to an otherwise overwhelming victory. And deciding whether you can still win, even without that piece, requires great expertise. Games in which stalemate is allowed tend to produce much more even games — many a lopsided game is turned into an interesting match by the surrender of a piece to avoid a stalemate. Strategy Early action – Under Taiwanese rules, playing first is a slight disadvantage. If you turn up a cannon, the opponent can turn up next to it with a high likelihood of capturing the cannon and no risk of losing his piece to the cannon. If you turn up anything else, the opponent can turn over a piece one hop away. If he finds a cannon, it can take your piece, but no matter what it is, your piece can't immediately take his. By convention, the new challenger plays first to give the previous game's loser a slight advantage. Chance – It is difficult to form strategy early on, since all pieces are hidden. This is a disadvantage to experienced players, who cannot follow a formulaic win strategy. Royalty – Incidentally, the life of the general is not the point of this game; the game does not end because of the general's death. In fact, both generals usually die long before the end of the game. The game ends only when one player has no legal move. Banqi is often a game of attrition. Soldiers – Since there are five opposing soldiers, the mighty general is perversely vulnerable, and frequently the general turns out to be worthless in the face of a soldier front. This vulnerability makes the second-highest rank, chariots in Hong Kong or advisors in Taiwan, the most powerful pieces in many games. It is often advantageous to search out and destroy the enemy soldiers, which the opponent may overlook as less valuable pieces. Once the enemy soldiers are eliminated, the general can roam free across the field in relative safety, vulnerable only to attacks by cannons and the opposing general. Cannons – Under Taiwanese rules, the cannon has devastating potential if it is well placed behind a shield of strong allied pieces. Given such position, a cannon can be stronger than either general or advisor, especially if the opposing general and/or advisors have limited lateral mobility—that is, if they can't sidestep a cannon attack. On the other hand, the opponent has plenty of pieces