Opposite-Direction Cannons
列炮 · liè pào
Black takes the middle file, but from the far wing. One small change of direction and the symmetry is gone: the cannon that stayed home is on a different side for each player, so the two armies develop toward different flanks and the position is unbalanced from move two. If you like games where both sides are attacking somewhere different, this is your opening.
The moves
2 moves from the starting position. Step through them on the board.
- Red. Red takes the middle file with the cannon.
- Black. Black answers on the same file from the opposite wing. Both cannons aim at a General, but the armies behind them will grow in different directions.
What the asymmetry buys
Imbalance is a fighting resource. When both sides attack on the same wing, the defender usually arrives in time. When the attacks are on opposite wings, the race is real and neither side can simply defend their way out.
It also means fewer forced sequences to memorise than in the same direction lines. More of the work is done by understanding where your pieces belong.
Plans for both sides
- Red: develop toward the wing where Black is weaker, and do not trade off the pieces that make your attack work.
- Black: count carefully. Your counterattack has to be as fast as Red's attack, because it is not going to be faster.
- Both: keep one eye on the middle file. Two cannons on it means a single careless capture can open a line straight to your own General.
The rule that catches people out
The two Generals may never face each other down an open file with nothing in between. In an opening where both middle cannons come and go, that file empties more often than you expect, and the rule stops being trivia and starts being a tactic. Players win games here by clearing the last piece off the middle file at the right moment and leaving the opponent with no legal way to fix it.
Before every capture in the centre, ask one question: after this, can the Generals see each other. It takes two seconds and it saves whole games.
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 does 列炮 mean?
- Ranked or arrayed cannons. The name describes Black's cannon lining up on the middle file from the opposite wing to Red's.
- Is it riskier than Same-Direction Cannons?
- It is a different risk. There is less symmetry and less forcing theory, so more of the game is decided by judgement and less by memory.
Read next
- Same-Direction Cannons顺炮Black answers a central cannon with a central cannon from the same wing. Symmetrical, double edged and famously unforgiving. Here is what both sides are racing for.
- 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中炮对屏风马The most analysed structure in Chinese chess. How Screen Horses answers the Central Cannon, what each side is really playing for, and the defensive move order that keeps Black solid.
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.