Openings
The Two-Headed Snake
两头蛇
This guide is for you if you want a flexible soldier opening as Red that brings both horses out early, or if you meet it as Black. It shows how the formation is built, takes you through the course line move by move and lists the mistakes to avoid. The two-headed snake (两头蛇, liangtoushe) is a formation in which the side with its horses on the third and seventh files has advanced both its third-file and its seventh-file soldiers. The archive holds 547 games in which Red plays it.
- Moves
- 1. P3+1 H2+3 2. P7+1
- Played by
- Red
- Family
- Soldier opening
- ECCO code
- E08 to E09
- Games in the archive
- 547
What does the formation do?
The two-headed snake is built to free both horses. For Red, the horses come out with 马二进三 (H2+3) and 马八进七 (H8+7), each behind an advanced soldier. The name comes from the formation's shape, which looks like a snake with a head at each end. The ECCO opening codes place the two-headed snake against Black's right horse at E08 and E09, inside class E, the class of the pointing finger.
On this page Red builds the formation in its first four moves. The first, 兵三进一 (P3+1), is the pointing finger (仙人指路, xianren zhilu), the move that advances the soldier in front of a horse. Red's second move, 兵七进一 (P7+1), does the same on the other wing, and the horses follow to g2 and c2. The board below plays these moves with Black's replies.
Why push the soldiers first? A horse is blocked when a piece stands on its leg, the point it passes through. The forward jumps from g2 and c2 pass through g3 and c3, where the soldiers stood. The lines on the board show the jumps that are now open: from g2 to f4 or h4, and from c2 to b4 or d4.
The course line, move by move
The board below plays the line that the site's opening course teaches for the two-headed snake. The line starts with the opening's standard moves, and a computer engine continued it from there; the board shows the first twelve moves, six for each side. The course plays the line on the left wing, starting with 兵七进一 (P7+1). This page mirrors the same moves onto the right wing so that they match the archive's cards and boards further down.
Red completes the formation with its fourth move: both soldiers stand on c4 and g4, and both horses on c2 and g2. Meanwhile Black brings out both horses and moves a cannon to a7, where it attacks the soldier on a3.
After that, the play turns to the b-file. Black's chariot comes to b9 and then b5, attacking Red's cannon on b2 both times, and Red's chariot guards the cannon from b0. When the cannon steps aside to a2, the file opens between the two chariots. The line ends with Black's chariot taking Red's on b0, where Red's horse on c2 attacks it.
The starting position. Press Play to watch the line, or step through it one move at a time. The list of moves explains each one.
How does Black reply?
The board below starts after 兵三进一 (P3+1), 马2进3 (H2+3) and 兵七进一 (P7+1), a position that 363 games in the archive reached. Its arrows show Black's three most common replies there, each with its share of those games.
The first, 炮2平1 (C2=1), moves the cannon to a7, where it attacks the soldier on a3, as in the course line. 炮8平7 (C8=7) attacks the soldier on g4 instead, and 车1进1 (R1+1) raises the chariot to a8, from where it can move along rank 8.
Under the board you will find the archive's three named lines. The first reaches the snake after Black's horse move, the second after the mutual pawn opening, and the third turns the snake into the advisor-corner cannon.
From the pointing finger against the horse, with Black's chariot to b5 仙人指路对进马转两头蛇，黑车2进4
40 games in the archive: Red wins 30%, draws 50%, Black wins 20%
- 1.P3+1H2+3
- 2.P7+1C2=1
- 3.H8+7R1=2
- 4.R9=8R2+4
Red's horse comes out to c2, and Black's chariot comes to b9, where it attacks the cannon on b2. Red's chariot guards the cannon from b0, and Black's chariot advances to b5 to keep up the attack; that advance, 车2进4 (R2+4), names the line. The course line plays all eight of these moves within its first ten, with a horse move for each side as well.
From the mutual pawn opening, against the returned central cannon 对兵局转两头蛇对还中炮
30 games in the archive: Red wins 40%, draws 17%, Black wins 43%
- 1.P3+1P3+1
- 2.C8=7C8=5
- 3.P7+1H8+7
- 4.P7+1
After the mutual pawn opening, Red's cannon goes to c2 and Black answers with a central cannon on e7, which attacks the soldier on e3. Red then pushes the second soldier to c4, where it and Black's soldier on c5 attack each other. After Black's horse comes out to g7, Red's soldier takes the one on c5. Red's two advanced soldiers against Black's returned central cannon (还中炮, huanzhongpao) give the line its name.
The snake into the advisor-corner cannon 两头蛇转士角炮
54 games in the archive: Red wins 48%, draws 28%, Black wins 24%
- 1.P3+1H2+3
- 2.P7+1C2=1
- 3.C8=6
After Black's horse comes out to c7 and Red's second soldier advances to c4, Black's cannon goes to a7 and attacks the soldier on a3. Red then moves the cannon from b2 to d2, the corner of the palace in front of the advisor on d0. That move turns the snake into the advisor-corner cannon of the line's name.
Soldiers that open the way for the horses
In this guide the snake begins with the pointing finger, a slow attack. Red advances the soldier in front of a horse and waits for Black to show a plan, and because the opening is flexible, it can grow into many kinds of set-up. Red's next move then advances the soldier in front of the other horse as well, so that both horses come out behind advanced soldiers.
The archive's cards reach the snake by two routes. In the first, Black answers the soldier move with a horse, as in the course line. In the second, Black answers with a soldier of its own, and Red pushes the second soldier after Black has set up a central cannon.
The snake suits you if you like a patient start that keeps your plan open. It also keeps both wings balanced, one of the opening principles: each wing gets one soldier move and one horse move. If you play Black, the course line shows one way to meet it: bring out both horses first, then turn a cannon and a chariot against Red's left wing.
Common mistakes
Some players treat the two soldier moves as the start of a soldier attack and keep pushing the soldiers forward. The soldiers on c4 and g4 have already done their job: they cleared c3 and g3, the points the horses on c2 and g2 pass through to reach b4, d4, f4 and h4. Every further push keeps your horses and chariots at home for another move. In the course line, Red moves a different piece with each of its six moves.
Another mistake is to leave the chariots in their corners while the files open around them. Here the b-file opens early, once Black's horse has left b9 and Black's cannon has left the file for a7. In the course line Black's chariot uses it at once: from b9 it attacks Red's cannon on b2, which nothing guards until Red's own chariot comes to b0. A chariot that stays in its corner can neither attack down an open file nor guard a piece on it.
The third mistake is to open a file between the two chariots without counting the guards. At the end of the course line, Red's cannon steps from b2 to a2, and the chariots on b0 and b5 attack each other. Black moves next and takes first, so the trade is even only because Red's horse on c2 can take back on b0. Without that horse nothing would guard b0, so check your own chariot's guards before you move the piece that stands between two chariots.
The two-headed snake in the archive
Of the 29,164 games between human players in the archive, 547 feature the two-headed snake. Red wins 44% of them and Black 25%, and 31% are drawn. Across the whole archive, Red wins 37% of the games and 36% are drawn, so you can compare the snake with an average game.
Zhang Qiang played the snake most often as Red, in 17 games, and Hu Ronghua faced it most often as Black, in 16 games. The games last 43 moves on average. Among the archive's games with a known year, the snake accounts for 1%, 2% and 2% in the three periods that the table below lists.
The site's opening course has a lesson on the two-headed snake: watch its line, then play Red's moves yourself or defend against the snake as Black. The course plays the line on the left wing, the mirror image of this page. After that, try the snake in games against the computer. It will not win games by itself, but it gets both horses into play early.
| Games | 547 of the 29,164 human games |
|---|---|
| Results | Red wins 44%, draws 31%, Black wins 25% |
| Average length | 43 moves |
| Share of dated games | 1990-1995: 1% · 1996-2001: 2% · 2002-2008: 2% |
| Played most often by | Zhang Qiang (17 games as Red) · Hu Ronghua (16 games as Black) |
By period
| Period | Games | Share of the period | Red wins | Draws | Black wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990-1995 | 29 | 1% | 48% | 24% | 28% |
| 1996-2001 | 75 | 2% | 47% | 23% | 31% |
| 2002-2008 | 153 | 2% | 41% | 35% | 25% |
The main replies
| Reply | Games | Red wins | Draws | Black wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| C2=1 | 159 | 40% | 36% | 23% |
| C8=7 | 142 | 44% | 34% | 23% |
| R1+1 | 22 | 64% | 27% | 9% |
| E7+5 | 17 | 53% | 24% | 24% |
Three games to replay
- Wang Linna (red) vs Chen Lichun (black) · 2007 · 2007 Yitai Cup National Xiangqi Women's Individual Tournament · Black won Replay in the archive
- Hu Ming (red) vs Chen Lichun (black) · 2003 · 2003 National Xiangqi Team Championship · Red won Replay in the archive
- Huang Wei (red) vs Hu Ming (black) · 1995 · 1995 National Xiangqi Individual Championship · Red won Replay in the archive
A game to replay: Wang Linna against Chen Lichun, 2007
2007 Yitai Cup National Xiangqi Women's Individual Tournament · Wang Linna (red) vs Chen Lichun (black)
Black won · 34 moves
The starting position.
Key moments
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Practise on Xiangqi Arena
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