Double Wing Attack

Double Wing Attack position
☖ pieces in hand: –
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香桂銀金王 銀桂香1
 飛    金角 2
歩 歩歩歩歩歩歩歩3
         4
 歩     歩 5
         6
歩歩歩歩歩歩歩 歩7
 角金    飛 8
香桂銀 玉金銀桂香9
☗ pieces in hand: –

In shogi, Double Wing Attack or simply Wing Attack or Centre Game (Japanese: 相掛かり or 相懸り, romanized: aigakari, lit. 'Mutual attack') is a Double Static Rook opening in which both sides directly advance their rook pawns forward on the second and eighth files toward their opponent's bishop often with the first several moves on each side being identical or very similar.

During the Edo period (1603-1868) the common joseki for Double Wing Attack consisted of advancing the rook pawn after opening the bishop diagonals, and after exchanging pawns, retreating the rook without capturing the side pawn. At the beginning of the Heisei era (1989-2019), the main line became to advance the rook pawns without opening any of the bishop diagonals, and then to retreat the rook after exchanging the pawns. However, starting in the second half of the 2010s, it became more frequent to delay the rook pawns exchange, without doing so immediately.

Traditionally, the two most common positions to which the rook retreated have been R-26 and R-28 (in Black's case), but in recent years, the R-25 variation of Double Attack has also appeared in official tournaments. From this point on, several variants are possible, such as Twisting Rook on the left of the board (in the case of Black's R-26 variation), or Climbing Silver or Reclining Silver using the right silver, which require both players to manage a wide range of moves and imagination. There is a wide variety of strategies, from quick attacks in which both players make use of their pawns in hand, to slow games in which both players castle their kings.

Double Wing Attack, which has been played since the Edo period, has been known as a strategy prone to fierce battles due to the lack of well-developed joseki,[1] but with the development of computer shogi in the late 2010s, with programs such as AlphaZero adopting Double Attack as a result of self-learning, there has been an increased and quick progress in joseki for this opening, which has led to its adoption in most professional title games in 2021, highlighting its importance as a Double Static Rook tactic.[2]

  1. ^ "藤井聡太竜王、「相掛かり」五冠王手へ発動 公式戦通算２０戦１８勝の必勝型 王将戦第３局第１日" [Sota Fujii, Ryuo, attacks with "Double Wing Attack" to secure a total of 18 wins in 20 official games for the Osho Tournament.]. スポーツ報知 (in Japanese). 2022-01-30. Retrieved 2023-11-06.
  2. ^ "藤井聡太竜王が相掛かりブームの火付け役に。2022年度のタイトル戦ではどんな戦法がブームになるか？（遠山雄亮） - エキスパート" [Sota Fujii Ryuuo causes a Double Wing Attack boom. Which strategies will create a boom in 2022 title matches?]. Yahoo!ニュース (in Japanese). Retrieved 2023-11-06.