📚 Lanke Shenji — a Ming-dynasty endgame manual
Red to move and checkmate in 8. The sides are almost even: Red has two Rooks, a Knight, a Cannon and a Pawn; Black two Rooks, a Knight, two Cannons and a Pawn — Black even has the extra Cannon, Red the extra Advisor. This position is not decided by numbers but by direction: make a loud show in one place, strike in another. The position, from the classical manual Lạn Kha Thần Cơ, bears the name of the sixth of the Thirty-Six Stratagems — 'make a noise in the east, strike in the west' — whose classical example is Chu Tuấn's siege of Uyển Thành in 184. The story is told in this page's Anecdotes section. In your view, on which wing will Red 'make the noise' to cover the decisive blow landing on the other?
✓ 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.
南西で太鼓が大音響で鳴った――五千の兵は北東から城へ忍び込んだ
南西で太鼓が轟き、敵は南西に集結した――その間に五千の精鋭が北東から静かに城へよじ登った。これが「声東撃西」、三十六計の第6計である。三十六計の書そのものが、古代の実例を二つ挙げている。 184年、朱儁は宛城で黄巾の徒を包囲した。彼は城を見下ろす土山を築き、南西で太鼓を鳴らして大声の攻撃を装った。守備側はその側に殺到した。朱儁は自ら五千の精鋭を率い、北東から奇襲的によじ登って城内へなだれ込んだ。この計の反例も用意されている。紀元前154年、七国の乱の際、呉軍は周亜夫の陣営の南東の角への攻撃を装った。周亜夫は静かに北西の角を増援した――そして呉の精鋭は実際に北西を突き、敗れた。敵を混乱させられな…
Stories around this position — storytelling, not part of the engine-verified content.
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