2009 Arimaa World League Friendly Round
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| "1": Win, 3 pts; "0": Loss, 1 pt; "X": Forfeit, 0 pts |
The first ever Arimaa World League match was played between Friday December 18th and Monday December 20th. One game was forfeited, however the other two were well fought and give us a taster for what's to come when the League gets started proper in the new year.
The games were played in reverse order with amalgam and nycavri crossing tusks first (click here). Amalgam's initial setup was a symmetrical no-rabbits-forward position, while nycavri opted for two rabbits forward. After only a few moves amalgam seemed to have a horse frame in the south-east trap square, but he lost his grip on it and settled for a horse exchange instead. He soon took a camel hostage, after which nycavri lost a dog and a horse. A camel exchange ensued, which cost nycavri another dog. Nycavri tried gallantly to force a goal in the now depleted south-east, however he was quickly smothered and amalgam's superiority of forces elsewhere made for a clean victory. Despite having his loss nycavri said, "It was the cleanest, most satisfying game of Arimaa I've ever played."
Nombril started with a 99of9 opening against Sconibulus, who responded with a variant of the same opening with cats on the b and g files (click here). The opening lasted for a while, Sconibulus appeared to be trying an elephant blockade on the mid-a file. However Nombril quickly recentered his elephant and Sconibulus overreached his camel, providing an easy hostage. With Sconibulus's elephant tied to the south-east trap square, Nombril's camel ran riot over the west wing. The noose tightened with an additional dog frame in the south-east. Sconibulus tried to cut his losses, losing a dog for a camel exchange, however he was not fast enough to trap Nombril's camel. With no workable strategy he was ultimately overwhelmed, giving the Ring of Fire their second win of the match.
Finally, Simon's forfeit gave the Yankees 3 points. Although the Yankees' other two games were lost, they each earned 1 point since they were played to the finish. This gave them a total of 5 points to the Ring of Fire's 6.
Congratulations all round for an exciting match. See you in the new year!
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2010 Arimaa World League
