What xiangqi tactics should I learn first?
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
Six things, in this order: the horse fork, the pin (especially the flying-general one), discovered attacks, and the three named mates — 馬後炮, 重炮 and 雙車錯. Between them they decide the overwhelming majority of games below expert level.
Why these six
They are the patterns that recur. A tactic you can recognise in one second is worth more than a calculation you can find in thirty, and these six come up often enough that recognition genuinely replaces calculation.
The named mates are the highest-value part, because they are the end of the game — spotting one three moves early wins immediately.
How to learn them
Not by reading. Set each pattern up on a board, play the moves, and then do puzzles until you see the shape rather than work it out. Volume works for tactics in a way it does not for openings, because the point is pattern recognition and the feedback is immediate.
Related questions
How long does this take?
A few weeks of regular puzzles to recognise all six reliably.
Are xiangqi tactics like chess tactics?
Pins and forks transfer. Everything involving the cannon does not, and that is the part worth the most attention.
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