How do you checkmate with a cannon and an advisor?
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
Bring the advisor into the enemy palace to serve as the cannon's screen, then check along the line the general cannot leave. Cannon and advisor is one of the material combinations that forces mate against a bare general, but the technique depends entirely on the advisor reaching a useful square first, since the cannon alone cannot check without a screen.
Getting the advisor into position
An advisor never leaves its own three points normally, but on the enemy side of the board its role changes completely: it becomes a mobile screen rather than a defensive fixture. Walk it toward the enemy palace first; the mate does not begin until it arrives.
Delivering the mate
Once the advisor sits on the file or rank you want, the cannon checks through it. Use your own general to deny the escape file, exactly as in a lone chariot mate, since the cannon alone still only covers one line at a time.
Related questions
Is this mate harder than a chariot mate?
A little, because the advisor needs setting up first, but it follows the same basic logic once in place.
What if the advisor gets captured on the way?
Keep it defended or route it through a square the opponent cannot reach in time.
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