Is this opening boring?

It is quiet early and frequently decisive later. The absence of forced tactics means both sides get to play chess rather than recite it.

Who is better out of the opening?

Roughly balanced, with Red holding the small edge that moving first always gives. The result usually turns on middlegame planning.

Reply · Black

Elephant Opening vs Screen Horses

飞相对屏风马 · fēi xiàng duì píng fēng mǎ

Neither side is in a hurry. Red reinforces the centre with an elephant, Black builds the screen of horses, and the result is the most strategic opening in xiangqi: no forced lines, no early tactics, and a long game in which the player with the better plan and the better nerves comes out ahead. Do not mistake it for a draw. Quiet positions in xiangqi can turn violent in a single move.

Move 2 of 2

The moves

2 moves from the starting position. Step through them on the board.

Red. Red's elephant steps to the centre, shoring up the point in front of the General.
Black. Black begins the screen, developing a horse toward the centre where it will defend and be defended.

What to do when there is nothing to attack

Improve the worst placed piece. It is the oldest advice in board games and it decides these positions.
Fight for the open file before it exists. Whoever is ready when a file opens gets it.
Advance soldiers with a purpose. In xiangqi a soldier that crosses the river becomes far stronger, and in slow positions those crossings are the plan.

Where the game is usually decided

In the middlegame, on a flank, after one side has spent a move too many shuffling. Both structures here are sound, so the loser is normally the player who ran out of ideas first and started making moves to pass the time.

A word on patience

Slow positions punish boredom more than they punish mistakes. If you find yourself making a move because it is your turn, stop and pick a piece that is doing nothing instead. That single habit is worth more rating points in this structure than any amount of opening study.

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.

Enter the board Practise against the computer Sharpen your tactics

Common questions

Is this opening boring?: It is quiet early and frequently decisive later. The absence of forced tactics means both sides get to play chess rather than recite it.
Who is better out of the opening?: Roughly balanced, with Red holding the small edge that moving first always gives. The result usually turns on middlegame planning.