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The Cannon comes from Xiangqi, Chinese Chess. It is indiginous to China, where gun powder and cannons were both invented. Fairy Chess problemists commonly call it a Pao, which is a transliteration of its Chinese name. But in Chess variants, it is more commonly called a Cannon.
The Cannon has been used in the following variants. Except for two games by the same person, it has been called a Cannon in every one of these variants.
When the Cannon does not take, it moves like a Rook, i.e., on an orthogonal line an arbitrary number of empty squares. When it takes, it must jump: when taking, the Cannon also moves over an orthogonal line, jumps over the first piece it meets (which may either be friendly or from the opponent) and then continues over the line until the next piece it sees: if that is from the opponent, the Cannon can take it by moving to that position.
The Cannon on d5 can take the bishop on b5 and the rook on d1, and move to the squares marked with a black circle.
To make a capture, a Cannon must jump over a screen. This is an intervening piece, which may be of either color, that must stand between the Cannon and its target. Without a screen between the Cannon and its target, it cannot capture the piece. The Cannon moves as a Rook without capturing, and once it jumps over its screen, it continues along as a Rook but only to capture. It cannot jump the screen to make a non-capturing move. When a Cannon attacks, it can be blocked by two pieces, or the opponent can defuse the Cannon's attack by moving the screen out of its path.
While a Cannon uses a screen only for capturing, another type of piece, known as a hopper, requires a screen for both moving and capturing. The best known hopper is the Grasshopper. Other pieces that use a screen only for capturing include the Vao and the Leo.
Click on an image to view the full piece set it belongs to.
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The above was authored by: Fergus Duniho.
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Created on: September 07, 1998. Last modified on: December 15, 2001.
| Date | Name | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
David Cannon  | Excellent | The movement of the Cannon is one of three significant differences between Xiangqi (Chinese Chess) and Changgi (Korean Chess) [the other differences concern the Elephant and the design of the board - Changgi has no river). The Koreans have somewhat simplified the movement of the Cannon. Unlike its Chinese cousin, the Korean cannon moves as it captures : it cannot move at all without flying over a 'screen' piece. The effect of all this is that the Korean cannon tends to be an immensely powerful piece in the early and mid-stages of the game, equal or superior to the CHA (rook), but practically useless in the endgame, when there are few pieces left to leap over. Part of the strategy of Changgi is knowing just when to exchange the Cannon for another piece. Another distinctively Korean feature of the Cannon is that, unlike its Chinese counterpart, it cannot capture an enemy cannon, or leap over a fellow-cannon, friend or foe. Shades of blood brothers? |
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Last modified: Sunday, August 21, 2005
