📚 Taolue Yuanji — a Ming-dynasty endgame manual
Red to move. Red has two Rooks and no fewer than five Pawns; Black has a single Rook, four Pawns and both Elephants guarding the palace. A whole Rook ahead is normally close to a guaranteed win — yet the classical manual Thao Lược Nguyên Cơ (No. 74) concludes: draw. This position has not been verified by engine; the result follows the old book. The name recalls the general Liêm Pha, who stripped to the waist, carried a bundle of thorns on his back and knelt at Lận Tương Như's door begging to be beaten — the closing chapter of the 'Returning the Jade Intact' story. Why a position a Rook up ends only in a draw, and what the old tale suggests about commanding an army, is explored in this page's Anecdotes section. In your view, what does Black rely on to hold this draw?
大将軍が胸を裸にし、茨の束を背負って、文官の門前に跪いた
彼は生涯、城を攻め落とし敵将の首を斬ってきた大将軍である。ところがある日、上半身を脱ぎ、茨の枝の束を背負い、文官の門前に跪いて、打ってくれと請うた。これは「完璧帰趙」の結末であり、それ自体で同じほど有名な話である。 澠池の会（紀元前279年）の後、藺相如は上卿に任じられ、大将軍・廉頗よりも上位に置かれた。廉頗は公然と言った。「私は城を攻め将を斬る。あれは舌先だけだ――会えば辱めてやる」。これを聞いた藺相如は「病」を称して朝廷を欠席し、道で遠くに廉頗の車を見れば脇へ避けた。食客たちは彼を恥じ、臆病者と呼び、一斉に去らせてくれと請うた。 その時初めて、彼は古典的な言葉を口にした。「秦王の威勢をもっ…
Stories around this position — storytelling, not part of the engine-verified content.
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