Fun Puzzles

I recall that when I was a teenager, the late Mr Lin Ming Yan, one of Singapore’s top xiangqi players in the 1960s tested me with the first fun puzzle below.

Your mission is not to checkmate. Move only the Horses and force the King to run clockwise around the palace perimeter. Should the Black King be able to move, at any time, to the centre or in the opposite direction, you would have failed the mission. Moreover, after a full cycle, all pieces must be back at their starting positions.

The mission is the same as in the previous game. Can it be achieved by a one-horse show? Yes, because here you have a super-horse; it can make 3 moves on every turn. I would like to impose another condition: the Black King shall not be in check throughout. You will be surprised that it is much easier, and with more options too.