~The Cannon~
The Cannon in Chinese Chess has no Western counterpart, but often seems
to become the favorite piece or, if not, one of the favorite pieces of
a beginning player. Being able to break up a seemingly solid defense from
a distance, the Cannon is one of the most powerful pieces in Chinese Chess
and is probably the most facinating because of it's mode of movement as
well as it's stratiegic value.
~Mode(s) of Movement~
The cannon's primary mode of movement is any number of unocupied points left, right, forward, or backward(i.e. orthogonal movement. However, in order to capture a piece, one and only one piece, known by reference as the screen must be between the Cannon and the piece to be captured. This can be thought of as a cannon blasting a cannonball over an obsticle, called the "screen," and destroying the enemy beyond. The screen is simply a name used to give a name to any piece of either side that is between the Cannon and the piece to be captured and that is used as a capturing medium. Only one screen may be used to capture a piece. The distance to the piece to be captured is independent of the Cannon's capturing power. A piece across
the board can be captured, provided that there is a piece(which acts as the screen) in-between the cannon and the piece to be captured, which enables it to capture pieces a great distance away. This is comparable only to the Charoit's power. The cannon cannot jump diagonally, but can only jump orthogonally(i.e. forward, backward, left or right) to capture pieces.
~Piece Tactics~
The cannon is an excellent tool of attack as it can, as stated above, break a good defense from any distance, provided that the right conditions exist. Two cannons (of the same side) that are lined up with one another, again under the right conditions, can checkmate a general.
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