2009 Open Classic Round 5

Round 5 of the 2009 Open Classic

Seed	Participant	Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Rd. 5	Wins	SoS
1	chessandgo	S 10 W	G 5 W	S 4 W	G 2 W	G 3 W	5	16
2	Fritzlein	G 11 W	G 6 W	S 3 W	S 1 L	G 9 W	4	18
3	Adanac	S 12 W	G 7 W	G 2 L	G 8 W	S 1 L	3	13
4	99of9	G 13 W	S 8 W	G 1 L	S 9 W	G 6 L	3	15
5	The_Jeh	G 14 W	S 1 L	G 16 W	G 6 L	S 8 W	3	13
6	arimaa_master	G 15 W	S 2 L	G 17 W	S 5 W	S 4 W	4	13
7	naveed	S 16 W	S 3 L	G 9 L	G 17 W	S 10 L	2	12
8	omar	S 17 W	G 4 L	G 11 W	S 3 L	G 5 L	2	13
9	camelback	G 18 W	G 10 W	S 7 W	G 4 L	S 2 L	3	12
10	Tuks	G 1 L	S 9 L	G 13 W	S 15 W	G 7 W	3	13
11	woh	S 2 L	G 15 W	S 8 L	S 16 W	G 17 W	3	11
12	thefrankinator	G 3 L	Wthdr	Wthdr	Wthdr	Wthdr	0	3
13	Bildstein	S 4 L	G 16 L	S 10 L	Bye W	G 15 L	1	10
14	Amina	S 5 L	Wthdr	Wthdr	Wthdr	Wthdr	0	3
15	LevB	S 6 L	S 11 L	Bye W	G 10 L	S 13 W	2	11
16	soldier	G 7 L	S 13 W	S 5 L	G 11 L	Bye W	2	9
17	Sana	G 8 L	Bye W	S 6 L	S 7 L	S 11 L	1	11
18	Emaad	S 9 L	Wthdr	Wthdr	Wthdr	Wthdr	0	3

There are six players with 3 or more wins before the start of the final round. All six have qualified for the finals leaving two spots up for grabs. The Jeh, Omar and Tuks each control their destiny, meaning that they will advance to the Finals with a victory. Naveed will advance with a victory, unless a specific combination of results occurs in five other games, in which case woh will grab the 8th and final position.

Chessandgo, the only 4-0 player, can finish no worse than 2nd and only Fritzlein and 99of9 have any chance at all of snatching the top seed from him. Adanac, arimaa_master and camelback have the biggest possible range of seeded positions, each potentially finishing anywhere between second and eighth place.

After the top eight finishers have been determined, a folding-pairing double-elimination Championship Final tournament will begin next week, February 10-15, 2009.

• Previous Round: 2009 Open Classic Round 4
• Next: 2009 World Championship Finals, Rounds 1-2

Tuks vs. naveed

Naveed achieved an early Elephant + Horse attack on move 6s when he placed his horse on f2. Tuks responded in kind on 8g, creating his own Elephant + Horse attack in the east, offering an exchange of cats the process. The silver elephant declined the cat exchange, abandoning its attack in order to defend against the gold attack at f6. Naveed made an error on 10s, which could have led to a series of five captures, including a cat and camel exchange, in which silver would have been down by a rabbit. The silver camel fled, averting the exchange, but still leaving gold ahead by a cat. After 13s the board returned to a Double-E+H on the east side. This time it was the gold elephant that retreated south, attempting to setup a silver horse frame on move 15g.

Tuks vs. naveed after 36g rg5n Dg4n rg6w rf6x Dg5n

The gold pieces did manage to secure the horse frame and the gold horse even rotated to f4, allowing the gold elephant to f5 on 20s. A silver dog was prepared to break the frame after moving to h4 on 22s but the gold elephant was able to hold the frame in place by preventing the h3-rabbit pull. Naveed abandoned the frame on move 26 in response to a gold camel advance to b6, leaving gold ahead by a horse and cat. Silver’s main compensation for the material deficit was a camel hostage in the northwest. Tuks moved his elephant to c7 on move 31 in order to mobilize the hostage gold camel, but that allowed naveed to blockade the d7 square. With the gold elephant temporarily out of play, the silver camel pursued the gold horse and dog on the east side. The other gold horse joined the action in aggressive fashion on 34g, advancing to d5. The silver horse rotated to d6 to hold the blockade of the d7 square, but Tuks countered by pulling a rabbit to c5. That rabbit pull would threaten silver with more material loss and eventually allow the gold elephant to escape via c6. The silver camel responded by pulling the gold horse to e5 but that allowed a dog advance to secure the g6 square with the capture of a silver rabbit on 36s. The position was wild, with Tuks ahead by 3 pieces but several gold pieces were in danger and the gold elephant and camel buried in the northwest.

The gold elephant finally broke free to the d6 square on move 42, but at the cost of a rabbit and dog. That still left Tuks with the advantage of horse and cat for dog, with a rabbit removed from each side. Silver had to spend the next several moves retreating some valuable pieces to safety while gold was able to slowly pull two hostage rabbits south, one on each side of the board. One silver rabbit was captured on 49s, further extending gold’s advantage. Naveed tried to compensate by once again taking the gold camel hostage on c8 but had to give up that plan on 52s as the gold army was threatening to swarm the trap. Gold shifted the attack to the east side while a silver horse moved west to assist its elephant. The silver elephant and horse seemed poised to gain control of c6 on move 60, but a gold goal-in-one had been overlooked across the f6 trap. With the victory, Tuks eliminates both naveed and woh while securing a spot in the Finals.

Bildstein vs. LevB

LevB won by forfeit when Bildstein failed to show up.

99of9 vs. arimaa_master

Tuks vs. naveed after 25g rf5e Df4n Ee5n Re4n

99of9 opened the game with a rabbit pull in the northeast on 4g, but with the gold horse still standing on its original b2 square the silver horse claimed b3 on 4s for an Elephant + Horse attack. The gold camel missed an opportunity to move to c3 on 5g, which would have disrupted arimaa_master’s attack. Instead, the camel was flipped to d5 on silver’s 5th move and it led an imperilled existence thereafter. With the 9s move, the silver elephant achieved its goal if holding the gold camel hostage at a6. Arimaa_master then gained control of the southwest trap with both of his 13th move, giving him a firm grip on the board’s western half. A gold rabbit was captured in the c6 trap on 18s after the gold elephant moved south, but the elephant then returned to c5 on the following move to re-protect the hostage camel. Two moves later a silver cat was captured, giving 99of9 a brief material lead of cat for rabbit.

On silver’s 21st and 22nd moves, he captured two rabbits, leaving him with a dominant position and a material edge of 3 extra rabbits for a cat. Beginning on 23g, 99of9 began to mount a comeback, rotating his elephant away from the hostage camel and then later initating an attack on the east side. Gold’s 25th move set up an interesting sequence of events where both players passed up an opportunity to capture an enemy dog in exchange for a goal attack! In a dramatic finish, a silver rabbit drove down the mostly barren west side while the northeast silver dog was able to slow down the goal attack just enough to thwart gold. With the gold camel frozen on b3 on the 28th move, the silver rabbit had an easy goal-in-two. Arimaa_master advances to the Finals in the upper half (exact seeding yet to be determined), and there is a possibility that these two players will meet again in the first round of the Finals.

chessandgo vs. Adanac

Chessandgo opened aggressively, advancing his horse to a6 on move 3g. The silver camel shifted west to disrupt the threat and a brief push-and-pull contest ensued on the west side. Adanac got into difficulty on move 9, with an exposed cat on d5 and a partially blockaded elephant. The elephant escaped, but the gold elephant was able to win a cat in exchange for a rabbit. Silver tried to compensate for the material deficit with a horse hostage on the west side, but the gold elephant broke up the threat and counter-threatened a camel hostage. Attempting to disrupt the potential silver camel hostage, the silver elephant again became semi-blockaded on 17g. The silver elephant managed to escape after a long series of moves that allowed it to wind around the northwest. Though the gold horse was held hostage on b7, it didn’t prove to be a liability as the gold army swarmed forward to control the trap.

With his elephant and camel buried in the west, Adanac gave up a horse in the east in an attempt change his fortune. But Chessandgo was able to take the horse on 25g and still maintain a strong position on 26g with a dog advance to d6. The 2 players exchanged cats on move 31, and then a silver horse was captured on the next move. With the board opened up, the gold elephant had an opportunity to dig underneath the c6 trap to assist its two powerful rabbits on a7 and b7. Chessandgo won on 35g and, as a results, secures the top seed with a perfect 5-0 record!

woh vs. Sana

After some pushing and pulling from both players, each side had a cat in the middle of the board after 7 moves. Woh was able to take an early lead when he returned his cat to safety, while trapping the silver cat. In the next phase of the game, each side tried to pull an enemy horse offside. Sana managed to push a gold horse to c5 on move 15, but it was a tactical error that allowed woh to capture an exposed dog on c7. A gold rabbit charged up the west side of the board on 18g, and after missing a couple of earlier chances to score, the rabbit reached the goal line on move 23. Woh finishes the tournament with 3 victories but will not advance to the next round due to strength of schedule tie-breaker.

Fritzlein vs. camelback

Fritzlein and camelback opened the game with near-symmetrical positions, each setting up with 4 rabbits forward. Fritzlein recorded the first rabbit pull on 7g, one move after camelback had advanced the rabbit to a6 voluntarily. While the gold pieces continued to pull the rabbit towards the south, the silver camel charged down to the h3 square on the opposite side of the board. The gold elephant marched east to freeze the silver camel on move 11 while the silver elephant stayed in the west to protect the rabbit. Naturally, the camelback preferred to save his endangered camel rather than his rabbit, and so Fritzlein grabbed an early material lead on 13g.

Fritzlein vs. camelback after 25g rf5e Df4n Ee5n Re4n

With many strong pieces concentrated in the east, the gold camel advanced to the b6 square on 16g. At that point, camelback sacrificed his hostage camel in return for a gold horse to mobilize his pieces again. With the situation in the southeast resolved, the silver elephant was able to return to the southwest and frame a gold rabbit, supported only by the gold camel. The camel abandoned the rabbit, fleeing to the south. Camelback then took one step south to freeze the camel on b4 – Fritzlein had to then defend his c3 trap as he had 4 pieces diagonal to the trap but no defenders! A few moves later, the silver horse attacked the southwest despite the presence of the gold camel in the quadrant. The camel pushed the intruding silver horse east, but it escaped up the middle, pushing a gold dog to the e6 square on 25s. Though the gold dog was in the danger zone, Fritzlein turned the tables on camelback by advancing the dog to the powerful f7 square and framing a silver rabbit on f6 a couple of moves later. The framed rabbit fell on move 28 giving gold the material advantage of camel and two rabbits in exchange for a horse and one rabbit.

Camelback spent a few moves to regain control of his f7 trap, but Fritzlein was able to freeze a silver horse with his camel on move 32. On the subsequent move, a path was cleared to the southeast trap so that the silver horse could be captured with no chance of it being saved. Camelback attempted a last ditch effort to charge up the middle with a dog and rabbit, but it was halted on move 40 with the capture of the dog. Silver continued to put up a valiant struggle until the gold rabbit scored on the 51st move. With the victory, Fritzlein is guaranteed 2nd place thanks to a huge strength of schedule score.

omar vs. The_Jeh

Omar opened the game with a rare elephant sweep on move 4, pushing a silver cat south before moving to b7. The silver horse, guardian of b6, was later pushed south while the silver camel charged to f2 to setup an Elephant + Camel attack in the southeast. The players exchanged horses on move 6, with the silver camel fleeing back north after the capture. The gold elephant pursued silver camel, chasing it west with a series of pulls and retreats while the silver horse slowly moved southeast towards the weakened gold trap. Omar made a tactical error on his 11th move, moving his g-rabbit rather than his f-rabbit with his 4th step, allowing The_Jeh to both save his camel and capture the f2 rabbit. Each side exchanged cats on move 12 and then the gold elephant returned east to protect his eastern home trap. Both camels were active on move 14, with the gold camel pursuing the strong silver horse on g3 and the silver camel hunting the horse on the opposite side. The gold horse eluded the silver camel, but The_Jeh was able to pull a rabbit north instead. With the capture of the gold rabbit on 17s, silver took a material lead of 2 rabbits, with a cat and horse removed from each side.

The two sides manoeuvred for position in the next phase, with gold pursuing an Elephant + Horse attack in the northeast while silver had a Camel + Horse attack in the southwest. The gold elephant, which had been attacking the northeast, moved to d4 on 24g to threaten the strong silver attackers. Omar won the first exchange, gaining a silver horse for a gold dog. However, a gold horse was held hostage on h6 while the silver camel retreated to a2. The gold elephant chased the silver camel down but, by the time it was frozen on a1 on move 28, another gold rabbit and horse were captured. Omar captured the silver camel on 30g, meaning that he was down three rabbits and a dog in exchange for a camel. The_Jeh dragged the gold camel into a hostage position on h6, allowing his numerically superior army to control the other quadrants. The gold elephant had to abandon the hostage camel on 36g to stop a powerful silver rabbit advance. The silver army then began a general march south on both halves of the board. Omar’s clock ran out while he contemplated his 41st move, which gave The_Jeh his crucial 3rd victory and a place in the finals.