Opening principles

What does the central cannon attack?

A common theme of the opening is the fight for the centre, and above all for the central soldiers. The most common opening is the central cannon (当头炮, dangtoupao), in which Red moves a cannon to the centre file. The move threatens Black's centre soldier at once.

It is the opening that the first player uses most today, and Xiangqi Arena's archive shows the same. Of its 29,164 games between human players, 17,286 open with the central cannon, played as h2e2 or as its mirror, b2e2.

On the board, Red's cannon moves from h2 to e2. Its line runs up the e-file through Red's own soldier on e3, which is the screen, to Black's soldier on e6.

Black's most common reply is to bring out the horse on the same side of the board, h9g7, so that the horse on g7 guards e6. The two moves together are known by a rhyme, 当头炮，马来跳 (dangtoupao, ma lai tiao).

Of the openings that can follow, the most common is the screen horses (屏风马, pingfengma), in which Black's other horse comes out to c7 and guards the centre soldier as well. If you play the central cannon as Red, this is the defence you will meet most often.

Bring the chariots out early

The first principle asks you to bring at least one chariot out early and place it on an open file or rank. The chariot is the strongest piece and has a long reach. At the start, though, your strong pieces stand on poor points, the chariots and the horses above all, so they must come out quickly.

A Chinese saying, 三步不出车，必定要输棋 (san bu bu chu ju, biding yao shuqi), holds that only a poor player fails to move a chariot in the first three moves. The saying is not meant literally, and modern games often break it.

The board continues the central cannon line. After h2e2 and h9g7, Red's horse goes from h0 to g2. Now that the horses have left h9 and h0, each chariot can step sideways onto the h-file: Black plays i9h9, and Red answers with i0h0.

The h-file has no soldiers, and Red's cannon left h2 on the first move. So the marks on h1 to h6 show the empty points that Red's chariot already reaches, up to Black's cannon on h7. Both sides bring out a chariot within their first three moves, and neither moves any piece twice, as the second principle asks.

The last two principles are about balance and safety. Develop both wings at a similar pace, because the slower wing can come under attack. Keep the general covered in the opening and the middlegame: moving it costs development time, and as the most important piece it easily becomes a target.

Soldier moves that free the horses

In the opening, a soldier is often pushed so that it stops blocking its own horse. Unlike pawns in a chess pawn chain, soldiers rarely defend one another.

Keeping the initiative and the mobility of your pieces often means giving up soldiers in the opening and the middlegame. The soldiers nearer the centre file are generally worth more, because they can join the attack.

The board starts with the push from c3 to c4, one of Red's common first moves. Black answers by moving a cannon from b7 to c7, and Red's horse comes out from b0 to c2.

To jump forward from c2, the horse must pass through c3, the point that the soldier has left. The two lines to b4 and d4 show the jumps that the soldier would have blocked.

Should you take the centre soldier?

The third principle warns against greed for soldiers. In the opening a soldier is worth the least of all the pieces, since many stronger pieces are still on the board. Every move you spend winning soldiers slows down the development of the rest. An undefended centre soldier can also be a "poisoned pawn", above all when the side that takes it has no immediate follow-up to keep up the pressure on the centre file.

The last board plays a trap that catches beginners. After h2e2, Black answers with a central cannon of its own, h7e7. Red's cannon takes the soldier on e6 with check, because Black's cannon on e7 is now the screen between Red's cannon and the general.

Black blocks the check with the advisor, d9e8, and both sides bring out a horse, h0g2 and h9g7. The horse on g7 attacks the cannon, which retreats to e4. Black's chariot then comes out to h9, while both of Red's chariots are still at home.

When Black answers this way, the capture holds back the development and coordination of Red's pieces. With the centre soldier gone, Black's horses can take the centre in the moves that follow. Red's cannon has also made three of Red's four moves, the repeated moving of one piece that the second principle warns against.

To practise, work through the opening lessons and drills in the site's learn section, then try the principles in a few games against the computer. The principles will not win a game by themselves, but they help you start one well.