📚 Shiqing Yaqu — the famous Ming-dynasty collection of entertaining endgame compositions
Red to move and checkmate in 19 — one of the longest solutions in the entire dictionary. Both armies are thin: Red has a Rook, a Knight and a Cannon; Black a Rook, three Pawns and both Advisors. Few pieces and an open board, yet Red needs all 19 moves to finish — each move like another prod into the grass with a stick. The position comes from the classical manual Thích Tình Nhã Thú (No. 275) and is named after the tale of 'beating the grass and startling the snake': a county magistrate reading a corruption complaint against his own clerk broke into a sweat and, in eight characters of marginalia, confessed himself. The story is told in this page's Anecdotes section. In your view, why can't Red win quickly with forces this thin, and instead must 'shake the grass' for 19 moves?
✓ Engine-verified — The Fairy-Stockfish engine (NNUE) confirms Red checkmates in 19 moves — the main line was checked move by move, every move legal. Date checked: 2026-11-04.
Reading a clerk's corruption charge, the magistrate broke into a sweat — and confessed in 8 characters
The people sued a clerk for taking bribes. The county magistrate read the charge and broke into a sweat, his hand trembling: every offence listed matched exactly what he himself had done. Instead of a verdict, he blurted eight characters onto the file — confessing his own part. The official was…
Stories around this position — storytelling, not part of the engine-verified content.
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