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        Arimaa >> General Discussion >> general strategy question
        
(Message started by: ginrunner on Jan 25^th, 2011, 12:43pm)

Title: general strategy question
Post by ginrunner on Jan 25^th, 2011, 12:43pm

OK so yes almost all strategy depends on the situation but I have been kind of wondering about a basic question. If you knew nothing about a situation other than you have given up either a horse frame or horse hostage near the enemy trap and that is the only unit that is at risk or given up what would you do? Would your initial plan be to bring in other units and try and free it? Would you go offensive and try and put pressure on the other enemy trap and make them spread their forces a bit (I have been trying this route and it does not seem to be working, I am not sure if it doesn't work because of bad tactics or if it is a bad strategy to begin with)? Would you play defensive and keep your camel near your home trap on the opposite side? Basically if you find yourself losing materially what would be your gut plan?

Title: Re: general strategy question
Post by Fritzlein on Jan 25^th, 2011, 7:37pm

on 01/25/11 at 12:43:49, ginrunner wrote:

A horse frame is different from a horse hostage held by a camel, which is different from a horse hostage held by an elephant. Expecting to use the same strategy in all three will probably get you in trouble two-thirds of the time! (And there is a fourth case of a horse frame where it is not the elephant pinned, but some other piece pinned, in which case it is a tactical question rather than a strategic one.)

Quote:

Would your initial plan be to bring in other units and try and free it?

For a horse frame that pins my elephant, I almost always try to break the frame with my camel rather than trying to get counterplay. Even if I have a camel the opponent temporarily can't match, how much can my free camel win before my opponent rotates his elephant out of the frame? A rabbit? After he has rotated, then he has an elephant I can't match, which means I will eventually lose my horse and the game.

For a horse held hostage by a camel, I almost always try to free it immediately with my elephant. Fighting anywhere else on the board (where he has an elephant and I don't) is going to go steadily downhill for me. I just have to take my medicine immediately. Either I choose to lose the horse for whatever I can get in four elephant steps, or I take the time to free the horse with my elephant and lose whatever that time costs me on the other side of the board. Delaying a resolution of the horse held hostage by the camel usually makes it worse.

For a horse held hostage by an elephant, there is often no way to free the hostage. Then I am usually trying to free my elephant with a swarm that protects my hostage horse from capture. But there is no need to swarm, instead I can use my camel to play against his camel; why should that be any worse for me than him?

Quote:

Basically if you find yourself losing materially what would be your gut plan?

If I am already behind materially, I try to make the position as tense and imbalanced as possible. I want a racing game, not a control game. I want my elephant on the opposite wing as his elephant, or if I can't manage that, at least my camel on the opposite wing as his camel. I will gladly give up control of one of my home traps if it means I can gain control of one opposing trap. If I can make progress (towards goal or capture) and the other player can also make progress (towards goal or capture), who knows what will happen? I might be faster.

Clearly my opponent will try to do the opposite. If he has an extra horse, he wants to have elephant fight elephant, camel fight camel, creating a stalemate until the fighting devolves to his horse that I can't match. He wants to make progress for free. He wants to capture without allowing capture, or create goal pressure without allowing goal pressure.