Can an advisor ever block the flying-general file, since it never leaves the palace?
These answers restate the rules implemented by our open-source engine, which follows the WXF laws for movement, checkmate and both repetition rulings: a side that forces a repetition by perpetual check or perpetual chase loses rather than drawing. The chase half has not been validated against the official casebook. Where an answer refers to a specific position, that position lives on the linked reference page, where the build verifies it before publishing.
Direct answer
Yes, in one specific spot. Of the five points an advisor can ever reach, exactly one, the centre of its own palace, sits on the board's central file. An advisor standing there blocks the flying-general rule the same way any piece on that file does, even though the advisor itself can never travel any further along it.
Why this surprises people
Advisors feel purely defensive and hyper-local, so it is easy to assume they play no part in a rule about a file running the whole length of the board. But the flying-general rule only asks what occupies the file between the two generals, not whether the occupying piece could ever reach the rest of it.
A practical consequence
If your advisor is sitting on the centre point and it is the only piece between the generals, it cannot move at all, not even to capture, because every advisor move leaves the file and would let the two generals face each other. Check this before assuming a central advisor is free to relocate.
Related questions
Can an elephant do the same thing?
Yes, but from one point only: the front centre of its own palace, the one elephant point on the central file. Its other six points are off that file entirely.
Does the advisor's block count differently from a major piece's?
No. The rule only counts occupation of the file, not the type or mobility of the piece occupying it.
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