The Clay Horse Ferries Prince Kang 泥马渡康王

📖 As recorded in the classical booksBook result: Red wins江湖百局秘谱

📚 Jianghu Baiju Mipu — one hundred selected street (jianghu) positions, Qing dynasty

楚河漢界cotuong.synerworlds.com士士兵象將兵兵兵兵馬相砲傌車仕帥仕cotuong.synerworlds.com

Red to move — and Red must WIN without a single chariot. Red's whole striking force is a knight, a cannon and five pawns; Black holds the board's only chariot, behind two advisors, an elephant and a knight. Red's pawns have pushed deep, but what can they do against a mobile chariot? Yet Giang Hồ Bách Cục Bí Phổ (game 84) concludes flatly: Red wins — a verdict no machine has verified. The name is the Southern Song's most famous escape legend: in 1127, Prince Kang — Zhao Gou — fleeing the Jin, was carried across a river by a mysterious horse; only on dismounting did he learn what that 'horse' really was. A true miracle, or political theatre to legitimise a throne? The anecdote below asks exactly that. On the board: can you find Red's way 'across the river'?

📖 Anecdotes

The clay horse that ran 700 miles in a day: miracle or political ploy?

In 1127, Prince Kang, Zhao Gou, fleeing the Jurchen Jin army, fell asleep in a temple. In a dream, the temple's god appeared and warned him: the enemy was about to catch up, and a horse was waiting outside the gate. He woke, found a real horse, mounted, and flew south, crossing the river to safety.…

— Đội ngũ SynerWorlds

Stories around this position — storytelling, not part of the engine-verified content.

Source
江湖百局秘谱 第84局
Book result
Red wins
Verification
📖 As recorded in the classical books
Side to move
Red to move
Difficulty
Hard
Red forces
King, Advisor ×2, Elephant, Horse, Cannon, Pawn ×5
Black forces
King, Advisor ×2, Elephant, Horse, Chariot
FEN
3a1a3/5P3/b3k1P1P/9/8P/8P/9/5n2B/2C1Nr3/3AKA3 w
Transcribed from
xqipu.comdpxq.com

Open this position in the app: try it against the computer or watch the engines play it out.

▶ Play this study

Load this position into the Setup editor: rearrange it, edit it and try your own variations.

🧩 Open in Setup