Child Worships Buddha
Child Worships Buddha (Chinese: 童子拜佛) is a name used for a pawn mating pattern and for several composed endgame positions in xiangqi. A 2015 teaching series on the Chinese gaming website 4399 defines the pattern as a pawn attacking the opposing general head-on with support from other pieces. The series also calls it 小棒当头 ("Little Cudgel Strikes the Head").[1][2]
A composed position with the same name appears in Dongping Xiangqi's collection Simple Winning Endgames (简易胜势残局). Red has two chariots and a pawn against Black's two chariots and an advisor; the database records a thirteen-ply mating continuation.[3][4][5] Other puzzles bearing the title have different positions and results.[6][7]
Definition
The 4399 definition describes a pawn mating the opposing general head-on with support from other pieces (兵借助其他子力，当头照杀对方老将的杀法).[1] Its two examples illustrate different roles for the pawn. In the first, the pawn delivers mate: the opposing chariots occupy the general's escape squares, while Red's general prevents it from capturing the pawn. In the second, a chariot delivers the final check and the pawn controls an escape square.[2]
The series' classification page groups mating patterns by the roles of the "mating piece" (照杀子) and "controlling piece" (控杀子), and describes a scheme of ten classes and one hundred patterns. It places 童子拜佛 among eight pawn patterns and limits its basic patterns to no more than three "strong" pieces (三强子). The page describes endgame mating technique as confining the general before mating or immobilising it, and middlegame mating technique as depending on a configuration of pieces rather than a single move.[8]
Names
童子拜佛 literally means "the child worships the Buddha"; 小棒当头 means "the little cudgel strikes the head". The latter name also appears in the series' account of 蜘蛛抱蛋 ("the spider wraps the egg"), where it describes a black pawn's mating move.[9] In his explanation of the composed position, the instructor 岳峰 identifies the "child" as the edge pawn that crosses the board to deliver mate.[10]
Other pawn patterns in the series also have pictorial names. The pawn pattern 独卒擒王 ("a lone pawn captures the king") carries the aliases 一卒送终, 太监追皇帝 ("the eunuch chases the emperor") and 送佛归殿 ("escorting the Buddha back to the hall"), and 蜘蛛抱蛋 is also called 小鬼坐龙庭 ("the little devil sits in the dragon court").[11][9] The preface to Mating Methods with Chariot, Horse and Pawn (车马兵杀法) explains that its positions were given literary names so that readers could tell them apart and take more pleasure in them, and notes that a named "killing pattern" (杀式) can be derived from the title of an old position — giving 金人七燕杀式, derived from 金人七燕, as an example.[12]
Worked examples
The series illustrates the pattern with two positions.[2] Move sequences in this article are written in the notation of the World Xiangqi Federation: K general, A advisor, E elephant, H horse, R chariot, C cannon and P pawn, upper case for Red and lower case for Black; files are numbered 1-9 from each side's own right; and +, - and = mark an advance, a retreat and a sideways move.
In the first example, Black's general stands on the back rank between two chariots. An advisor occupies the point directly in front of it, with Red's pawn one point below the advisor and Red's general on the central file. P5+1 captures the advisor and gives mate.[2] Black's general cannot capture the pawn because the two generals would then face each other along the open file. Black's chariots occupy its remaining escape squares.
In the second example, Red has a chariot, pawn and elephant. The published line ends on Red's twelfth move, when the chariot gives mate after the pawn has occupied the square beside Black's general.[2] A footnote gives a losing alternative: 10. R4=5? k5=6 11. P6=5?? r7=6, followed by a pawn-and-chariot mating sequence against Red.[2]
Related mating patterns
童子拜佛 is the eleventh instalment of the 4399 series. Its sidebar lists twelve patterns: 对面笑, 御驾亲征, 闲庭散步, 脱袍卸甲, 独卒擒王, 小鬼拍门, 老兵新传, 蜘蛛抱蛋, 三进兵, 小刀剜心, 童子拜佛 and 三仙炼丹. The first four concern the general and the remaining eight concern pawns.[13][8]
The series describes 三进兵 ("advancing the pawn three times") as three consecutive instances of 童子拜佛.[14] It distinguishes several related pawn patterns:
| Pattern | Description in the 4399 series |
|---|---|
| 独卒擒王 ("a lone pawn captures the king") | A supported pawn checks the general repeatedly, driving it back to its original square.[11] |
| 小鬼拍门 ("little ghosts knock at the door") | Two pawns attack the sides of the palace.[15] |
| 老兵新传 ("an old soldier's new story") | A pawn on the back rank confines the general.[16] |
| 三仙炼丹 ("three immortals refine the elixir") | Three pawns win against full advisors and elephants.[17] |
The series distinguishes 小刀剜心 from 蜘蛛抱蛋 by the pawn's route into the palace: sideways from a flank file in the former, and forward from a high pawn position in the latter.[9]
Composed endgame
In the featured position, Red has chariots on f7 and h5 and a pawn on i9; Black has its general on f10, an advisor on f8 and chariots on e8 and e6. Red moves first.[3][5] The position was uploaded to the Dongping Xiangqi database repeatedly between 2007 and 2016 under the title 童子拜佛 红先胜 ("Child Worships Buddha, Red moves first and wins"), and the same diagram was republished in 2021 by the WeChat account 象棋残局天下 as one instalment of its named endgame series, with the solution offered through a QR code rather than in the text.[3][5][18][19]
The recorded solution is thirteen plies long. Red checks on the enemy's back rank, steps back, and then places a chariot on the central file of that rank: 1. R2+5 k6+1 2. R2-1 k6-1 3. R2=5.[5] Black's answer in the recorded line is to advance the front chariot with check, 3... +r+5, after which Red's general steps up and the checking chariot withdraws; Red then moves the pawn sideways across files 1 to 4 (P1=2, P2=3, P3=4) and the pawn's arrival beside the general is mate.[5]
岳峰's teaching video presents the position as a street endgame (江湖残局) and demonstrates a different continuation: after 3. R2=5 it has the rear chariot come back one point to take the intruder on the central file, and Red then wins the chariot and advisor by doubling on the file before marching the pawn to the opposite wing and mating with a final R5=6.[10] Different uploads of the same position give length fields of 0, 13, 13 and 18.[3][19][20]
The cited database entries do not identify a composer or a date of composition.[3][5]
Other puzzles
The title also appears on a different Dongping Xiangqi composition attributed to the puzzle website 残局天下 (icanju.cn), which the database labels as a Red win in thirty-nine moves.[6]
A 2024 video by 大黄三两 uses the title for a position in which Red's two cannons, horse, chariot and pawn face Black's general, advisor, horse and three pawns. The instructor concludes that correct play draws.[7] Toutiao posts also use the name for street puzzles: a 2026 post describes a pawn-based puzzle, while a 2024 post describes two black pawns confining Red's general.[21][22]
Database collections
The featured position is record 086 in a Dongping series titled 残局攻杀谱 ("endgame attack-and-kill manual"). The database uses this title for two collections. The first is a compendium of 575 positions arranged in twenty-eight material classes — chariot-and-pawn, single pawn, double cannon and horse, and so on — uploaded by the database's own account in 2007 and described there as material collected from the internet; later uploaders cite it by class, as in "see 残局攻杀谱 车兵类(01)" and "双炮马类(26)".[23][24][25]
The collection containing record 086 consists of 114 positions without move lists numbered 001 to 114 and ordered alphabetically by the pinyin of their titles, uploaded by the user wjx138 in 2016.[26] Its entries correspond to positions in Simple Winning Endgames renumbered into that alphabetical order: 童子拜佛 is item 35 of the collection and 086 of the series. Nearby entries include 精兵强将 and 穿针引线 in the first collection, and 铁壁合围 and 投石断流 in the second.[4][27] Neither collection identifies a printed source for its arrangement or title.[23][26]
The 2016 series records positions without solutions. An earlier Dongping record contains the thirteen-ply line for 童子拜佛 in its page script.[5][3]
Printed terminology
Printed endgame manuals also use 定式 ("set form") for positions classified by material. Winning and Drawing Set Forms in Xiangqi Endgames (象棋残局胜和定式) groups winning and drawing positions into classes such as pawn, cannon, horse and chariot-and-pawn endings.[28] Pawn Endgames (兵卒类残局) presents 238 examples in six chapters, covering a single pawn against a general, advisor, elephant, pawn, horse or cannon.[29]
Publication and attribution
The first, eighth and eleventh instalments of the 4399 series credit the Baidu Tieba contributor 蓝色小飞鱼9999.[13][9][1] A December 2015 copy of the 独卒擒王 instalment on the document website 无忧文库 retains this credit.[30] A 2017 Tieba post also republishes the classification page under its title.[31]
The instalments published in December 2015 link to the classification page titled "the basic endgame mating patterns". The version of that page describing "ten classes and one hundred patterns" is dated 3 June 2016.[13][1][8]
Later reproductions include document-sharing uploads from 2020, a 2022 Zhihu column, a 2021 document reproducing the 童子拜佛 definition and 小棒当头 alias, and a Toutiao republication of the 童子拜佛 article.[32][33][34][35][36]
See also
References
- ↑ a b c d 4399 用户「是顾小花呀」（文中署名 Remilia）(16 December 2015). "天天象棋残局攻略 卒（兵）杀法童子拜佛" [Tian Tian Xiangqi endgame guide: the pawn mating pattern 童子拜佛]. 4399手机游戏网 (m.4399.cn). Definition 第十一式; header 「来自:蓝色小飞鱼9999 | IP:福建」; body credit 「转载自百度贴吧ID：蓝色小飞鱼9999」.
- ↑ a b c d e f 4399 用户「是顾小花呀」（文中署名 Remilia）(16 December 2015). "天天象棋残局攻略 卒（兵）杀法童子拜佛" [Tian Tian Xiangqi endgame guide: the pawn mating pattern 童子拜佛]. 4399手机游戏网 (news.4399.com). Two red-wins-first examples and the footnote variation.
- ↑ a b c d e f wjx138 (uploaded 11 November 2016; record dated 17 November 2014). "086.童子拜佛" [086. Child Worships Buddha]. 东萍象棋网 (Dongping Xiangqi), uploaded-materials library. Position only, no move list; event label 残局攻杀谱.
- ↑ a b 象棋谱大全 (2007). "《简易胜势残局》目录" [Directory of Simple Winning Endgames]. 东萍象棋网 (Dongping Xiangqi). Items 1–115 with move counts and results; item 35 童子拜佛, 红先胜, 13 着.
- ↑ a b c d e f g 象棋谱大全 (2007). "童子拜佛 红先胜" [Child Worships Buddha, Red moves first and wins]. 东萍象棋网 (Dongping Xiangqi). Thirteen-ply solution carried in the page script.
- ↑ a b 我的象棋1 (uploaded 22 September 2008). "童子拜佛" [Child Worships Buddha]. 东萍象棋网 (Dongping Xiangqi), uploaded-materials library. A second, different composed position under the same title, sourced from 残局天下 (icanju.cn), marked Red wins, thirty-nine moves.
- ↑ a b 大黄三两 (8 September 2024). "烧脑残局，童子拜佛，处处死穴，处处绝地逢生" [Brain-burning endgame, Child Worships Buddha: everywhere death-traps, everywhere narrow escapes]. 哔哩哔哩 (Bilibili). Transcript and frames; the demonstrator concludes the position is a draw.
- ↑ a b c 砍间 (3 June 2016). "天天象棋闯关心得技巧 残局基础杀法定式" [Tian Tian Xiangqi level-by-level notes: the basic endgame mating patterns]. 4399手机游戏网 (news.4399.com). Ten classes; the pawn class; the closing theory of mating technique.
- ↑ a b c d 4399 用户「是顾小花呀」（文中署名 Remilia）(14 December 2015). "天天象棋残局攻略 卒（兵）杀法蜘蛛抱蛋" [Tian Tian Xiangqi endgame guide: the pawn mating pattern 蜘蛛抱蛋]. 4399手机游戏网 (m.4399.cn). Eighth instalment; the note attaching 小棒当头 to a black pawn's mating move; the contrast with 小刀剜心.
- ↑ a b 岳峰讲棋 (6 October 2021). "【岳峰讲棋】象棋残棋，童子拜佛，越危险越安全！" [Yuefeng explains chess: the endgame 童子拜佛, the more dangerous the safer]. 哔哩哔哩 (Bilibili). Position, attempted losing try, and the winning method.
- ↑ a b 4399手机游戏网 (14 December 2015). "天天象棋残局攻略 卒（兵）杀法独卒擒王" [Tian Tian Xiangqi endgame guide: the pawn mating pattern 独卒擒王]. 4399手机游戏网 (news.4399.com). Fifth instalment; the aliases 一卒送终, 太监追皇帝, 送佛归殿; the contrast with 三进兵.
- ↑ (1992). 车马兵杀法 [Mating methods with chariot, horse and pawn]. 人民体育出版社 (People's Sports Publishing House). 270 composed positions grouped by pawn count, each with a literary name; the preface on the naming convention.
- ↑ a b c 4399 用户「是顾小花呀」（文中署名 Remilia）(13 December 2015). "天天象棋残局攻略 将（帅）杀法对面笑" [Tian Tian Xiangqi endgame guide: the general mating pattern 对面笑]. 4399手机游戏网 (m.4399.cn). First instalment; the sidebar list of the series' twelve names; the link to the taxonomy hub; the contributor credit line.
- ↑ 4399手机游戏网 (16 December 2015). "天天象棋残局攻略 卒（兵）杀法三进兵" [Tian Tian Xiangqi endgame guide: the pawn mating pattern 三进兵]. 4399手机游戏网 (news.4399.com). Ninth instalment; the stated relation to 童子拜佛.
- ↑ 4399手机游戏网 (14 December 2015). "天天象棋残局攻略 卒（兵）杀法小鬼拍门" [Tian Tian Xiangqi endgame guide: the pawn mating pattern 小鬼拍门]. 4399手机游戏网 (news.4399.com). Sixth instalment.
- ↑ 4399手机游戏网 (14 December 2015). "天天象棋残局攻略 卒（兵）杀法老兵新传" [Tian Tian Xiangqi endgame guide: the pawn mating pattern 老兵新传]. 4399手机游戏网 (news.4399.com). Seventh instalment.
- ↑ 4399手机游戏网 (16 December 2015). "天天象棋残局攻略 卒（兵）杀法三仙炼丹" [Tian Tian Xiangqi endgame guide: the pawn mating pattern 三仙炼丹]. 4399手机游戏网 (news.4399.com). Twelfth instalment; alias 三兵闹士; the verse stringing together the series' own names.
- ↑ 微信公众号「象棋残局天下」(17 June 2021). "象棋残局：童子拜佛" [Xiangqi endgame: Child Worships Buddha]. 微信公众平台. Diagram of the composed position; solution behind a QR code.
- ↑ a b 青竹19560620 (uploaded 16 April 2010). "童子拜佛 红先胜" [Child Worships Buddha, Red moves first and wins]. 东萍象棋网 (Dongping Xiangqi), uploaded-materials library. Filed under 近现代残排局 with the event label 简易胜势残局.
- ↑ 东萍象棋网 (Dongping Xiangqi). Uploaded-materials records of the same position: view_q_475600 (24 June 2012), view_q_611156 (18 May 2013, length 18, carrying a five-ply variation) and view_q_1683621 (18 June 2021). Position identical to record 086 in every upload.
- ↑ 西凉小兵 (6 June 2026). "江湖残局《童子拜佛》几个小短腿 到处歪歪绕 专治半桶水" [Street endgame "Child Worships Buddha": little short legs wandering everywhere]. 今日头条 (Toutiao).
- ↑ 象棋小王子 (23 November 2024). "此残局名叫「童子拜佛」，就是这盘残局让我连输了十盘……" [This endgame is called "Child Worships Buddha" and it cost me ten games in a row]. 今日头条 (Toutiao). Micro-post; Red moves first.
- ↑ a b 象棋谱大全 (2007). "《残局攻杀谱》目录" [Directory of Assault-and-Kill Endgames]. 东萍象棋网 (Dongping Xiangqi). 575 items in 28 material classes.
- ↑ lfm (uploaded 29 October 2017). "E82 4 车兵巧胜车士象全 中级 —见《残局攻杀谱》车兵类(01)" [Rook and pawn win against rook and full advisors and elephants, intermediate — see Assault-and-Kill Endgames, chariot-and-pawn class, item 1]. 东萍象棋网 (Dongping Xiangqi), uploaded-materials library.
- ↑ 三北希望幼儿园 (uploaded 13 June 2020). "残局攻杀谱象棋谱大全-近现代残排局双炮马类(26)" [Assault-and-Kill Endgames, double-cannon-and-horse class, item 26]. 东萍象棋网 (Dongping Xiangqi), uploaded-materials library. With an eleven-ply solution marked 红胜.
- ↑ a b wjx138 (uploaded 11 November 2016). Record 001.兵不在多 and record 114.卒以待毙, items 1158293 and 1158406 of the uploaded-materials library, with the event label 残局攻杀谱. 东萍象棋网 (Dongping Xiangqi).
- ↑ wjx138 (uploaded 11 November 2016). Records "085.铁壁合围" and "087.投石断流". 东萍象棋网 (Dongping Xiangqi), uploaded-materials library. Bare positions, no move lists.
- ↑ 金启昌 and 杨典. 象棋残局胜和定式 [Winning and drawing set forms in xiangqi endgames]. Classified table of contents: 胜局定式篇 and a matching draw section, with classes by material (兵类, 炮类, 炮兵类, 马类, 马兵类, 车兵类, 车马兵类, 车炮兵类).
- ↑ 徐家亮, 陆兴 and 王国栋. 兵卒类残局 [Pawn endgames]. 人民体育出版社 (People's Sports Publishing House), 象棋实用残局丛书. Contents note: six chapters, 238 examples, won and drawn set forms for single pawn against general, advisor, elephant, pawn, horse and cannon.
- ↑ 无忧文库 (5uwenku.com) (indexed 21 December 2015). "天天象棋残局闯关攻略 卒（兵）杀法独卒擒王怎么过" [How to pass the pawn mating pattern 独卒擒王]. Copy of the 4399 instalment retaining the credit line 「转载自百度贴吧ID：蓝色小飞鱼9999」; the site's related-document list mirrors the whole twelve-instalment series.
- ↑ 豫槃 (15 May 2017). "天天象棋闯关心得技巧 残局基础杀法定式【转】" [Repost: the basic endgame mating patterns]. 百度贴吧 (Baidu Tieba), 象棋吧. The poster's opening line records that the previous attempt 「被系统删除了；再试试」.
- ↑ guojieyq (uploaded 21 March 2020). "象棋的基本杀法定式名称汇总" [A collected list of the names of the basic mating patterns]. 道客巴巴 (doc88.com). Fourteen pages; the same taxonomy text, including item 7 童子拜佛.
- ↑ (uploaded 29 April 2020). "象棋的基本杀法定式 各类杀法名称汇总" [The basic mating patterns: a collected list of names]. 道客巴巴 (doc88.com). Twelve pages.
- ↑ (21 July 2022). "象棋的基本杀法定式" [The basic mating patterns of xiangqi]. 知乎专栏 (Zhihu column).
- ↑ (5 September 2021). "天天象棋52关图解" [Tian Tian Xiangqi level 52 illustrated]. 豆丁网 (docin.com). Reproduces the 4399 童子拜佛 paragraph with its credit line and alias.
- ↑ 今日头条 UGC share page. "天天象棋残局攻略 卒(兵)杀法童子拜佛" [Tian Tian Xiangqi endgame guide: the pawn mating pattern 童子拜佛]. 今日头条 (Toutiao); a republication of the seed page carrying its title, definition and first example.