Cannon
炮 (Red) / 砲 (Black) · pào
The Cannon is the piece xiangqi has and no other chess family does. It slides along ranks and files like a chariot when it is not capturing, but to capture it must leap exactly one piece, no more and no fewer. That single rule produces the most beautiful and most brutal tactics in the game.
The Cannon's non capturing moves from its starting point: everywhere along its rank and file that is clear.
How it moves
- Moves any number of points along a rank or file when not capturing, like a chariot.
- Captures only by jumping exactly one piece, called the screen, and taking the first enemy piece beyond it.
- The screen may belong to either player.
- Crosses the river freely and never changes how it moves.
- Worth
- About the same as a horse, and strongest while the board is full
The screen is everything
A cannon with no screen is harmless and a cannon with two screens is harmless. Exactly one, and it is lethal. That means you can create a threat by adding a piece to a line, and defuse one by taking a piece away, without ever touching the cannon itself.
It also means cannons are at their strongest at the beginning, when the board is full of screens, and weaken as pieces come off. Opening attacks in xiangqi are built around cannons for exactly this reason.
Patterns worth knowing
- The cannon behind the horse, 马后炮: the horse takes the escape squares, the cannon checks using the horse as its screen, and it is mate.
- Double cannons, 重炮: two cannons stacked on one file, the front one screening the back one, checking on a line that cannot be blocked.
- The hollow cannon, 空头炮: a cannon facing the General down an empty middle file, where any blocking piece only becomes its screen.
Defending against one
Look for the screen before you look for a block. Removing the screen ends the threat permanently, and it is often free, whereas blocking a cannon can hand it exactly what it needs.
Common questions
- How does the Cannon capture in Chinese chess?
- It jumps exactly one piece, of either colour, and captures the first enemy piece on the far side of it along the same line.
- Can the Cannon capture the piece it jumps?
- No. The jumped piece is the screen and is never captured. Only the first enemy piece beyond it can be taken.
- Why are cannons stronger at the start of the game?
- Because a full board gives them screens. As pieces are exchanged, cannons lose the mounts they need and become much weaker.
Terms worth knowing
- 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.
- Screen炮架The single piece a Cannon jumps over in order to capture, which may belong to either player.
- Hollow cannon空头炮A cannon on the middle file with nothing between it and the enemy General, which paralyses the defence and usually wins.
- Double cannons重炮Two cannons on the same file, one behind the other, where the front cannon is the screen for the back one and checkmate follows.