Which pieces defend the palace 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
Advisors and elephants, and defence is the whole of their job — neither can ever attack anything. Roughly: advisors stop cannons and chariots, by filling palace points and removing mating squares; elephants stop horses and soldiers, by covering the points they want to land on.
They are not interchangeable
Against a chariot-and-cannon attack, the advisors matter more. Against horses and soldiers, the elephants do. That is why losing one of each is considerably worse than losing two of the same kind — you have opened a hole in both defences at once.
The arithmetic
- Chariot against two advisors and two elephants — normally a draw.
- Chariot against a defence missing one advisor — usually a win.
- Horse and cannon against a full defence — difficult, often drawn.
Which is why a strong player will give a soldier to take an advisor without hesitating.
Related questions
Can chariots defend the palace?
Yes, and well — but a chariot tied to defence is a chariot not attacking, which is usually the worse trade.
Should I ever move my advisors?
Only for a concrete reason. Each move changes which points are covered, usually for the worse.
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