Lesson 4: Respond to Check and Review a Game
First: what counts as winning?
Checkmate wins: the opposing general is attacked with no legal escape. Having no legal move also loses in xiangqi even without check (stalemate), unlike chess.
Capturing a rook or cannon, or giving one check, does not itself win. Check whether the opponent can move the general, block or capture the attacker.
Guided practice teaches the assigned moves. Decide whether the final position is mate by checking legal replies, not by the completion of a progress bar.
Practise moving the general, capturing the attacker and blocking a chariot, then learn to recognize mate and review mistakes.
The red general on e1 is attacked along the file by the black chariot on e2. This turn you must get out of check; attacking the enemy has to wait. The demo plays e1→d1: the general leaves the chariot's e-file and stays inside the palace.
Not every empty point is safe: no other enemy piece may attack it, and the generals must not face each other. Moving the general is one legal answer here, not necessarily the only one.
Demo moves
e1 → d1
Same starting position, but this time play e1→e2 and capture the chariot with the general. Why is that allowed? e2 is inside the palace and one step along the file; once the chariot is gone, no other black piece attacks e2; and the black soldier on e6 still stands between the generals.
Don't turn this into "a general can always capture a checking chariot". If another enemy piece protects the chariot, or the capture would leave the generals facing each other, the move is illegal. Reset to the starting position to compare the two options; they are alternatives, not two moves in a row.
Demo moves
e1 → e2
The black chariot on e8 checks the red general on e1 along the open e-file. The red chariot on d3 moves d3→e3, standing between them and blocking the attack. This is called interposing or blocking.
Blocking this check does not make you safe for good — the blocking chariot can still be attacked, and your opponent moves next. Blocking also works differently against each piece: recount screens against a cannon, check legs against a horse. After every move, confirm your general is really no longer attacked.
Demo moves
d3 → e3
One check is not mate. In turn, look for: can the general move away, can you capture the attacker, can you block the attack? If any of these works, it is not mate. If several pieces attack at once, one move must stop every attack.
Reviewing means replaying the game to find where your thinking went wrong. Write down both sides' moves, find the first time you lost a piece for nothing or missed a check, go back to the position just before it, and note your move, the threat you missed and an alternative to try.
Make sure the alternative is legal, then think about how your opponent might reply — don't just write "that would have won". Change one habit in your next game, such as checking your general's safety before every move. Replay and step-back tools are for learning; whether take-backs are allowed in a real game must be agreed beforehand.