from the Horse at once, while the back corner stays covered. Its hold on the back corner runs through the point directly in front of it, which only a Chariot, Horse or Cannon can occupy.

And as the example showed, an Advisor that is already in the palace centre can drop back to block a check along the back rank. Moving both Advisors away from that structure, or trading them off cheaply, is what turns a harmless-looking Horse into a mating net.

Common slips

Attackers often park the Horse on the angler point and forget that the General's third exit is still open. Work out which two points the Horse covers, then find a piece for the remaining one before you spend a move on the check. The other frequent error is using the wrong side: the right-hand angler point controls the right back corner, so the General is caught only if its left side is already blocked or covered.

Try it on XiangqiPlay

Both positions take a minute to set up, and replaying them from Black's side is the quickest way to see the net. Then hunt for the angler point in XiangqiPlay's 5,000 engine-proven mate puzzles, or sign up for a free account and test it against the computer, which has eight levels from Easy to God.