---
title: "How Do the Chariot and Cannon Combine in Xiangqi? · Xiangqi Master"
description: "The chariot opens and controls lines while the cannon fires across screens on them. Together they are the standard attacking pair against the palace."
url: https://xiangqimaster.com/blog/can-a-cannon-and-a-chariot-work-together
updated: 2026-09-22
source: Xiangqi Master (https://xiangqimaster.com)
license: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
---

# How do a chariot and cannon work together?

These answers restate the rules implemented by our open-source engine, which follows the WXF laws and is regression-tested against the official 110-diagram repetition casebook. Where an answer refers to a specific position, that position lives on the linked reference page, where the build verifies it against the engine before publishing.

> Direct answer
>
> They divide the work: the **chariot controls open lines** and the **cannon fires across occupied ones**. Between them they cover both states a file can be in, which is why chariot-and-cannon is the standard attacking pair and why a full defence of two advisors and two elephants is specifically calibrated against it.

## The classic arrangement

A cannon on the central file aimed at the general, and a chariot swinging to an adjacent file or onto the rank in front of the palace. The defender cannot block both: interposing against the cannon adds a screen, but interposing against the chariot needs a piece that the cannon then shoots.

## What stops it

Advisors. Most cannon mates need a specific palace point to be empty, and an advisor fills it. That is why an attack of this shape usually starts by removing an advisor, often at the cost of a soldier — and why the defender guards them so carefully.

## Related questions

Which should lead the attack?

Usually the cannon takes the central file first, because it can do so in one move; the chariot needs a line opened.

Is chariot and cannon enough to win?

Against a broken defence, usually. Against two advisors and two elephants it is often held.

## Related xiangqi resources

Attacking the palace

How xiangqi attacks are built

Cannon tactics

Screens, batteries and discoveries

Advisors and elephants

The defence that decides most endgames

## Try it on a real board

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