What these six games can teach you
A game worth studying does not need a spectacular checkmate. These six games from the 2026 Asian individual championship offer three useful skills: choosing an appropriate level of risk, turning extra material into something concrete and coordinating pawns with stronger pieces. Start with one position, choose a move for yourself, then use the replay to compare your idea with what happened on the board.
Choose your starting point
Manila brought together 24 men and 11 women, playing at 45 minutes per player plus 20 seconds per move. This selection covers early-round games, with an information cutoff of October 5, 2026. It is a study collection, not an official best-game ranking.
Scroll the table sideways to compare all columns.
| Game | Round | Result | Study focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tang Dan – Li Kaiwen | Women 2 | Tang Dan wins | Spot the change |
| Lại Lý Huynh – Wang Yubo | Men 4 | Draw | Piece activity |
| Tang Dan – Đàm Thị Thùy Dung | Women 3 | Tang Dan wins | Pawn coordination |
| Cheng Yudong – Lại Lý Huynh | Men 3 | Draw | Manage risk |
| Lại Lý Huynh – Narendra | Men 2 | Lại wins | Development order |
| Wang Yubo – Chen Jiajun | Men 3 | Wang wins | Purposeful exchanges |
New to detailed analysis? Start with Tang Dan–Li Kaiwen, where a few clicks reveal visible changes. For endgame practice, choose Lại–Wang. To study a longer plan, explore Tang Dan–Đàm Thị Thùy Dung.
Tang Dan–Li Kaiwen: see the turning point unfold
Women’s round 2 · Tang wins with Red · 63 plies. The replay opens after 25.R9-1, just before Black advances the chariot on file 5. This is a compact passage for practising observation.
Choose Next to see 25...R5+1. Continue to 26.C1+5: Red’s cannon captures a pawn. After Black’s reply, 27.R9+2 brings the red chariot forward to capture a horse. Those are concrete changes you can follow without starting from an engine verdict.
Tang Dan – Li Kaiwen
The skill is to look beyond the piece that just moved and notice relationships between pieces. A move can create a threat while giving up a defensive task. Winning material is only part of the assessment: check whether the opponent can attack your general or recover material elsewhere.
The recorded machine evaluation changes from +32 to +266, both from Red’s perspective, after 25...R5+1. That locates a useful study position. The source does not specify units or engine settings, so these numbers are not converted into pawns. The follow-up moves remain the part you can examine directly.
Lại Lý Huynh–Wang Yubo: extra material needs a route forward
Men’s round 4 · Draw · 84 plies. Lại played Red against Wang and reached six points after four rounds, with two wins and two draws. The endgame offers more to learn than the score alone suggests.
After 33.R7=1, Red’s chariot has captured Black’s last pawn. Red still has a pawn, two elephants and two advisors; Black has one elephant and two advisors. Both sides have a chariot, with a horse for Red and a cannon for Black. This is a more useful description than simply saying that Red is ahead.
Lại Lý Huynh – Wang Yubo
Work through three questions. Is the general safe? Constant defensive duties can tie down extra material. Can the attacking pieces cooperate? A chariot needs access, a horse needs useful squares and a pawn needs support. Is there a target? A sound defence can deny an entry point even when it has fewer pieces.
Tang Dan–Đàm Thị Thùy Dung: three pawns working together
Women’s round 3 · Tang wins with Red · 143 plies. Both players entered with two wins. Tang’s third victory provides time to follow a plan through successive piece manoeuvres.
Two checkpoints make the long record easier to explore. After 11...H9-8, no chariots remain. After 40...H3+4, Red has three central pawns, a horse and a cannon, while Black has two horses. Compare the positions to see how the available forces and space have changed.
Tang Dan – Đàm Thị Thùy Dung
Without chariots, cooperation among horses, cannons and pawns becomes especially visible. A pawn can move sideways after crossing the river, but each advance still needs support. Horses must avoid blocked legs; cannons need a screen to capture. A pawn group gains value when it helps those pieces work and makes the opponent commit defenders.
At “Three central pawns”, choose one pawn and identify its support. Then find a square the horse would like to reach and check its leg. This small exercise makes you evaluate the position as a connected whole.
Cheng Yudong–Lại Lý Huynh: understanding a short draw
Men’s round 3 · Draw · 33 plies. Cheng had Red and Lại Black in the shortest of these six records. Both played cautiously and the game ended drawn.
Only the top two after six qualifying rounds in the men’s event would play for the title. That makes risk against a direct rival relevant. It does not establish either player’s intentions, but it reminds us that tournament decisions depend on standings and acceptable risk as well as the position.
Cheng Yudong – Lại Lý Huynh
As you replay the opening, ask whether each developing move leaves a weakness. After an exchange, who needs another move to defend? There is something to learn from preserving a sound position even without a long attack.
Lại Lý Huynh–Narendra: learn an opening through piece jobs
Men’s round 2 · Lại wins · 75 plies. Lại had Red against Indonesia’s Narendra in a Cross Palace Cannon opening, part of his two-win start.
Use the opening as a prompt to think about the cannon’s job. Does its new square help develop a chariot, cooperate with a horse or create an attacking route? Those questions remain useful when an opponent departs from your memorised sequence.
This game adds an opening perspective to the collection. Without a substantiated tactical line, there is no need to assign the whole result to one decisive mistake. Practise identifying piece jobs in your own xiangqi game.
Wang Yubo–Chen Jiajun: exchange with the next position in mind
Men’s round 3 · Wang wins · 71 plies. Wang beat Macau’s Chen Jiajun. The reported endgame involved two cannons and a horse, with an extra central pawn across the river helping Wang convert.
The useful question is what remains after an exchange. Simplifying can help if it protects the pawn, reduces counterplay and clarifies a route forward. Exchanging its only supporting piece can instead remove the basis of the advantage.
A pawn across the river is not automatically a passed pawn. Look for opposing blockers and controlled squares before deciding whether to push it or improve a supporting piece.
Turn watching into a short training session
- Choose one question: coordination, exchanges or endgames?
- Stop at a checkpoint. Spend a minute finding two candidate moves and the opponent’s replies.
- Continue a few plies. Follow the highlighted move and compare the game plan with yours.
- Keep one principle. “Before exchanging chariots, check who will protect the pawn” is more usable than trying to memorise the whole game.
Review the piece rules or WXF notation, then play a new game with one specific idea from this article in mind.
Questions about the records
Where should a beginner start?
Start with Tang–Li and the checkpoints before Black’s 25th move, the cannon capture and the chariot capture. You can see the changes before learning all the notation.
Are 143 plies the same as 143 full moves?
No. A ply is one player’s move. The 143-ply record contains 71 Red–Black pairs and a final Red move.
Why can a player draw with extra material?
The extra pieces need activity, targets and cooperation while the general remains safe. A solid defence or sufficient counterplay can prevent conversion.
How should I read machine scores?
Compare values within the same system and perspective. Tang–Li’s +32 to +266 change points to a passage worth investigating; do not turn it into a pawn count or substitute it for calculation.
Data sources & references
Checked October 5, 2026. Results, lengths and game continuations were cross-checked against records and event reports; the study exercises are ChessPlayX commentary. The sources disagree on Wang–Chen’s colours, so that game is discussed through its result and strategic account without an embedded replay.
- Opening and participants · Time control — Guangxiang
- Men’s records · Women’s records — 01xq
- Report after three rounds — Guangxiang
- Round-four result and endgame — Tuổi Trẻ
- Tang Dan–Li Kaiwen record and scores — 01xq
