Middlegame
中局 · zhōng jú
The phase after development, where plans, attacks and piece exchanges decide the character of the game.
Xiangqi middlegames are unusually concrete. With open files and long range pieces, threats appear quickly, and most games between club players are settled here rather than in an endgame.
The recurring questions are always the same. Which chariot is better placed, whose cannon still has screens, which palace has lost a defender, and who can open a file at a moment the opponent cannot answer.
Two habits carry most players through this phase. Improve the piece doing the least, and before every attacking move ask what your opponent would play if you passed. Both are unglamorous, and both are worth more than any amount of memorised theory.
In practice
Before you start an attack, count attackers against defenders around the palace. If you are not ahead in that count, improve a piece instead.
Related terms
- Opening开局The first phase of the game, where both sides develop pieces, choose a structure and fight for the open files.
- Endgame残局The final phase, with few pieces left, where exact technique and known positions decide the result.
- Palace九宫The three by three square marked with a cross at each end of the board, which the General and the two Advisors may never leave.
- Checkmate将死A check the defender cannot answer, which ends the game immediately in the attacker's favour.