📚 Yuanshen Haikua — a Qing-dynasty endgame manual
Both sides stand nearly complete: Red has two chariots, two cannons, a knight and both elephants; Black fields the same heavy pieces, a pair of palace advisors, and two extra pawns. Red to move, and the manual Uyên Thâm Hải Khoát (game 255) concludes: draw. Between armies this even, any edge can only lie along a route the eye cannot see — the very spirit of this position's name. 'The Secret March to Chencang' is the eighth of the Thirty-Six Stratagems: one army repairs a mountain road noisily in broad daylight for all to watch, while the real army slips through a pass in another direction, by night. That opening gambit of Liu Bang's bid for empire in 206 BC is told below. Back to the board: in a position that seems to hide nothing, which Red force is the 'noisy road crew' — and which marches through the dark?
Repairing the road in broad daylight, crossing the pass by night: Secretly Crossing Chencang
A general orders his men to repair a mountain road noisily in broad daylight, drums and banners for all the world to see — only to hide another army slipping away in the dark. That opening move launched the Han dynasty's bid for the empire. In 206 BC, Liu Bang had been pushed aside as King of Han…
Stories around this position — storytelling, not part of the engine-verified content.
4kab1r/4a2P1/5rcnc/2R2N3/2R6/2B6/7CC/3pB4/2p1p4/3K5 wOpen this position in the app: try it against the computer or watch the engines play it out.
▶ Play this studyLoad this position into the Setup editor: rearrange it, edit it and try your own variations.
🧩 Open in Setup