📚 Yuanshen Haikua — a Qing-dynasty endgame manual
Red to move and checkmate in 7. This is a rare position where both armies are still nearly complete — two Rooks, two Knights, two Cannons, full Advisors and Elephants — and Black even has one extra Pawn. On a board crowded like a real battlefield, Red still finds a forced mate in just 7 moves. The position comes from the classical manual Uyên Thâm Hải Khoát (No. 134) and is named after the veteran general Nghiêm Nhan, who led a night raid on the enemy camp and rode straight into Trương Phi's trap — and what saved his life was not a weapon but a single sentence. The full story is in this page's Anecdotes section. In your view, which of Red's pieces breaks into Black's camp first on this 'night raid'?
✓ 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.
老将は夜襲で敵陣を襲い、罠を襲った――彼を救ったのは一言だった
七十歳に近い将軍が敵陣への夜襲を率いた――そして襲ったのは罠だった。彼の命を救ったのは剣でも槍でもない。一言だった。 『三国志演義』第63回、老将・厳顔は江州を壁のように守った。門を固く閉じ、堀を深く掘り、張飛の軍が糧食尽きて退くまで待つ構えである。張飛は歯が立たず、策を変えた。兵を出して薪を切らせ「道を探させ」、わざと知らせを漏らした――小道が見つかった。今夜、張飛自ら巴郡を迂回して先導する、と。薪切りに変装した厳顔の間者は、その「秘密」をそのまま持ち帰った。老将は喜んで断じた。「張飛め、頭のない荒くれ者よ！」その夜、彼は全軍を率いて森に入り、糧食運搬隊を待ち伏せた――「陣を襲う」、まさにこ…
Stories around this position — storytelling, not part of the engine-verified content.
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