📚 Xinwu Canbian — a Ming-dynasty endgame manual
Red to move. The sides are nearly balanced: Red has a Rook, a Knight, a Cannon, three Pawns and an Elephant; Black a Rook, a Cannon, two Pawns and a full Advisor–Elephant guard. The classical manual Tâm Võ Tàn Biên concludes: draw. This position has not been verified by engine; the result follows the old book. The name is tied to the battle of Uyển Thành in 197 — where Điển Vi, his twin halberds stolen, made his own body the camp gate and died standing, so that for a long while no enemy dared step past him. That tragic story is told in this page's Anecdotes section. In a balanced position like this, which side — in your view — must 'fight to the death' just to keep the draw: Red or Black?
The giant who lost his twin halberds — and made his own body the camp gate
His beloved weapons stolen while he was drunk. His long blade broken. In the end, he seized two enemy soldiers as weapons and swung on — and died standing at the camp gate, so that for a long while the enemy dared not pass. That was Dian Wei, at Wancheng, in 197. Zhang Xiu had surrendered, but Cao…
Stories around this position — storytelling, not part of the engine-verified content.
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