--- title: "Defending Against a Horse Near Your Palace · Xiangqi Master" description: "A horse check cannot be blocked by interposing. Deny the landing point, fill or guard the leg point, and keep the general's escape points free." url: https://xiangqimaster.com/blog/how-to-defend-against-horse-checks-near-the-palace updated: 2026-09-29 source: Xiangqi Master (https://xiangqimaster.com) license: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) --- # How do you defend against a horse attacking near your 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 > > A horse check **cannot be blocked by placing a piece between** horse and general, so defence has to start earlier. Take away the horse's **landing points** near your palace, keep a piece ready to **fill its leg point**, and keep your general's **escape points** clear. Named mates such as [臥槽馬](https://xiangqimaster.com/blog/what-is-the-wo-cao-ma-mate-pattern) and [掛角馬](https://xiangqimaster.com/blog/what-is-gua-jiao-ma-the-hanging-corner-horse-mate) work only when all three have been neglected. ## The three ways out of a horse check Once a horse gives check, there are only three answers: capture the horse, put a piece on its leg point so the check is switched off, or move the general. A horse near the palace is usually defended and the general is usually short of room, so in practice the second option, blocking the leg, is often the one that saves the game. Know where the leg is before you need it. ## Taking away the landing points A horse needs a specific point from which it checks. Around the palace these points are few, and several of them are covered by your advisors and elephants in their normal positions. When you move a defender, ask whether an enemy horse can now land somewhere it could not before. When an enemy horse crosses the river, count its possible routes to your palace and cover the destinations in advance. ## Keeping the general mobile Most horse mates are really a horse check plus a general with no free point. An advisor or horse of your own on the palace centre, or both advisors stuck on the wrong points, can leave the general with nowhere to step. A defence that keeps one flight point open forces the attacker to find a second piece to cover it. ## Trading the horse off If an enemy horse has settled near your palace, exchanging it for one of your minor pieces is often a good bargain, even if your piece was slightly better placed. A horse deep in your camp is worth more than its usual value. ## Related questions Why is a horse check so easy to miss? Because it does not travel along a line. It helps to scan the eight horse destinations around your general at each move. Can my own elephant block a horse's leg? Yes. Any piece on the leg point blocks it, including your elephants and advisors. ## Related xiangqi resources How the horse moves An L-shape that can be blocked — it never jumps The horse fork One horse, two targets Attacking the palace How xiangqi attacks are built ## Try it on a real board Reading an answer is one thing; playing it is another. Free, instant, and nothing to install.