📚 Shiqing Yaqu — the famous Ming-dynasty collection of entertaining endgame compositions
Red to move — checkmate in 5, even though Black has almost twice the pieces: ten men, with both advisors and elephants, knight, chariot, two cannons. Red has just six — two chariots, two cannons, one pawn — but all six are aimed straight at Black's palace. Five moves is a breathlessly short window: either Red finishes the attack right here, or the storm passes and the material count takes over. The position, from Thích Tình Nhã Thú (game 174), borrows the "three enragings" of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms — Zhou Yu goaded to coughing blood in chapters 51, 54 and 56; the historical Zhou Yu was in fact a generous man, and the anecdote below distinguishes the two versions. Before the story, the challenge: which move opens the 5-move mate?
✓ Engine-verified — The Fairy-Stockfish engine (NNUE) confirms Red checkmates in 5 moves — the main line was checked move by move, every move legal. Date checked: 2026-11-03.
三度「怒死」させられた――本当の周瑜は全く違った
三度諸葛亮に挑発され、三度周瑜は激怒し――三度目に、物語によれば、彼は血を吐いて死に、「天はなぜ亮を生んで瑜を苦しめるのか」とうめいたといいます。痛快な伝説です。しかしもし本当の周瑜が、諸葛亮でも動揺させられなかった唯一の男だったとしたら？ 「三度の怒り」は『三国志演義』第51回、54回、56回に由来します。若く嫉妬深い周瑜が何度も出し抜かれ、屈辱の末に死ぬ物語です。 史実の周瑜はほぼ正反対です。寛大さで有名でした。老将の程普は、周瑜と共にいるのは「美酒を飲むようだ――気づかぬうちに酔ってしまう」と言いました。周瑜は210年、巴丘で病死しました。享年わずか三十六歳、遠征の準備中のことであり…
Stories around this position — storytelling, not part of the engine-verified content.
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