---
title: "Defending With Two Advisors and No Elephants Against a Chariot · Xiangqi Master"
description: "This defence relies on the advisors covering the palace's central points tightly, since without any elephants the outer approach squares are completely open to the chariot."
url: https://xiangqimaster.com/blog/what-is-the-technique-for-defending-with-two-advisors-and-no-elephants-against-a-chariot
updated: 2026-09-23
source: Xiangqi Master (https://xiangqimaster.com)
license: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
---

# What is the technique for defending with two advisors and no elephants against a chariot?

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
>
> This is a **harder defence than it looks**, since without any elephants at all, every approach square outside the palace is open to the chariot, and the advisors' coverage of the **central palace points** is genuinely the entire defence. It can still hold in some configurations, but there is no outer layer of protection left to fall back on if the central coverage is ever compromised.

## Why losing both elephants changes the defence so much

Elephants normally cover key points well outside the palace, forcing an attacking chariot to work harder to get close. With both gone, the chariot can approach freely from almost any direction, and the advisors, confined to the palace itself, cannot extend their coverage out to meet it the way an elephant would have.

## What actually needs to hold

The advisors must keep the general's central escape points covered at all times, since any moment where the general has an exposed central point is exactly when a chariot can deliver a decisive check. This is a considerably tighter, more precise defence than the same material with elephants intact, and precise general and advisor placement matters more here than almost anywhere else. See [advisors and elephants](https://xiangqimaster.com/endgames/advisors-and-elephants) for the fuller defensive picture with elephants present.

## Related questions

Is this position usually a draw or a loss?

It depends heavily on the exact placement of the general and advisors; some configurations hold, others do not, so it should not be treated as automatically safe.

Does an extra soldier help this defence?

It can, if positioned to block an approach square the missing elephants would otherwise have covered, though it is not a substitute for the elephants themselves.

## Related xiangqi resources

Advisors and elephants

The defence that decides most endgames

Chariot endgames

The most common endgame of all

Xiangqi endgames

What beats what, and why

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