📚 Xinwu Canbian — a Ming-dynasty endgame manual
Red to move. The two sides are almost level — Red with two chariots, two cannons and three pawns; Black with two chariots, a knight, two elephants and two pawns — and the manual Tâm Võ Tàn Biên concludes: draw. But do not let the word 'draw' or the poetic name fool you: 'Hiệp Để Tạng Hoa' — a flower hidden beneath the leaf — is the name of a celebrated trap in the xiangqi world, where the real blow hides behind the mildest-looking move on the board. Who is the 'leaf' and who is the 'flower' in that trap, and why does a drawn position carry the name of a killing device? The anecdote below traces the name's story. The position has not been machine-verified; the verdict follows the classical book. Looking at the board, can you guess which piece here is the 'flower' waiting to bloom?
葉の下に隠れた花――無害に見える受けが殺しに変わる時
シャンチーには詩的な名を持つ有名な罠がある。「葉底蔵花（ようていぞうか）」――葉の下に隠れた花だ。相（象）が退く。一見、王手を防ぐだけの手に見える。だがその穏やかな退却が、待ち伏せていた必殺への道を開く。葉はどの駒で、花はどの駒なのか？ 「葉底蔵花」は『心武残編』（1800年）第103題の名であると同時に、「残局の王」と呼ばれる名作『七星聚会』の内部に潜む、最も有名な反撃の罠の名でもある。『七星聚会』の序盤、1.炮平四・卒平六の後、紅が詰んだと見せかけて貪欲に2.車進九と踏み込むと、黒は2…象退七と受ける。王手は消え、紅への「卒進一」の詰めが姿を現す。覆っていた「葉」は退いたばかりの象、「花…
Stories around this position — storytelling, not part of the engine-verified content.
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