Chariot endgames

The chariot is the one piece that wins on its own. These are the positions where technique still decides it.

9 chapters

1. A bare chariot vs All four defensive pieces

   The strongest piece on the board cannot break the full defence, though three soldiers or two horses can. Piece values do not survive into the basic endgames.

2. A bare chariot vs Three defensive pieces

   A bare chariot vs Three defensive pieces

3. A bare chariot vs A horse and two elephants, in the drawing fortress

   This exact arrangement holds. Most other defensive placements of the same material lose, which is what makes it a fortress rather than a material verdict.

4. A bare chariot vs A horse and two elephants, one elephant misplaced

   The fortress above with the g6 elephant moved to g10 instead. Same material, same attacker, and now Red wins starting with 1.Rb7. The pair is the clearest demonstration in the corpus that material does not decide these endgames.

5. A bare chariot vs A horse and cannon, no defensive pieces (單車難勝馬炮)

   The whole draw is one geometric relation: the cannon sits directly behind its own general, where it covers the back rank and cannot be skewered against it. Move that cannon one point sideways and the tablebase turns the position into a Red mate.

6. A chariot and cannon, no defensive pieces vs A bare chariot holding the middle file

   The defending chariot has to hold the middle file BELOW the attacking pieces, because the mate it is preventing (海底撈月) is executed at the bottom of that file.

7. A chariot and cannon with all four defensive pieces vs A chariot with all four defensive pieces

   A chariot and cannon with all four defensive pieces vs A chariot with all four defensive pieces

8. Two chariots vs A chariot and all four defensive pieces

   Drawn with good defensive placement.

9. Two chariots vs Two horses and all four defensive pieces

   Two horses is the losing pair; other two-minor-piece combinations hold.