Openings · 相掛かり
Double Wing Attack.
Both players run the rook’s pawn up the board, exchange it, and get the rooks working before either king has moved.
The idea
The one opening here whose second move decides whether it happens at all: push your rook’s pawn, and if the reply is the same move on the other wing you are in the Double Wing. If they push the third-file pawn instead, the game is something else entirely. Both pawns run up the board, both golds come up to guard the bishops’ heads, then the pawns are exchanged and the rooks are suddenly the most active pieces on the board with both kings still at home. Little of this is memorised for long, because the position is open by move ten and what is left is calculation. Chess players tend to feel at home immediately.
How it goes together
Both sides’ moves are shown, because this opening is an agreement rather than a system: one player cannot reach it alone, so a one-sided list of moves would be a fiction.
Step through the moves, or press play.
Tap a move to jump to it. Arrow keys work once the board has focus.
Every move of the line, with reasons
| # | Black | White | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ▲２六歩 2g2f | △８四歩 8c8d | The rook’s pawn. |
| 3 | ▲２五歩 2f2e | △８五歩 8d8e | |
| 5 | ▲７八金 6i7h | △３二金 4a3b | The gold guards the bishop’s head, which is what an advanced rook pawn is really aiming at. |
| 7 | ▲２四歩 2e2d | △同歩 2c2d | The break. |
| 9 | ▲同飛 2h2d | △２三歩 P*2c | And the rook takes the pawn. Black is a pawn up with the rook out in the open. |
| 11 | ▲２六飛 2d2f | The floating rook on 2f, which is one of the two main lines. The other is to go all the way back to 2h and play a slower game. |
The plan once you are set up
- Decide where the rook goes when it is kicked, and decide it before you push the pawn. 2f keeps it active, 2h keeps it safe, and the two lead to different games.
- Keep the bishop’s head defended. With no castle and an open file, that square is most of the defence.
- Get the king out of the centre whenever there is a spare move, even by one square. A loose formation is normal here; a king on 5i with three files open is not.
- Watch the pawn count. A pawn in hand is a real weapon in an open position, and both sides usually finish with one.
What to watch for
- Their rook, on the file yours just opened. Whatever you can do down a file, so can they.
- The bishops. They are still on the board, both diagonals are half open, and a bishop exchange in a position with no castles is rarely neutral.
- Move order. Almost every accident in this opening is a pawn exchange played one move before the piece that had to support it.
What it is played against
Another static rook, by agreement: the opening only exists if both players push the rook’s pawn. It is the sharpest opening a beginner can reasonably try, because there is very little to remember and a great deal to work out.
Play it against the bot.
The app’s bot plays real openings from a book, and the review afterwards tells you the move you left it. Try the line, then try the plan.