What is the Elephant Opening (飛相局)?
These answers restate the rules implemented by our open-source engine, which follows the WXF laws for movement, checkmate and both repetition rulings: a side that forces a repetition by perpetual check or perpetual chase loses rather than drawing. The chase half has not been validated against the official casebook. Where an answer refers to a specific position, that position lives on the linked reference page, where the build verifies it before publishing.
Direct answer
飛相局 is 相三進五 — the elephant to the middle of Red's own half on move one. It develops nothing and attacks nothing, but it defends the central point before any attack starts and sidesteps every sharp Central Cannon line. It is the main alternative to the Central Cannon at every level.
Why strong players use it
Three reasons: it avoids all the heavily analysed theory in one move; it defends the point every attack aims at; and it commits to nothing, so Red can still choose a cannon plan, a horse plan or a slow build depending on what Black does.
The cost is the initiative. Against active play, Red spends the early middlegame equalising rather than attacking.
Black's options
Take the centre with a cannon and become the attacker; mirror the elephant move for a quiet game; or advance a soldier and keep everything flexible. None of the three is refuted, which is rather the point of the opening.
Related questions
Is it good for beginners?
Solid and hard to punish, but it teaches less about attacking than the Central Cannon. Learn to attack first.
Is it passive?
Solid, not passive. Red still has to develop and choose a plan; a Red who only shuffles will simply be worse.
.