Left cannon blockade xiangqi guide: how Black's 炮8进4 seals Red's Chariot, Red's usual answer, the half-way Opposite Cannons, plans and early traps.
The Left Cannon Blockade (左炮封车, zuǒ pào fēng jū) is a Black reply to the Central Cannon. After developing the left Horse and Chariot, Black pushes the left Cannon four points forward onto Red's Soldier rank, directly in front of Red's newly developed Chariot, and invites Red to take it. Red would regret doing so.
封车 means sealing the Chariot, which is exactly what the Cannon does. ECCO, the standard index of opening codes, files the system in two places: B07 when Black keeps a Screen Horses style shape, and D30 to D36 when Black follows up by putting the other Cannon on the central file. That second version turns the game into the Opposite Direction Cannons by a later route, and Chinese players call it 半途列炮, Opposite Cannons reached halfway through the opening.
It has a close relative in the Left Three Step Tiger, where Black's left Cannon goes to the edge with 炮8平9 and the Chariot takes over the eighth file instead. ECCO files the Tiger version that later switches to opposite Cannons as D40 to D43. Both are ways of getting Black's left wing into play quickly before deciding what to do in the center.
The first moves, in notation and in words
1.炮二平五 马8进7 2.马二进三 车9平8 3.车一平二 炮8进4. Red opens with the Central Cannon and Black develops the left Horse. Red develops the right Horse and Black moves the corner Chariot onto its eighth file. Red brings its own right Chariot to file two, and Black pushes the left Cannon four points along the eighth file, across the river, to Red's Soldier rank.
Look at that file after move three. Red's Chariot stands at the bottom of file two, which Black calls the eighth file. Black's Cannon stands on an empty point between Red's Soldiers, and Black's Chariot waits at the far end with nothing in between. We checked the consequences with the site's rules engine. Red's Chariot can now move only one or two points up the file, or take the Cannon. If it takes, 4.车二进三 车8进6 follows: Black's Chariot recaptures, no Red piece can take it back, and Red has swapped a Chariot for a Cannon.
Red's usual answer
The usual reply is 4.兵三进一, pushing the Soldier on Red's third file one point. That Soldier was standing on the leg of Red's right Horse, so the push frees the Horse to jump to the river bank with 马三进四. The engine confirms the jump is illegal before the Soldier moves and legal after it. The push also gains space on the wing where Black's Cannon has settled.
It changes what the Cannon is looking at, too. Black's Cannon also works sideways along Red's Soldier rank, and before the push its first screen in that direction was Red's third-file Soldier. With that Soldier gone, the central Soldier becomes the screen and Red's seventh-file Soldier becomes the target, which is why Red soon lifts that Soldier as well with 6.兵七进一 in the main line below. Keeping track of which Soldier is the screen and which is the target is half the work of playing against this Cannon.
Two ways to go on
Black now chooses the character of the game. The combative choice is 4...炮2平5, putting the right Cannon on the central file. Both Cannons now face each other down the middle with two Soldiers between them, and the opening has become the Opposite Direction Cannons with Black's left Cannon already deep in Red's camp. Chinese commentary describes it as a favorite of combative players.
The calmer choice is 4...马2进3, completing the Screen Horses shape while the Cannon keeps Red's Chariot sealed. ECCO keeps that version under B07.
A main line with the central Cannon
A frequently taught continuation, coded D33, is 1.炮二平五 马8进7 2.马二进三 车9平8 3.车一平二 炮8进4 4.兵三进一 炮2平5 5.马八进七 马2进3 6.兵七进一 车1平2 7.车九平八 车2进4 8.炮八平九 车2平8 9.车八进六.
In words, from move five: Red develops the left Horse toward the center and Black does the same with the right Horse. Red pushes the seventh-file Soldier, Black brings the right Chariot onto file two, and Red puts its left Chariot on file eight. Black lifts that Chariot four points to its own river bank, Red moves the left Cannon to the edge file, and Black swings the Chariot all the way across to the eighth file, so both Black Chariots now stand behind the blockading Cannon. Red's left Chariot then crosses the river.
At move seven Black had a real choice. The river-bank Chariot, 7...车2进4, is the steadier option, while pushing it two points further with 7...车2进6 leads to a sharper fight.
Play often goes on 9...炮5平6 10.车八平七 象7进5 11.炮五进四 马3进5 12.车七平五. Black steps the central Cannon aside, Red's Chariot slides over and takes Black's third-file Soldier, and Black lifts an Elephant. Then Red's central Cannon takes Black's central Soldier, Black's Horse takes the Cannon, and Red's Chariot takes the Horse, so Red has given a Cannon for a Horse and a Soldier. The commentary on this line stresses that the capture on the central Soldier cannot be delayed, or Red's advantage melts away.
What each side wants
Black's idea is pressure on Red's right side. The Cannon ties down Red's right Chariot, the doubled Chariots on the eighth file add weight behind it, and in the half-way version the central Cannon opens a second front. The cost is development: Black's right wing comes out late, so every Black move has to count before Red organizes the other side.
Red wants to free the right wing with 兵三进一 and, when it helps, 马三进四, develop the left side quickly while Black is busy elsewhere, and find the moment when the central Soldier can be taken with a follow-up. Red should also keep asking whether the blockading Cannon is still protected, because its safety rests on a single Black piece.
Slips on both sides
Red, taking the Cannon. 4.车二进三 车8进6 loses a Chariot for a Cannon. It is the most natural-looking mistake in the opening, because the Cannon looks loose and is not.
Black, moving the guard. The Cannon is safe only while Black's Chariot stands behind it. In 1.炮二平五 马8进7 2.马二进三 车9平8 3.车一平二 炮8进4 4.兵三进一 车8平9 5.车二进三, Black's Chariot steps back into the corner, and Red's Chariot simply takes the Cannon with nothing able to recapture.
Red, grabbing the central Soldier too early. In 1.炮二平五 马8进7 2.马二进三 车9平8 3.车一平二 炮8进4 4.兵三进一 炮2平5 5.炮五进四 马7进5, the capture 5.炮五进四 is legal and even gives check, because Black's own central Cannon is the screen. But Black's left Horse takes the Cannon and Red cannot recapture, so Red has given a Cannon for a Soldier. In the main line Red waits until the capture comes with a follow-up, which is the whole difference between move five and move eleven.
Both sides, the central file. Once both Cannons are on it, every Soldier there is a screen. Before you move or exchange one, count what is left between each Cannon and the opposing General.
Choosing the Left Cannon Blockade
Pick it as Black if you want an active game against the Central Cannon and enjoy positions where both sides attack. It gives you a concrete idea from move three, but it also asks you to handle the tactics that come with the central-file version.
If you prefer slower games, the B07 route with 4...马2进3 keeps the blockade while steering toward familiar Screen Horses plans. Either way, our guide to the Opposite Direction Cannons at /xiangqi-openings explains the structure the half-way version turns into.
Then play the line out against the XiangqiPlay computer at whichever of its eight levels, Easy to God, gives you a real fight. A free account is all it takes.
XiangqiPlay Team
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