The Officer Faces the Tangled Knot 士逢盘错

The advisor meets a tangled tray — Sĩ Phùng Bàn Thác uses the image of a jumbled serving tray for an advisor formation harassed until it can no longer hold its shape. Taken from Lạn Kha Thần Cơ with no game number recorded and matched by two independent transcriptions, this is a rare chariot-versus-chariot duel in the group: Red has a chariot, a pawn and an advisor, Black a chariot plus both advisors guarding the general. Red's pawn is already planted on g8 deep inside the palace, Red's chariot waits on g0 along the home rank, while Black's chariot holds f1 on the central road, ready to trade chariots or counter-check. To win, Red must skilfully avoid an unfavourable chariot exchange, use the pawn and his own advisor to keep the tempo, and gradually force Black's chariot to chase his checks until Black's advisor formation is completely disordered. The engine-verified main line runs thirteen Red moves, the two chariots pursuing each other across many files, and the finisher belongs to Red's chariot striking straight up to h9 for checkmate after the pawn has sidestepped to g8 and broken the last layer of cover. Although rated gentle, its length and chariot chases make it valuable practice for chariot endings supported by a pawn. Keep that pawn alive to the end — it is the key to the whole game.

✓ Engine-verified — The Fairy-Stockfish engine (NNUE) confirms Red checkmates in 13 moves — the main line was checked move by move, every move legal. Date checked: 2026-11-02.

Source

爛柯神機（无局号）

Book result

Red wins

Verification

✓ Engine-verified

Side to move

Red to move

Difficulty

Easy

Red forces

King, Advisor, Chariot, Pawn

Black forces

King, Advisor ×2, Chariot

FEN

3ak4/4a1P2/9/9/9/9/9/9/5r3/3AK1R2 w

Transcribed from

GitHub weiyinfu/xqp: 残局/烂柯神机/士逢盘错 红胜.xqfGitHub · liudada1980/canju12