What material is not enough to win in xiangqi?
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 lone cannon cannot force mate — a case unique to this game, because a cannon needs a screen and a bare general in an empty palace gives it none. Nor can advisors and elephants alone, or a soldier already on the last rank. A single chariot does force mate, and so does a lone horse, with its own general's help. So do horse-and-cannon, two horses, and horse and soldier.
What wins against a bare general
- Chariot — forced mate.
- Horse and cannon — wins.
- Two horses — wins.
- Horse and soldier — wins; cannon and soldier — wins 86.8% of positions.
- Cannon and advisor — wins; the advisor is the screen.
- Lone horse — wins, with its own general's help.
- Lone soldier — wins, unless it has already reached the last rank.
- Lone cannon — cannot force mate.
Every line is counted position by position on the proven endgame verdicts.
The trap this sets
Trading down into cannon-versus-bare-general throws away a win. Before simplifying, check what you will be left with — a cannon without a screen of its own is not winning material, however comfortable the position looks.
Against a defence with advisors and elephants intact the requirements go up considerably: the manuals call a lone chariot against a full defence a draw.
Related questions
Why can a lone cannon not mate?
It cannot even give check to a general in an empty palace, because there is nothing to jump over.
Does a chariot beat two advisors and two elephants?
The manuals call it a draw; it is too large for our solver, so we have not proved it either way. Take away both elephants, or both advisors, and the chariot is proven to win every position.
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