Discovered attack
闪击 · shǎn jī · flash strike
Moving one piece so that another, standing behind it, is suddenly attacking something.
Discoveries are everywhere in xiangqi because cannons and chariots share files with everything else. A horse stepping aside can unmask a chariot, and a cannon that was harmless one move ago becomes lethal when the right screen appears or disappears.
The strongest version is the discovered check, where the moving piece grabs material while the unmasked piece checks the General. The opponent has to answer the check and cannot take the time to save the material.
Spotting them is a habit rather than a talent. Every time you are about to move a piece, glance down the file and rank behind it and ask what is now looking at what. Most discoveries are found this way rather than by calculation.
In practice
Look along every file your own pieces share before you move. The move that wins is often the one you were not considering because the piece was doing nothing.
Related terms
- Screen炮架The single piece a Cannon jumps over in order to capture, which may belong to either player.
- Pin牵制Holding a piece in place because moving it would expose something worse behind it, often the General.
- Cannon炮 / 砲A piece that moves like a chariot but can only capture by jumping exactly one piece, called the screen, on its way to the target.
- 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.