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        Arimaa >> Game Analysis >> ginrunner v Adanac
        
(Message started by: ginrunner on Jan 30^th, 2012, 12:13am)

Title: ginrunner v Adanac
Post by ginrunner on Jan 30^th, 2012, 12:13am

http://arimaa.com/arimaa/games/jsShowGame.cgi?gid=213135&s=w

Honestly I am very happy with the way I played here but after review I can't figure out why/how I lost control of C3. There were blunders on both sides and I keep noticing them (oh I should have done this) but while advice on specific moves is welcome it is not what I am really looking for. I am trying to find an absence in awareness. What error in strategy made me lose control. Currently my weakness is mid-game control and I would really like to improve there.

As a side note, for some reason I thought the rabbit on move 29s would be frozen. The other move I was debating on using on 29g was Rf4w Eg4w Re4n Cd1w. Who would have won that race?

Title: Re: ginrunner v Adanac
Post by Nombril on Jan 30^th, 2012, 7:05am

First impressions here:

Up until 10g: that was an interesting way to capture a horse. I did like your position until 10g, but after that it seemed Adanac was completely dictating the game. A different 10g probably would have kept you ahead.

13g: Attacking with your camel... There are so many pieces at f6, you will need at least a dog to help the camel attack properly, but with the horse defending even that will be slow. Did you plan to take control of f6 or drag something back? It seemed the strategy here should have been to get a better position at c3 unless you have some line for a fast attack.

14g: Burying your own horse behind enemy rabbits ... I'd rather see that horse in an active position instead of sitting next to enemy rabbits and camel. (You are getting swarmed - don't spend your steps adding to the swarm ... ) Plus, this is a key point to loosing control of your home trap. Your elephant is buried, your horse is buried, and your camel is on the far side of the board. You are in big trouble here because the opponent can overmatch your pieces on 3 sides of the trap - your elephant is the only piece that can take a side. Is there a way to get your dog on c2? Get your horse involved?

16 to 20: As you say, check the tactics, there are probably better ways to get your camel to that dog. Even then it will be a slow fight to get control back - you can't capture the dog on c3 and it will take a long time to drag it back to c6. (And while the camel is at c3, I'd expect Adanac's horse to attack c6...I don't see any option other then get your camel to help take control...but even that might not be enough at this point...) And watch out for friendly rabbits that can get in your way.

The alternate 29g is certainly better, but silver has a lot of piece in the center of the board that can help with defense. Under time pressure maybe you can sneak something in, but it looks like it would require a mistake on silver's side.

Title: Re: ginrunner v Adanac
Post by clyring on Jan 30^th, 2012, 4:29pm

The go proverb "Don't go fishing while your house is on fire" comes to mind when watching moves 13-15.

Title: Re: ginrunner v Adanac
Post by ginrunner on Jan 30^th, 2012, 11:04pm

Thank you nombril that was very helpful.

Clyring: I agree after the fact ::)

Title: Re: ginrunner v Adanac
Post by chessandgo on Feb 21^st, 2012, 4:35pm

You're mostly playing M vs hd in the east on 13g, but this fight is actually much closer than I used to intuitively expect. And if on 15s Greg pushes your Dog to c3 instead of e3 it even goes hdd for M, where hdd might actually be stronger. So you're pretty thin in the east to start with, and with a Horse inactive on a3, you have no strong piece in the center. Preventing a dog from infiltrating the center as happened on 14s / 15s looks very important.

I agree with Nombril that you'd like to activate your Horse, but I don't see how to do it. Advancing the Horse up the a-file before taking the camel hostage would let the camel flee and even get a Horse hostage.

Title: Re: ginrunner v Adanac
Post by ginrunner on Feb 21^st, 2012, 5:18pm

I have noticed that my "bread and butter" moves/strategy in the 1700-1800 rating area has gotten me into this or a similar position nearly every game in higher level games. This thread has helped quite a bit but the change in strategic thinking is slow (yet still moving :)).

I still have a problem with the eastern side. I have been trying MD attacks leaving a dog in the center (intuitively it seems like it should beat hd) but it is not working quite as well as I would like. Sadly I may have to abandon the setup I have come to rely on as it tends to create this situation every game. I really like the EHH attack but every day am moving toward the EMH side of the equation.

Again thank you for the comments, they have been IMMENSELY helpful.

edit: I tried the different setup experiment and it ended terribly. It is like relearning arimaa strategy completely.