: Written by: Jim Png

Chapter 8: Maneuvering 运 03

During the nervous and intense battle at the midgame phase, how to maneuver a player's material to fight for the initiative, to gain the positional advantage,et cetera will require the player think about many different situations. He would need to conduct a series of detailed analyses of the tactics and also understand the lines of thinking.
There are endless possibilities in the midgame phase which can be sometimes dull in stable situations. It can also be tense in a very tight situations. Sometimes both colors would be entangled in a a standoff. Sometimes they would be trading blows and fighting tooth for tooth.
Therfore, the art of how to break the equilibrium by initiating the relevant tactics; how to consider the pros and cons duing analyis and make future plans; how precisely calculate control of the initiative et cetera, have all become necessary and important topics to study.
The methods of maneuvering the material in the midgame phase ever-changing and there are limitless possibilities. It would be difficult to encompass all, and the author (of the book) can only touch on the following four topics:
a) identifying the links between the pieces 联系构思,
b) leveraging the situation to maneuver material 借势运动,
c) use of the Pawn 兵的运战, and
d) counting the number of moves 步数运算.
These four concepts are some of the concepts that the author of the book defined.
笔者只就"联系构思","leveraging the situation to maneuver material" 借势运动, use of the Pawn "兵的运战"and counting the number of moves"步数运算"
The above four tactics are the four most commonly seen tactics which will be inspected in slightly deeper detail.

Note: The examples have also been made into short videos with corresponding tags to offer a clearer explanation. The URL would be: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSgklQ5ZjutrQ24JjNmVwnkp82VKWHgHQ

C) Use of the Pawn 兵的运战

The humble Pawn can be a deadly piece if used correctly in the midgame. Often, it is sacrificed to allow a player to gain tempi. There are many interesting ways to use the Pawn in Xiangqi and the following examples will demonstrate some of them.