Crossing the river
过河 · guò hé
Moving a piece into the opponent's half of the board, where soldiers gain sideways movement and chariots become attackers.
A chariot that crosses the river is the single most common source of an attack in xiangqi, which is why a whole family of openings is named after it. From the far side it hits soldiers, horses and defenders at once, and very little can chase it away except another chariot.
A soldier that crosses gains the right to move sideways, turning it from a wall into a weapon. Three crossed soldiers with support can break a palace by themselves.
Elephants cannot cross at all, so every crossing is a decision about attackers only.
In practice
Cross with a target in mind. An intruding chariot with nothing to attack is a piece your opponent gets to chase for free.
Related terms
- River楚河汉界The empty band across the middle of a xiangqi board that separates the two armies and changes what your pieces can do once they cross it.
- Chariot车 / 車The strongest piece in xiangqi, moving any distance along a rank or file exactly like a rook, and the piece that decides most games.
- Soldier兵 / 卒The pawn of xiangqi: one step forward at a time, never backward, and able to move sideways as well once it has crossed the river.
- River patrol chariot巡河车A chariot placed on the rank just in front of the river, where it defends its own soldiers and watches the crossing points.