Che6# (see diagram) Black is mated and therefore loses. Red's doubled cannons cannot be blocked, and the general cannot move off the e-file. Gameplay Because of the size of the board and the low number of long-range pieces, there is a tendency for the battle to focus on a particular area of the board. Tactics Xiangqi involves several tactics common to games in the chess family. Some common ones are briefly discussed here. When one piece can attack more than one enemy piece, they are forked. A piece is pinned when it cannot move without exposing a more important piece to capture. Only chariot pins exactly resemble pins in western chess; pins by other pieces in xiangqi take on many unique forms: Cannons can pin two pieces at once on one file or rank, horses can pin because they can be blocked, and generals can pin because of the "flying general" rule. In pins by horses and elephants, the pinning piece never attacks the pinned piece, while in a pin by a cannon, only one of the pieces is directly attacked by the cannon. A general can only pin pieces to the enemy general, and the pinning general can never capture the pinned piece, since that would place it in check from the enemy general. A piece is skewered when it is attacked and, by moving, exposes a less important piece to be captured. Only cannons and chariots can skewer. A discovered check occurs when an attacking piece moves so that it unblocks a line for a chariot, cannon, and/or horse to check the enemy general. A double check occurs when two pieces simultaneously threaten the enemy general. Unlike a Western chess double check, a double check in xiangqi may be blockable or, in one case, possibly met with a capture by a piece other than the general. The only blockable cases are either a chariot and cannon on the same file as the general, with the chariot acting as a screen for the cannon, two horses giving discovered check after another piece unblocks the attack from both, or a cannon using an enemy piece as a platform uncovered by a horse (see below). Double checks delivered by other means are not blockable. In one exceptional case, if a horse moves to give a double check by uncovering a cannon, and the cannon’s platform is an enemy chariot or defensive