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        Arimaa >> General Discussion >> Camel and Elephant moved 2 spaces forward to open
        
(Message started by: AstroBullivant on Jan 30^th, 2022, 10:41am)

Title: Camel and Elephant moved 2 spaces forward to open
Post by AstroBullivant on Jan 30^th, 2022, 10:41am

I'm interested in openings where Gold positions his camel and elephant up front in the center squares(d2 and e2 in Chess, but I don't know how squares are denoted in Arimaa). Then, one the first move, Gold moves the elephant and camel to d4 and e4. Silver then moves his elephant to split and free Gold's camel and elephant on his first move. What do you guys think about possible responses?

Title: Re: Camel and Elephant moved 2 spaces forward to o
Post by browni3141 on Feb 20^th, 2022, 6:48pm

The best response for each side would depend on the specifics of the setup but this isn't good for gold since he will just be forced to waste tempo retreating the camel to a safer square. Generally in the early opening the elephants are the only pieces that want to occupy the center. Non-elephant pieces get harassed too easily. The camel usually either remains flexible in the center, but not past the 3rd rank, or moves to either wing to support an attack, most frequently targeting the opponent's b/g file horse in some way.

Title: Re: Camel and Elephant moved 2 spaces forward to o
Post by AstroBullivant on Mar 13^th, 2022, 9:01pm

Thanks for the tip! I was thinking that Gold could use the camel and the elephant to gain control of two trap squares pretty quickly, but I'm starting to see why it isn't a good strategy. The camel is exposed and easily frozen and trapped.