puzzle Options

[hmm]

[frankc]

1. R7+4, p4+5
2. R7.4, E3-5
3. P1+1, p3+1.

Now, up to this stage, this end game is the same as a famous Chinese ancient end game, called "Chi Ying Xiang Long". "Chi" means one Chinese foot long, "Ying" is earthworm, "Xiang" means to conquer, and "Long" means dragon. In other words, the title means one-foot long earthworms conquer the dragons. Here, earthworms metaphor black pawns, dragons metaphor the power of red cars. Tiny little guys conquer the Giants, it means.

The end result is a draw with many many variations and traps for both sides if not played correctly. There is a XQ book called Xiangqi Luntan (Xiangqi Forum) by Jia Titao, published 1987 in Sichuan, ISBN7-80548-036-2/G.37. This book covers the discussion of this end game completely, from pages 197-205. Readers can easily see the complexity of this end game. But the book is in Chinese and I don't know if there is any English translation version of this book. Enjoy it.

Frank