--- title: "How Does a Cannon Fare Against Two Horses in Xiangqi? · Xiangqi Master" description: "Poorly on its own. Two horses coordinate to cover each other's blocked legs and can outmanoeuvre a single cannon, which needs a screen the horses can simply avoid supplying." url: https://xiangqimaster.com/blog/how-does-a-cannon-fare-against-two-horses updated: 2026-09-23 source: Xiangqi Master (https://xiangqimaster.com) license: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) --- # How does a cannon fare against two horses in xiangqi? 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 > > **Poorly, if it is alone.** Two horses can cover for each other's blocked legs and manoeuvre around a single cannon without ever supplying it a useful screen, since neither horse has to stand still the way a fixed screen would. A cannon without support against two coordinated horses is often just outnumbered in mobility, whatever the raw point values suggest. ## Why horses handle this matchup well A cannon needs something to jump; two horses working together can simply decline to give it one, staying just out of range while threatening the cannon's own escape squares in turn. Horses are also immune to the on-off screen trick that makes a cannon so awkward for a chariot or another cannon to deal with. ## What changes the picture Support. A cannon with an advisor to use as its own screen, or working alongside a chariot, is a completely different problem for two horses to solve, because now it has a reliable threat of its own rather than depending on whatever the horses choose to leave behind. ## Related questions Is a cannon simply weaker than a horse pair overall? In this specific matchup, generally yes, unless the cannon has support of its own. Would two cannons fare better against two horses? Yes, two cannons can screen for each other, which removes the exact weakness a single cannon has here. ## Related xiangqi resources How the horse moves An L-shape that can be blocked — it never jumps How the cannon moves Captures only by jumping exactly one screen Horse endgames The piece that gains as the board empties ## Try it on a real board Reading an answer is one thing; playing it is another. Free, instant, and nothing to install.