📚 Lanke Shenji — a Ming-dynasty endgame manual
Red to move and checkmate in 8. Red has no fewer than four Pawns across the river, swarming around Black's palace, supported by a Rook and a Knight; Black fields two Cannons, a Rook, a Knight and three Pawns. Four humble Pawns press right up against the enemy King — like awl tips poking out of a sack all at once. The position, from the classical manual Lạn Kha Thần Cơ, is named after Mao Toại: three years an unknown inside Bình Nguyên Quân's 'sack', then one morning at the Chu court he forced the King of Chu into a blood oath. The story is told in this page's Anecdotes section. In your view, which of Red's four Pawns will be the first 'awl tip' to pierce Black's defences?
✓ Engine-verified — The Fairy-Stockfish engine (NNUE) confirms Red checkmates in 8 moves — the main line was checked move by move, every move legal. Date checked: 2026-11-03.
Three years nameless in a 'cloth bag' — one morning that made the King of Chu swear an oath in blood
For three years he lived unnoticed in a prince's household; no one knew his face or name. Then one morning, at a foreign court, he set his hand on his sword-hilt, shouted into a king's face — and made that king swear a blood oath on the spot. In 257 BC, Qin's army besieged Handan, capital of Zhao.…
Stories around this position — storytelling, not part of the engine-verified content.
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