Central Cannon vs Screen Horses
中炮对屏风马 · zhōng pào duì píng fēng mǎ
If xiangqi has a main line, this is it. Red aims a cannon at the General, Black answers by walking a horse to the square where it will defend, and will soon bring the second horse to stand beside it. Two horses side by side in front of the General, each covering the other, is a folding screen: 屏风马. Generations of masters have argued about the positions that follow, and almost every serious game between two strong players starts by agreeing to have that argument.
The moves
2 moves from the starting position. Step through them on the board.
- Red. Red takes the middle file and points a cannon at the General.
- Black. Black's first horse steps toward the centre. It is the front half of the screen, and it already guards the central soldier that Red's cannon wants to jump.
Why the screen works
Red's cannon is strong because it can jump one piece to reach the General. Screen Horses attacks that mechanism directly: the horses defend the central soldier, so trading into the middle file costs Red more than it gains, and every capture Red makes there is answered.
The second virtue is mutual defence. Neither horse can be picked off cheaply, because taking one invites the other to recapture. Compare that with a single developed horse, which any chariot crossing the river can harass for free.
What Red plays for
- Speed. Get a chariot to the river before Black's screen is finished and there is a horse to hit.
- The central soldier break, at the moment when Black cannot answer it without loosening the screen.
- A second attacker on the middle file, so that Black's defenders run out before Red's attackers do.
What Black plays for
- Completing the screen and getting both chariots out, in that order.
- Offering a trade of chariots when Red's attack depends on one of them. A defended position loves an exchange.
- The counterattack. Screen Horses is not passive. Once Red's initiative is parried, Black's pieces are usually better placed for the middlegame.
Practical advice for the player holding Black
Do not try to refute anything in the first ten moves. Answer, finish developing, and offer the exchange that kills the attack. The commonest way to lose this structure is impatience: a counterattack launched before the second chariot has moved.
Try it on a real board
Reading an opening and playing one are different skills. Set this line up against the computer, get it wrong a few times cheaply, then take it into a rated game.
Common questions
- What is Screen Horses in xiangqi?
- A defensive setup where Black develops both horses to the squares in front of the General so that they protect each other and the central soldier. The Chinese name, 屏风马, means folding screen horses.
- Is Screen Horses the best answer to the Central Cannon?
- It is the main line and the most reliable practical choice. The cannon replies are sharper, but they demand more knowledge and forgive less.
- Does Black equalise in this line?
- Black usually neutralises Red's initiative with accurate play and then has an entirely healthy game. Red keeps a small edge in the opening because Red moves first.
Read next
- Central Cannon中炮Red's cannon swings to the middle file and points straight at the enemy General. The plan behind the Central Cannon, the replies you will face, and the trap that ruins most attacks.
- Central Cannon vs Screen Horses, Chariot Files中炮过河车对屏风马Both sides finish the standard setup and the game turns into a race for the chariot files. The classic four move main line, with the plans that decide it.
- Central Cannon, Chariot Crosses the River中炮过河车Red's chariot heads for Black's half to hit a horse before the defence is ready. The most direct attacking plan in xiangqi, and how Black meets it.
- Central Cannon vs Single Horse中炮对单提马Black develops a horse toward the edge and keeps the central file clear for counterplay. The old alternative to Screen Horses, and when it is the better choice.
- Elephant Opening vs Screen Horses飞相对屏风马Two solid setups facing each other. The slow, strategic xiangqi game where nobody blunders early and the win comes from the better plan.
Every named line is listed on the xiangqi openings index. New to the game? Start with the rules of Chinese chess, or learn the Chinese characters on the pieces.