📚 Lanke Shenji — a Ming-dynasty endgame manual
Red to move — checkmate in 8. At first glance the numbers favour Black: a full pair of advisors, plus knight, chariot, two cannons and three pawns. Red has fewer pieces — one chariot, two knights, two cannons, two pawns — but every Red piece is already aimed at the attack, while Black's king stands inside a tightening ring without knowing it. Eight moves is not long, yet every single one has to be exact. The position comes from Lạn Kha Thần Cơ and bears the name of Xiang Yu's final moment on the bank of the Wu River in 202 BC — when a boat was already waiting and the defeated general still shook his head. The story behind "what face have I to meet the elders of Jiangdong" is in the anecdote below. First, the challenge: can you find the first move of the 8-move mating sequence?
✓ 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.
「江東の父老に何の面目あって会おう」――項羽と乗らなかった船
紀元前202年、烏江のほとりで、一艘の船がすでに待っていた。烏江の亭長は敗れた将軍に懇願した。「江東は小さいとはいえ、千里の土地と数十万の民があり、王となるに足ります。今すぐ川をお渡りください――船を持つのは私一人だけです。漢軍が来れば渡る道はありません！」項羽はただ微笑んで首を振った。彼は天下すべてを失ったばかりだった――だが船に乗ることを止めたものは、敗北よりもさらに重かった。それは何だったのか？ 『史記』（第7巻）が語る。垓下の包囲を800騎で突破した後、烏江に着いたとき彼の兵力はわずか28人にまで減っていた。項羽は亭長に答えた。「天が私を滅ぼそうとしているのだ。川を渡って何になろう！…
Stories around this position — storytelling, not part of the engine-verified content.
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