Sharpen your Xiangqi (象棋, Cờ Tướng) endgame technique with eight focused drills covering chariot, horse, cannon, and soldier endings, plus the flying-general rule and fortress defense.
Reading about endgames builds understanding, but only repetition builds skill. The players who convert winning positions and hold difficult defenses in Xiangqi (象棋, Cờ Tướng) are the ones who have drilled the standard endings until the correct moves feel obvious. This article gives you eight targeted drills, each isolating one essential technique, so your training time produces real improvement rather than vague familiarity.
Work through these drills by setting up the positions on XiangqiPlay and playing them out against the computer, taking both sides. Attacking teaches you the winning method; defending teaches you where the defense holds and how the fortress is built. Repeat each drill until you no longer need to calculate from scratch, because pattern recognition is the true goal of endgame practice.
Drills 1 and 2: The Flying-General Foundation
Drill one isolates the flying-general rule. Set up your general and a single soldier against a lone enemy general, and practice using the file your king controls to freeze the enemy king while the soldier advances to deliver mate. The goal is to feel how your general acts as a second attacker at no cost, restricting enemy king moves along the open file. This idea underlies nearly every winning endgame.
Drill two extends the concept to a chariot. Place your general and chariot against a lone enemy general and practice the king-and-chariot mating pattern, where your general controls the central file and the chariot sweeps the enemy king along a rank. Learn to set up this battery from various starting squares. Once these two drills are automatic, you will spot flying-general opportunities instantly in real games, often winning tempi or forcing mate.
Drills 3 and 4: Chariot Against Defenders
Drill three is the theoretical draw: a lone chariot against two advisors and two elephants. Practice it from the defending side first, learning to keep the elephants connected and the advisors flexible so the fortress never cracks. Then take the attacker and try to provoke an error. This drill teaches you not to overpress a drawn position and not to resign a holdable one.
Drill four is the winning conversion: a chariot against a reduced defense, such as two advisors and a single elephant. Practice the method of freezing the enemy king with your general, then attacking an unsupported defender from a direction it cannot be protected. The aim is to feel the moment the fortress breaks when one defender is missing. Together these two drills give you the crucial judgment of when chariot endings win and when they draw.
Drills 5 and 6: Horse and Cannon Technique
Drill five focuses on the horse against a single advisor. Practice pinning the enemy king with your general, then maneuvering the horse to a square that checks the king and threatens the advisor simultaneously. The key lesson is patience: because the horse is slow and blockable, you must plan its exact route to the decisive square rather than hopping randomly. Master the hobbling rule by watching where the defender can obstruct you.
Drill six trains the cannon's screen dependency. Set up a cannon and advisor against a bare king and practice the "cannon behind advisor" battery, using your own advisor as a fixed screen to deliver checks along the file. Then remove the advisor and confirm for yourself that the lone cannon cannot mate. This contrast burns in the single most important cannon lesson: without a screen, the cannon is powerless, so always secure a platform.
Drills 7 and 8: Soldiers and Fortress Defense
Drill seven develops soldier technique. Advance a single soldier across the river and practice using its new sideways movement to approach the enemy palace, combining it with the flying-general rule to win an advisor or force mate. Remind yourself throughout that the soldier never promotes; its power comes entirely from its advanced position and sideways mobility. Practice stopping the soldier from the defending side too, blockading the point in front of it.
Drill eight is pure fortress defense. Take a difficult but holdable position, such as advisors and elephants against a chariot and soldier, and practice defending it against the engine's best efforts. The goal is to learn the defensive setups that hold and to build the calm, accurate technique that saves half-points under pressure. Rotate through all eight drills regularly, and your endgame results across every game type will steadily and noticeably improve.