The king, also known as General in Xiangqi, originally 將 and also 王將 in Shogi, is the most important piece in the game. If a king is in check and cannot move out of check, it is checkmate, and the player loses. Each player can only have one king on the board at all times. White king starts on e1 square, and Black king starts on e8 square. Kings can move one space in any direction, as long as it is not moving into a square that is able to be captured by an enemy piece. The white king is set up on e1, and the black king is set up on e8. Once a king is in checkmate, the game is over. The king doesn't have a value as the king getting captured would result in losing the entire match. Kings are represented in algebraic notation by a capital K.
Remember that a king cannot be actually captured, the player loses as soon as the king gets checkmated.
Castling
The king may work together with the rook to perform castling which allows the pieces to swap sides of each other. The King then moves 2 squares for the only time in the match after which the rook “jumps” over it. This allows the king to move to a safer space in a corner (usually behind three pawns) and allows the rook to team up with the other rook as well as bringing it to center, thus, making it an active piece. To castle, you move the king two squares to the side that you want to castle on. Then you must move the rook to the other side of the king (the space that the king jumped over). This opportunity is not allowed if either of the pieces involved have moved (even if they return to their original locations), if the king is currently in check, or if the king would move through check by castling. There must also not be any pieces between the king and rook.
Strategy
The strategy relating to a king seems to be focused more on defending the king than employing its powers. If the king is in check, there are three ways to escape:
- Most favorably, capture the threatening piece.
- Move the king out of check, or...
- Put a piece between the threat and the king (Blocking). This cannot be done if the king is in check by a knight or pawn.
A king's offensive options become more important during the endgame, where it is generally favorable to move the king out to the middle of the board where it can move out to take surrounding pieces, usually pawns that it will eliminate one by one.
If the kings are the only pieces on the board at one time, it is automatically declared a draw by insufficient material. Because kings can't move into check, the king can never check, and therefore can never checkmate the opponent.
A draw by stalemate is reached when a player is not in check, but can't make any legal moves. This situation most often occurs when their only piece is the king, but it is possible to happen even if they have other pieces, for example, if the other pieces are blocked pawns or a piece pinned to the king. A player who knows they are seriously losing may attempt to bring about stalemate in order to avoid defeat, particularly during the endgame.
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