◇ Just read — no move neededThe edge starves the horse
Count the horse's jumps and the proverb writes itself: 马怕边上, the horse fears the edge. From the middle of the board a horse commands eight squares; from an edge file, four; from a corner like a0 here, only two — b2 and c1. An edge horse attacks almost nothing, defends almost nothing, and needs two slow moves just to rejoin the game. The typical punishment: the enemy simply ignores it and wins elsewhere with the extra piece.