Tempo
一步棋 · yī bù qí
A single move considered as a unit of time; gaining a tempo means achieving something while forcing the opponent to answer.
Because attacks in xiangqi arrive so fast, one move either way often decides whether an attack breaks through or runs out. Developing with a threat, so your opponent has to answer instead of developing, is how good players build attacks without ever looking like they are attacking.
The other side of it is not wasting moves. Retreating a piece you should not have advanced costs two tempi, and in a sharp opening that is usually the whole game.
One concrete rule helps. Do not advance a piece to a square where a cheap soldier can chase it, because the tempo you lose retreating is the tempo your opponent uses to finish developing.
In practice
Count how many of your last five moves your opponent was forced to answer. If the number is zero, you are drifting.
Related terms
- Initiative先手Having the move that forces the opponent to react; in xiangqi it also names Red's advantage of moving first.
- Opening开局The first phase of the game, where both sides develop pieces, choose a structure and fight for the open files.
- Middlegame中局The phase after development, where plans, attacks and piece exchanges decide the character of the game.