Crazyhouse Xiangqi: six engine games

Six games Fairy-Stockfish played against itself at five seconds a move, under the rules Mistboard plays: advisors and elephants start in hand and stay on their own half, every capture joins your hand, and a drop may give check. Five wins, three of them mated by a drop, and a draw. The first three moves of each side were picked among the engine’s near-best, so no two games open alike. Rules: mistboard.com/rules/crazyhouse-xiangqi

6 chapters

1. Win 1: a horse fork from hand, then a chariot drop mates (Red)65 moves

   Black drops both advisors in its first six moves, the second on f7, outside the palace. The chariots come off on move 5 and go straight back into play from hand. Red wins with dropped pieces: a chariot on b9, a cannon check on b10, a horse fork on c9, and a chariot dropped beside…

   A@e8: Black drops an advisor in front of its general. Each side starts with two advisors and two elephants in hand.

2. Win 2: two cannons from hand mate on the back rank (Black)56 moves

   The shortest win here, 28 moves. Red is ahead for the first twelve moves, then a cannon dropped in the corner starts Black’s attack on Red’s back rank. Black ends it by giving up a soldier and a chariot from hand to pull Red’s pieces into place, then drops two cannons.

   e5-e8: the cannon takes the advisor Black dropped on move 2. A captured defender goes into hand like any other piece.

3. Win 3: a comeback, and a soldier drop mates (Red)97 moves

   Black is better for the first twenty moves, by as much as 2.3 after move 13. Red’s advisors play from e3, the top of the palace, and d4, in front of it. The game turns on 21. e7, and Red finishes with drops: four checks in a row from hand, then a chariot and a soldier.

   A@e3, then A@d4 two moves later: one advisor at the top of the palace, one in front of it.

4. Win 4: thirty checks (Red)91 moves

   Thirty checks in 91 plies, 23 of them Red’s and 17 of those in its last 24 moves. The chariots trade early and come straight back from hand. Red’s advisors take two chariots between them. Black’s last word is three checking drops in a row, which Red’s general and advisor simply t…

   f10-f1+: the chariots trade with check, and both go into hand.

5. Win 5: three advisors in hand, none on the board (Black)52 moves

   Red wins a horse on move 6 and leads for seventeen moves. By move 18 it holds three advisors and two elephants in hand and has dropped none of them, and no defender stands beside its general. One check from hand goes wrong, and Black’s chariot reaches d1.

   f1-f9: the chariot takes a horse. +2.1 for Red.

6. Draw: the chariots trade, drop back, and trade again48 moves

   The level game. Both sides spend their defenders early: Red’s advisors go to e3 and d4 and its elephants to d1 and f1; Black’s advisors to g10 and e7 and its elephants to c6 and a6. Three times the chariots trade and come back from hand, and by move 22 neither side can make progr…

   f1-f10+: the chariots trade on move 4, and both go into hand.