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        Arimaa >> General Discussion >> Rules: Special Situations
        
(Message started by: qswanger on Sep 15th, 2010, 12:34pm)
Title: Rules: Special Situations
Post by qswanger on Sep 15th, 2010, 12:34pm

I apologize if this has been asked and addressed previously, but I was just wondering under what circumstances would it make sense to temporarily bring an opposing rabbit to goal? I couldn't think of any position where it would be desirable to do this (e.g., as a necessary defensive resource). Can someone more in the know provide a position and move sequence that demonstrates this? Thank you so much. Also, for your reference here is the actual wording of this "special situation" from the site's official rules:

"A player may push or pull the opponent's rabbit into the goal row it is trying to reach. If at the end of the turn the rabbit remains there, the player loses. However if the opponent's rabbit is moved back out of the goal row before the end of the turn, the player does not lose."
Title: Re: Rules: Special Situations
Post by Fritzlein on Sep 15th, 2010, 12:39pm
http://arimaa.com/arimaa/puzzles/show.cgi?p=p24
Title: Re: Rules: Special Situations
Post by qswanger on Sep 15th, 2010, 1:25pm
Sweet! I see that this is a totally contrived "composed" position involving zugzwang/immobilization ... I just wonder how rare something like this would be in actual play. Also, is there a specific reason *why* the decision was made to allow this (i.e., not make this an immediate win for the player whose rabbit reached the goal line, even "temporarily"). After all, pieces are immediately removed from the game once they enter an unsupported trap (not evaluated to be captured at the *end* of a turn). Just seems like an inconsistency to me. Comments? Thanks for the link.
Title: Re: Rules: Special Situations
Post by rbarreira on Sep 15th, 2010, 1:40pm

on 09/15/10 at 13:25:24, qswanger wrote:
Sweet! I see that this is a totally contrived "composed" position involving zugzwang/immobilization ... I just wonder how rare something like this would be in actual play. Also, is there a specific reason *why* the decision was made to allow this (i.e., not make this an immediate win for the player whose rabbit reached the goal line, even "temporarily"). After all, pieces are immediately removed from the game once they enter an unsupported trap (not evaluated to be captured at the *end* of a turn). Just seems like an inconsistency to me. Comments? Thanks for the link.


Consistency.

All the other rules work with positions at the end of a turn. For example, it's fine to reach a 3rd repetition in the middle of a turn. It's fine to make 2 steps which cancel each other out, but not a move that doesn't change the board.
Title: Re: Rules: Special Situations
Post by Fritzlein on Sep 15th, 2010, 3:45pm

on 09/15/10 at 13:25:24, qswanger wrote:
I just wonder how rare something like this would be in actual play.

It has happened once that I know of in actual play, albeit only between bots.

http://arimaa.com/arimaa/forum/cgi/YaBB.cgi?board=devTalk;action=display;num=1224997312

So the rule isn't there just for completeness and consistency; it can matter in a real game!


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