ORIGINAL XIANGQI HORSE-LEG WORKSHEET
HORSE-LEG CHECK RECORD — PARTIAL POSITION
Fixed view: files a–i left to right; ranks 0–9 bottom to top.
Position ID / exact listed pieces and coordinates:
Proposal from / to (use the unchanged initial position each time):
Destination on board? / displacement 2+1?
Leg coordinate / empty, friendly piece or enemy piece:
Destination empty, friendly piece or enemy piece:
Local movement result / exact reason:
Full position and general-safety information still needed:
Later position after an actual move / checks repeated:
Do not label a local pass as full-game legality or a tactical win.


EXERCISE 1: Find the leg before the destination
Pieces: e4 rH
Other intersections empty for local checks; generals omitted.
Red proposes e4 to f6. Which intersection is the leg, and does the proposal pass the local horse-move conditions?
ANSWER: The leg is e5. The proposal passes the local piece-move check.
From e4, the longer displacement is two ranks upward; the first orthogonal intersection is e5. It is empty, and the final diagonal step reaches f6. The destination is on the board and empty. Do not inspect f5 as the leg: that intersection is diagonally adjacent to the starting horse. No general-safety conclusion follows from this partial board.

EXERCISE 2: Your own soldier can block your horse
Pieces: e4 rH, e5 rS
Other intersections empty for local checks; generals omitted.
Red proposes e4 to f6 with a red soldier on e5. Can the horse pass over its own soldier?
ANSWER: No. The red soldier on e5 blocks the leg.
The destination f6 is empty, but that is only one condition. The leg e5 must also be empty. A friendly piece blocks a horse just as an opposing piece does. You cannot jump over the soldier or capture your own soldier to complete this move. Changing the soldier position would create a new position that must be checked separately.

EXERCISE 3: An enemy on the leg is a blocker, not a capture
Pieces: e4 rH, f4 bS
Other intersections empty for local checks; generals omitted.
Red proposes e4 to g5. A black soldier occupies f4. Can the horse capture that soldier while continuing to g5?
ANSWER: No. The black soldier on f4 blocks the leg.
The long displacement is two files right, so f4 is the leg. A horse captures, when allowed, at its destination; it does not capture a piece halfway through the route. The soldier is not on g5. A different red piece might remove the blocker in a real game, but neither that move nor the resulting general safety is established here.

EXERCISE 4: A nearby diagonal piece is not this move’s leg
Pieces: e4 rH, f5 bS
Other intersections empty for local checks; generals omitted.
Red proposes e4 to g3. A black soldier stands on f5, while f4 and g3 are empty. Does f5 block this proposal?
ANSWER: No. This proposal uses f4, and it passes the local piece-move check.
The move goes one orthogonal intersection right to f4, then diagonally down-right to g3. The soldier at f5 is diagonally adjacent to e4; it is not the first step for this route. A piece being close to a horse is not enough to block every move. Identify the leg of the particular destination before deciding.

EXERCISE 5: An empty leg does not permit a friendly destination
Pieces: e4 rH, f6 rR
Other intersections empty for local checks; generals omitted.
Red proposes e4 to f6. The leg e5 is empty, but a red chariot occupies f6. Is an empty leg sufficient?
ANSWER: No. Red cannot land on the red chariot at f6.
The geometry and leg check pass, but the destination belongs to a friendly piece. Horses do not stack with another piece or capture their own side. Record this as a destination-occupancy failure rather than a blocked leg. Keeping those two reasons separate makes it easier to see what would need to change in a later position.

EXERCISE 6: An enemy at the destination can be captured locally
Pieces: e4 rH, g5 bC
Other intersections empty for local checks; generals omitted.
Red proposes e4 to g5, where a black cannon stands. The leg f4 is empty. What happens under the local piece-move conditions?
ANSWER: The local conditions permit Red to capture the black cannon on g5.
The horse uses f4 as its empty leg and lands on an opposing piece at g5. The cannon is removed only as the destination capture; the horse does not need a cannon-style screen. This answer does not show that the capture is safe, wins material overall or is legal under check. Those questions need the omitted pieces and generals.

EXERCISE 7: One occupied leg blocks two destinations
Pieces: e4 rH, f4 bS, b0 rR
Other intersections empty for local checks; generals omitted.
From this same initial board, check four separate proposals: A e4 to g5; B e4 to g3; C e4 to d6; D e4 to f6. Which two share a blocked leg?
ANSWER: A and B are blocked by f4. C and D pass the local check through empty e5.
Both rightward destinations use the first step e4 to f4, so one black soldier removes both routes. The upward pair uses e5 instead; the chariot at b0 occupies none of these legs or destinations. These are four alternatives from one unchanged position, not four moves played in succession. A leg block is directional: it does not automatically immobilise the horse or block every L-shaped destination.

EXERCISE 8: The board edge removes destinations before leg checks
Pieces: a0 rH, b0 rR
Other intersections empty for local checks; generals omitted.
Red’s horse is at the bottom-left corner a0. Which destinations are geometrically on the board, and which passes the local check with a red chariot at b0?
ANSWER: Only b2 and c1 are on-board horse destinations. Only b2 passes here.
The other six L-shaped displacements leave files a–i or ranks 0–9 and are rejected at the board boundary. The route to b2 uses empty a1. The route to c1 uses occupied b0 and is blocked. Neither moving off the board nor wrapping around its edge is permitted. This is a partial position after pieces have moved, not an initial setup diagram.

EXERCISE 9: A horse may cross the river without changing its rule
Pieces: e4 rH, d5 bS, e3 rS
Other intersections empty for local checks; generals omitted.
Red proposes e4 to d6 across the river between ranks 4 and 5. The black soldier is on d5, not e5. Does the river or soldier prevent this proposal?
ANSWER: No. The horse can cross the river; empty e5 permits this local route.
The first orthogonal step is from e4 to e5; the final diagonal step reaches d6. Neither d5 nor e3 is the leg for this destination. The horse has no elephant-style river restriction, and crossing does not give it new movement powers. It still needs an empty leg and an available on-board destination on either side of the river.

EXERCISE 10: Horse attacks need not be reciprocal
Pieces: e4 rH, f6 bH, f5 bS
Other intersections empty for local checks; generals omitted.
Use the initial diagram for two independent proposals. A: Red e4 captures Black f6. B: Black f6 captures Red e4. Which local routes pass with a black soldier on f5 and e5 empty?
ANSWER: A passes through e5. B is blocked at f5. The two horse routes are not reciprocal here.
For Red, the two-rank upward component makes e5 the leg. For Black, the two-rank downward component makes f5 the leg. Those are different intersections. The black soldier blocks Black’s route but not Red’s route. Do not play A and then ask B: A would have removed the black horse. These are alternatives in the same original partial position, and neither answer evaluates a pin or check.

Rules sources checked 31 October 2026:
https://www.xiangqi.com/help/pieces-and-moves
https://www.xiangqi.com/help/board-and-set-up
Original partial teaching positions; not named-game records, complete legal positions or tactical evaluations.