Two chariots mate
双车错 · shuāng jū cuò · the two chariots interlock
The staircase mate where two chariots take alternate ranks and files, driving the General until it has nowhere left to stand.
One chariot checks, the General steps away, the second chariot checks on the next line, and the pattern repeats until the General runs out of board. Because the palace is only three points wide, it does not take long.
This is why a pair of chariots against a palace short of defenders is so often simply winning, and why defenders fight so hard to trade one of them off.
It also explains a piece of everyday xiangqi wisdom. A chariot is worth roughly two horses or two cannons, but two chariots working together are worth far more than four of anything, because they mate without help.
In practice
If your opponent has both chariots aimed at your palace, trading one is usually worth a soldier or more. Do not wait until the staircase starts.
Related terms
- 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.
- Checkmate将死A check the defender cannot answer, which ends the game immediately in the attacker's favour.
- Advisor士 / 仕A short range defender that moves one point diagonally and never leaves the palace, protecting the General from cannons and chariots.
- Exchange兑子Trading pieces, which in xiangqi is the defender's main tool for killing an attack.