📚 Shiqing Yaqu — the famous Ming-dynasty collection of entertaining endgame compositions
Red to move and checkmate in 15 — one of the longest solutions you will find in this dictionary. Red has two Rooks, two Cannons, a Knight and both Elephants; Black is down to one Rook, two Knights and a full palace guard. Red is clearly stronger, yet the road to mate stretches out like a long campaign: every move demands patience, and haste is fatal. The position comes from the classical manual Thích Tình Nhã Thú (No. 48) and is named after King Câu Tiễn, who for twenty years tasted a bitter gall bladder at every meal so he would never forget the humiliation of Cối Kê. How the old tale mirrors this 15-move solution is hinted at in this page's Anecdotes section. In your view, what is hardest about solving a 15-move position: calculating far, or staying patient all the way to the final move?
✓ Engine-verified — The Fairy-Stockfish engine (NNUE) confirms Red checkmates in 15 moves — the main line was checked move by move, every move legal. Date checked: 2026-11-03.
王は食卓の上に苦い胆を吊るし、二十年間、毎日なめた
王は自分の席の真上に苦い胆を吊るし、食事のたびにそれをなめて、声に出して自問した。「会稽の恥を忘れたか？」健康のためではない。決して忘れることを許されないためである。 それは越王勾践である。紀元前494年、彼は会稽で呉王夫差に敗れて降伏しなければならず、范蠡とともに呉で三年間、馬の世話をし主人に仕える隷属の日々を送った。『呉越春秋』は衝撃的な細部まで伝える。勾践は夫差の糞をなめてその病を「診断」し、自分が飼い慣らされたと夫差を確信させ、釈放されたという。 帰国後、勾践は薪の上に寝て――「臥薪」――席の上に苦い胆を吊るした――「嘗胆」。彼は美女・西施を范蠡を通じて夫差に送り、宰相の伯嚭に賄賂を贈…
Stories around this position — storytelling, not part of the engine-verified content.
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