Pin
牵制 · qiān zhì
Holding a piece in place because moving it would expose something worse behind it, often the General.
Pins in xiangqi come from chariots down a file, from cannons through a screen, and from the flying general rule, which pins any piece standing alone between the two Generals on the middle file.
That last one surprises people who come from western chess. A soldier on the middle file can be completely frozen by a General nine points away, because moving it would leave the two Generals facing each other, which is illegal.
Breaking a pin usually means either defending the piece behind it or interposing something cheap. What rarely works is ignoring it, because a pinned defender is a defender your opponent has already counted as absent.
In practice
A pinned piece is not a defender. Before you rely on something to guard a square, check that it is actually allowed to move.
Related terms
- Flying General白脸将The rule that the two Generals may never face each other down an open file with no piece in between, which makes an empty middle file a weapon.
- 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.
- 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.
- Discovered attack闪击Moving one piece so that another, standing behind it, is suddenly attacking something.