📚 Yuanshen Haikua — a Qing-dynasty endgame manual
Red to move — checkmate in 7, machine-verified. Black has the larger army: two chariots, two cannons, three pawns and an advisor pair guarding the palace. Red has two chariots, one cannon, one pawn, both advisors and one elephant — yet seven moves are enough to tear open that crowded formation, for Black's king, however well screened, stands closer to the trap than he looks. The name borrows the Battle of Kunyang in the year 23 — one of the most famous victories of the few over the many in Chinese history: some 9,000 Han soldiers held the city against the Xin dynasty's host, which tradition swells to '420,000'. How real is that number, and what did the young general who slipped out of the city at night with 13 horsemen go on to do? The anecdote below examines it. First, the board: can you find the opening move of the 7-move sequence?
✓ Engine-verified — The Fairy-Stockfish engine (NNUE) confirms Red checkmates in 7 moves — the main line was checked move by move, every move legal. Date checked: 2026-11-03.
9,000人で「42万」に抗した都市――帝国を転換させた戦い
紀元23年、王莽の新王朝は反乱を潰すため大軍を送り、昆陽の城には約9,000人の漢兵しかいなかった。若い将軍が夜、13騎を率いて城を出た……そして戻ってきて、後漢の時代を画する最もあり得ない勝利を手にした。だが「42万」という数字は本当だったのか？ その若い将軍こそ、のちの漢の光武帝・劉秀である。散って逃げるのではなく、彼は城を守り抜くと主張した。夜、13騎を率いて城を出て、定陵と郾県に散らばっていた漢軍をかき集めた――1万人あまり。7月7日、劉秀は1,000人の決死隊を率いて新軍の正面に突撃し、別の3,000人が回り込んで本陣を襲った。司令官・王尋は殺され、城内の兵が打って出て、新の大軍は…
Stories around this position — storytelling, not part of the engine-verified content.
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