2010 World Championship Finals, Rounds 3+

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World Championship Results

Seed	Participant	Name	Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Rd. 5	Rd. 6	W-L	Finish
1	Adanac	Greg Magne	G 8 W	S 4 W	S 2 L	G 3 L	G 4 W		3-2	3rd
2	Fritzlein	Karl Juhnke	S 7 W	S 3 W	G 1 W	S 4 W	S 3 L	G 3 L	4-2	2nd
3	chessandgo	Jean Daligault	G 6 W	G 2 L	S 5 W	S 1 W	G 2 W	S 2 W	5-1	1st
4	99of9	Toby Hudson	S 5 W	G 1 L	S 6 W	G 2 L	S 1 L		2-3	4th
5	Tuks	Louis-Daniel Scott	G 4 L	S 8 W	G 3 L				1-2	t-5th
6	The_Jeh	John Herr	S 3 L	G 7 W	G 4 L				1-2	t-5th
7	woh	Hervé D’Hondt	G 2 L	S 6 L					0-2	t-7th
8	Simon	Simon Lambert	S 1 L	G 5 L					0-2	t-7th

Round 3

The higher-seeded player has won all eight games through the first two rounds of the 2010 World Championship Finals. However, it wouldn't be correct to say that there were no surprises because the spectators have only predicted 7 out of the 8 games correctly. In the eighth, the Spectator Contest was heavily titled towards Jean Daligault to continue his recent dominance over Karl Juhnke, but the spectators were wrong. The two remaining undefeated players, Juhnke and Magne will square off in round 3 with the winning player guaranteed at least a top three finish. Two more players will be eliminated to reduce the field to a Final Four for round four with three of those players having one loss each.

Karl Juhnke (Fritzlein) vs. Greg Magne (Adanac)

Diagram 1: Juhnke vs. Magne

After 24g Ec5e Ed5n Rh3n Rh4n Silver to move

Both elephants hunted for large pieces in the opening moves though not until move 8 did a piece find itself frozen in the middle of the board. A gold dog and then a gold horse were chased by the silver elephant but both ran to safety by turn 11. With a heavy concentration of gold pieces on the east side, Greg Magne prepared for a western assault with 11s. Karl Juhnke, in the meantime, was preparing to attack the f6 trap with his first objective was to place a gold horse on the g6 square. That tactic was delayed by Silver with counter-attacks against the western gold horse on moves 12s and 13s. The gold elephant had to abandon its plans to assist the h6 gold horse because the elephant + horse attack in the northeast would have been ineffective against a western horse hostage by the silver camel. Each player shifted their major pieces to the west in the next sequence as both camels fought against the opposing elephant while each trying to freeze a horse. The gold elephant used the 17g and 18g moves to disrupt capture threats against its horse. After being pushed aside on the 18th turn, the silver camel suddenly found an opportunity to cross over to the east side where the gold horse still sat on the h6 square. The horse still had the option to flee to g4, after which Silver could have pursued the h4 dog instead. The 19g move was inaccurate because it allowed Magne to freeze both horses on 19s without allowing any counter-threats against the silver pieces. Both gold horses were taken hostage on the 20th turn, leading to an exchange of silver cat for gold horse by 22g. A gold dog was threatened at the f6 trap but this time the gold camel came to the rescue on 23g. In order to avoid 23s hh5s Dg5e Dh5n hh4n 24g Mf5e hh5s Mg5e Dh6n the silver horse pulled back to the h7 square on 23s, but by hiding on the h7 square silver’s extra horse was temporarily useless. Placing a rabbit on the e6 square on 24s was a dubious decision because although it prevented the gold elephant from reaching g6, that wasn’t a major threat due to the western horse hostage – it would have been much stronger to pull the gold horse to b5, with a silver elephant on c5 to threaten the gold camel (from the position in Diagram 1). That suggested move was played on 25s but by then a silver rabbit could be interposed between silver elephant and gold camel. After winning the opening phase of the game, Magne played passively in the middlegame and that allowed Juhnke to take control of the board. The major strategic error on the 26th turn was the decision to advance the silver horse along the a-file rather than bring it back to b6: 26s ha5n ha6e ec5e Hb5e 27g Db3e Dc3n Hc5w Ed6e would have freed the silver elephant and kept an advantage. The gold horse returned to an attacking position on 27g, and it would remain powerful for the remainder of the game, while the silver elephant moved back and forth aimlessly.

Diagram 2: Juhnke vs. Magne

Position after 52s da4e db4s rc4w Rc5s Gold to move

A silver rabbit was captured on 33g to reduce the material gap to horse for cat + rabbit. Move 34s was a disastrous waste of four steps, allowing the gold dog to escape from a hostage situation into a weak frame, and it soon thereafter became a very useful piece on the west side. A silver horse + dog attack against the c3 trap ran into stiff resistance against a swarm of gold defenders and despite a few attempts, no silver rabbits could generate any goal threats in the quadrant. In fact, with few silver pieces available to obstruct a rabbit along the a-file, it appeared to be the gold side that had better opportunities to score on the western wing. A silver dog appeared to be doomed after 36g but it was temporarily saved when the blockading e5 gold dog shifted over to c5 to hold back a silver rabbit threat. Strangely, Silver repeatedly used only 3 of 4 steps during this phase of the game, even though a dog could have usefully been placed on c3 on 38s or a rabbit on h6 at any time. After 41g Juhnke was thoroughly dominating the board and the silver pieces were in complete disarray: a swarm of gold pieces had firm control over c6, the a6 rabbit was a major long-term goal threat, the b3 horse and d4 dog were both poorly positioned and there were no threats around f6, the only trap controlled by Silver. Magne decided to simply abandon the silver dog and salvage the position by bringing his horse back to b6. A very imaginative 42g was used to push the silver dog east rather than into an immediate capture in c3. The idea was to rotate the elephant to the east and use the gold camel in the western swarm and the idea paid rapid dividends when the silver camel buried itself on h5 to escape the elephant’s reach. It was still possible to save the silver dog on 42s but Silver opted to fight for control of the c6 trap immediately. A protracted, large-scale battle followed involving nine different pieces for control over the c6 square. The gold cat saved the day on 49g, taking control of the c5 square.

Another silver rabbit was captured on 50g giving Gold a huge material advantage of dog, cat and two rabbits for a horse. With little hope of ever regaining control of c6, another silver rabbit advance was attempted down the c-file. But Juhnke found the perfect defensive move on 53g (Diagram 2), simultaneously creating a phalanx at b4 to stop the silver elephant and freezing the c4 rabbit with the gold elephant while wisely ignoring the dangling c6 silver horse. The gold horse was re-framed at c6 on 55g, this time with the silver elephant badly placed at b6. The last hope to break the frame was to cross the silver camel back over to e6. But because it had ran so far away earlier, the camel required many steps to reach e6, and when it did Gold was able to neatly advanced two strong rabbits to f6 and g6. Before Magne could regain control of his f6 trap, another dog and rabbit were captured in the southwest giving Gold the incredible total of 6 small pieces in return for a single lost horse. The swarm of western gold forces overwhelmed the defending elephant and horse, leading to numerous rabbit threats and an eventual goal on move 65. Karl Juhnke is now guaranteed a top three position and will be the only undefeated player of the four survivors in round 4.

Spectator predictions

Predictions for Gold	Predictions for Silver	Result	Winner
25 for Fritzlein in 49	4 for Adanac in 50	Fritzlein g65	Amina 64

Daniel Scott (Tuks) vs. Jean Daligault (chessandgo)

This game featured live commentary by Karl Juhnke. Omar Syed contributed as co-commentator and there was a post game discussion with Jean Daligault.

Diagram 3: Scott vs. Daligault

After 9s eg4w ef4w ee4n ee5n Gold to move

Daniel Scott opened the game with two horses on the right flank but when Jean Daligault set up two silver dogs on b7 and c7 (not wanting a silver horse to face the b2 gold camel), a gold horse quickly shifted west in the opening moves to challenge the dogs. As that gold horse proceeded on its western odyssey, a silver camel and horse descended upon the remaining gold horse at g3. The gold elephant came around to disrupt the attack but the silver camel dragged the horse north on 6s with further assistance of the elephant on 7s. With no direct means to prevent the gold horse from being flipped to h6, Scott launched a counter-attack against the c6 trap on 8g. A silver horse was close enough to protect the b6 square and relieve the weaker dog of the post. Still needing active play on 9g, and seeing the b6 square blocked away, the gold horse made an ultra-sharp move to d7. The silver elephant ran after the gold horse and so the g5 horse was saved from the potentially uncomfortable hostage situation at h6. However, the diversionary tactic meant that the western gold horse was now in hot water (Diagram 3). The horse probably should have fled to b7 (stopping at c7 and using two steps for the other horse would be very risky due to a later hostage fork against the silver elephant), though that still would have left Silver with a positional advantage. Instead, the gold elephant tried to rescue the horse directly on 10g as the g5 horse backed one step away from danger. But Daligault was certain to win material after his strong 10s move that left horses in serious danger on both wings. Unable to protect the eastern horse, either with a gold rabbit or the elephant, Scott began an elephant + horse attack against c6 with the gold camel waiting in the wings at b3. On 11s, the silver elephant could have tried to save the c6 dog but that might have allowed the g5 horse to escape. And so Silver was content to win a horse for dog trade on the 11th move. Gold’s next plan was to frame a horse on the c6 square on 13g but that was a poor plan because it tied down all three of the strongest gold pieces to a single frame while the entire eastern flank was exposed to a powerful silver attack. A swarm of pieces into the northwest, hoping to later free the gold elephant from responsibility there, would have been more likely to put pressure on the silver position. A silver rabbit flew down the h-file on 14s but it didn’t go far enough: a 4th step by the rabbit would have made it easier for the silver pieces to take control of f3. Silver’s 15th move also seemed a bit inaccurate, because taking control of the f3 trap with a piece on f4 would have slowed down a gold elephant counter-attack in the southeast.

Scott wisely brought his elephant back to f4 on 16g, saving his southeast quadrant from a complete collapse. But with the 17th move he should have advanced western rabbits to b3 and c5 to fight for control of c6. At the very least it would prevent an immediate horse hostage on b7 because Silver wouldn’t want to be exposed to a potential horse for rabbit trade. Instead a dog was placed on c5, leading to a horse for dog exchange and temporarily evening the material balance until a gold rabbit was taken two moves later. That was the final capture of the game; after that exchange of pieces, a new equilibrium was reached with the two camels deadlocked in the southeast and both elephants tied down by a hostage pair in the northwest. All the traps were evenly balanced but Silver had a major positional advantage due to the opportunity to initiate a large-scale southern advance down the eastern wing. The flood continued unabated and by turn 26 there some serious long-term threats from the silver tide of rabbits. Gold’s 27th move was supposed to slow down the eastern rabbits, but the introduction of a new rabbit at c5 on 27s created even more problems. The gold camel shifted to the west on 29g so that there would be at least one strong piece to slow down the silver rabbits. Yet Daligault kept up the pressure, and after 31 moves there were 5 rabbits in the south half of the board. A gold rabbit probably should have been placed on c4 on 31g to dam up the 4th rank. Without that defensive resource, a silver rabbit was able to reach the b4 square on 31s. Two moves later that rabbit reached the bottom row for victory. As a result, Scott finishes in a tie for 5th place while Daligault advances to the Final Four.

Spectator predictions

Predictions for Gold	Predictions for Silver	Result	Winner
26 for chessandgo in 39	4 for Tuks in 53	chessandgo g33	Elmo 34

John Herr(The_Jeh) vs. Toby Hudson (99of9)

This game featured live commentary by Eric Momsen and Jean Daligault, who joined on turn 5. John Herr joined the broadcast for a post-game discussion.

Diagram 4: Herr vs. Hudson

After 22s hg5e Mg4n ef4e cd6e Gold to move

In great contrast to most of the other games in this tournament, this game featured a balanced, symmetrical setup on both sides. Both players attempted pulls and pushes with the elephants and Toby Hudson nearly achieved a rabbit pull with a wing horse but all of these were repulsed. Silver gained an early positional advantage with more direct means, using an elephant + camel + horse attack in the southeast on 10s. John Herr attempted to slow down the attack by placing his elephant on the g4 square, preventing the h3 silver horse from reaching g3. However, that gold elephant position was less than ideal due to a possible silver swarm down the eastern side. The swarm didn’t arrive but the gold elephant became even more badly placed on the 13th turn which could have allowed either the silver camel to reach g3 (fairly well placed on that square due to its supporting pieces) but the silver elephant pulled a gold horse north instead. That 13s move seemed counter-productive because it left the camel frozen at h4, negating some of Silver’s advantage. With the eastern attack running out of steam, Hudson brought his western horse down to the b4 square on 15s. Gold’s 17g was a slight mistake, leaving the dog exposed on d3. Surprisingly, the dog wasn’t pushed north to d4 on 17s; perhaps because the gold elephant could have been moved to d4 and dog to c4 with move 18g in that scenario, the silver horse shifted over to the d4 square on the 17th turn. With an open lane on the b-file, the gold horse could have safely charged ahead to b6 (improving the gold dog’s safety considerably) on 18g but that would have come with some major risks if silver attempted an attack of his own against c3. Herr preferred to improve the defensive position with his 18th move so that his elephant would be free to challenge the silver horse in the middle of the board. A series of moves followed in which the silver horse tried to pull the dog north while the silver elephant blocked out its gold counterpart.

Although the dog was saved in the end, the positional struggle was won by Silver after the gold camel was pulled to g4 on 20s. Steps had to be used on 21g to protect the gold dog and by the time the gold elephant returned to the east Silver had a huge positional advantage. The silver camel reached the g3 square on 21s while the gold camel was stuck on g5. The best strategic decision on 23g probably would have been a double gold rabbit advance along the h-file (Diagram 4) which would have denied that avenue to the silver horse and, potentially, the rabbits could have later emerged into very valuable pieces in the north. The silver horse reached g3 on 24s and the combination of a camel + horse attack at f3 along with a vulnerable gold camel at h5 meant that Gold was in terrible danger. A back and forth struggle ensued over the fate of the camel that was resolved with a pair of very clever tactical moves on 28s and 29g. First, Hudson created a phalanx at g4 so that the gold elephant could not save its camel directly. So Herr attempted to delay the gold camel capture on 29g with a counter-threat against the silver camel. But the correct 29s move was played to put the matter to rest: the gold camel would be taken hostage and the f3 trap would be subjected to a fierce, unstoppable attack. The first capture of the game occurred on 32s with the capture of a gold dog at the southeast trap that had been dominated by a silver camel and both allied horses. A second dog was taken on 34s, then the gold camel on 36s and the rout was on. But despite being down 3 strong pieces, and finding himself in a lost position, Herr battled hard to the very end never conceding defeat until he faced the inevitable goal-in-one on the 50th move. Toby Hudson will face Karl Juhnke in the fourth round and Herr finishes the tournament in a tie for 5th place with Daniel Scott.

Spectator predictions

Predictions for Gold	Predictions for Silver	Result	Winner
11 for The_Jeh in 49	19 for 99of9 in 54	99of9 g50	celbos 50

Round 4

The field has been reduced to four players, Greg Magne (Adanac), Karl Juhnke (Fritzlein), Jean Daligault (chessandgo) and Toby Hudson (99of9), who recovered from a shaky start after literally playing no games since the previous World Championship. This list looks very familiar because it's a repeat of last year's top four finalists, who were also the top four seeds in the Open Classic and the top four seeds in these Finals.

Hudson has never finished in the top three before but he has an opportunity to clinch a prize when he plays two-time champion Juhnke this week. Incredibly, Hudson has managed to avoid facing either of the top two WHR-rated players until now, the 9th round of the tournament cycle. After a nail-biting finish in the Open Classic, Magne and two-time champion Daligault meet again this week for another exciting game.

Toby Hudson (99of9) vs. Karl Juhnke (Fritzlein)

This game featured live commentary by Jean Daligault and Omar Syed. The game begins approximately 3 minutes into the broadcast.

Diagram 5: Hudson vs. Juhnke

After 10g Cc3w Da3n Da4n Da5n Silver to move

The players evidently approached the opening phase with conflicting objectives. The gold elephant went hunting in the northeast quadrant for either a silver camel or rabbit pull, but by move 7s all the silver pieces were advancing voluntarily! Toby Hudson, with the gold pieces, advanced a camel to b5 on 8g to take advantage of the slightly obstructed d3 silver elephant while the silver camel advanced likewise in the east. Move 10g was a major strategic error as it left both the gold camel and dog exposed in the northwest just after the silver camel had found a refuge at h4 on the previous move (Diagram 5). Karl Juhnke gained the upper hand on 10s with a simple elephant manoeuvre to b4, forcing the gold elephant to defend at the c5 square. The gold camel advanced to b6 on 14g with the help of its elephant which blocked out the silver elephant; but the key factor in the balance of power was the relatively unsupported gold camel in the northwest in contrast to the silver army that was advancing en masse to support the silver camel in the east. The gold elephant couldn’t keep its camel alive indefinitely without allowing the eventual collapse of the southeast quadrant and so Hudson willingly traded his camel away for a silver horse. Juhnke withdrew his camel to g5 on 18s, patiently waiting for better circumstances before launching a full-scale assault on the east side. Another imbalanced trade followed on the 20th turn, this time a gold dog for a silver rabbit. So although both players had captured two pieces, Silver had an enormous advantage due to the strength of the pieces exchanged.

Gold apparently offered an exchange of horses with his 21st move but the trade was declined on 22g when the gold horse scurried over to a5. The silver horse reached the c2 square on 23s to provide a great position in addition to Silver’s dominant strength advantage. Hudson attempted to launch an elephant + horse attack of his own against the c6 trap but a silver phalanx at b6 prevented the infiltration of the gold horse. By the 28th turn Silver had completely dominated the c3 trap and could have captured a framed gold dog but Juhnke carefully addressed his concern about the e5 gold rabbit instead. Yet another imbalanced trade followed with 32s, this time a gold horse for a silver dog which left Silver ahead by a camel for rabbit, in addition to the dog and horse removed from each side. Gold temporarily narrowed the material gap on 37g but it came at the cost of a crushing silver attack at f3. A gold cat was taken on 37s but more importantly the occupation of g3 by a silver rabbit set up an unstoppable goal on the next move. Juhnke is now 4-0 in the Finals and will play next week against the winner of Greg Magne and Jean Daligault. He only has to win one game in the next two weeks to become Arimaa’s first three-time champion. Hudson will compete in round five’s 3rd-place match against the loser of the next game.

Spectator predictions

Predictions for Gold	Predictions for Silver	Result	Winner
4 for 99of9 in 45	22 for Fritzlein in 48	Fritzlein g38	Adanac 38

Greg Magne (Adanac) vs. Jean Daligault (chessandgo)

This game featured live commentary by Omar Syed. Fast-forward to 21:10 for the beginning of the game. The commentary commences on turn 9 at 42:04, at which time Omar does a quick recap of the opening moves. There is a slight delay between the audio and the video. Jean Daligault participated in a brief post-game chat.

Diagram 6: Magne vs. Daligault

After 18s ch5s rh3w ch4s ed3e Gold to move

Each player began with an unorthodox setup. Greg Magne immediately re-organized his western forces to challenge the b6 silver dog but the stronger horse quickly took that post on 4s. Jean Daligault, with a strong tandem of camel and horse on the eastern flank, attacked on that side and his horse reached the h3 square on 6s. Gold had the stronger forces on the west side and they were used for a rabbit pull beginning on 9g. The silver elephant challenged the western gold pieces to save the rabbit but, unexpectedly, the h3 horse was threatened with capture on the 11th turn. Unable to capture the a4 gold horse without losing a horse & cat on the east side, Daligault settled for an eastern horse for dog trade. But, to follow up his loss of material, he made an unexpected and aggressive rabbit charge to h2 on 13s. That rabbit turned out to be a dominant piece for the remainder of the game, so the positional gamble paid off in the end. Magne advanced his gold horse to a7 so that it could evade the gaze of the silver elephant but, unlike the h2 silver rabbit, the horse was useless on that square. Silver pieces began to swarm on 17s and by the end of the 19th turn the rabbit was well entrenched on g3. Gold’s mistake may have been the failure to push the rabbit to g4 on 19g, even if it would have allowed the silver camel to switch to the western wing (Diagram 6). Move 19s was simple and strong, simply flipping the gold horse out of the f3 trap. Another strong move came on 20s, blocking the h2 dog completely out of the action. Gold attempted a counter-attack against the gold dog on 21g and 22g but the latter move led to another horse for dog exchange, once again balancing each side’s material strength.

Magne once more placed a gold piece on the f3 square but again, on 26s, the silver elephant flipped it away. So again a gold rabbit plugged up the f3 square to deny access to the silver rabbit. Move 29g was an enormous error that led to the loss of a rabbit and allowed the silver cat to occupy e3. A better intermezzo would have been 29g Re4w Rd4w Cd3n Cd4e so that the silver elephant could not later leave the e3 square without giving up the g3 rabbit. After a gold rabbit was lost, a false protection attack was directed against the g3 rabbit but a swarm on 31s disrupted the plan. The logical follow-up on 32g would have been a cat push to d3 and the inaccuracy gave Silver an even larger positional advantage. Daligault missed an ingenious tactic on 32s: Cd3w ed4s He3e ed3e!! Another blunder followed on 33g that led to the loss of the f3 gold rabbit and the complete collapse of gold’s defences. After 34s Daligault had completely dominated the f3 trap and there was no hope of Gold ever re-gaining control. After an exchange of rabbits, the silver camel pushed its way to e1 to force a rabbit through, the goal coming on 39s. For the fourth straight year, the Arimaa champion will be either Jean Daligault or Karl Juhnke. The eventual winner will hold a record 3 World Championship titles.

Predictions for Gold	Predictions for Silver	Result	Winner
6 for Adanac in 48	21 for chessandgo in 47	chessandgo g39	99of9 39

Round 5

The fifth round will feature a pair of second round re-matches. This week could be the Championship Final game between Karl Juhnke and Jean Daligault, though Daligault would prefer to have a re-match next week for all the marbles (he needs to hand Juhnke his first loss before getting his shot at 1st place). The third-place match will see Toby Hudson attempting to claim his first ever top-three position while Greg Magne seeks his third straight 3rd-place finish.

3rd Place Game

Greg Magne (Adanac) vs. Toby Hudson (99of9)

This game featured live commentary by Karl Juhnke. There is a post-game interview with Greg Magne, unfortunately this last conversation is plagued by echoes.

Diagram 7: Magne vs. Hudson

After 9g Hg3w Hf3w He3w De2n Gold to move

Greg Magne pursued a swarming attack on the west side leaving the door open for a potential gold camel hostage in the opening moves. Toby Hudson declined to go after the hostage and instead advanced pieces of his own on 5s. But with a silver horse standing directly in front of the opposing camel, Gold’s strategy switched to a horse-pull down the b-file. The horse galloped away to the d1 square on 7s after Gold incorrectly left a gap at d3 but the horse was immediately re-frozen by the gold camel. That enabled the silver dog to occupy b3 and it was safe for the time being as the strongest gold pieces were far away. The eastern gold horse crossed over to the west on 9g to chase after the dog though Silver had the option of pushing the other gold horse offside. Hudson instead attempted to contain the d3 horse by blocking the c4 square with a silver rabbit on 9s. However, Gold’s 11th move established a horse on c3 and it was no longer possible to prevent it from reaching b3. Losing in the positional race, Silver attempted to gain a material lead with a rabbit push to c5 on 12s. Magne opted to defend the rabbit with a second gold rabbit on the b6 square, setting the stage for an important battle in the northwest quadrant. A third gold rabbit followed on the 14th turn, along with a final step in the southeast to defend against a false protection danger. Hudson used an interesting tactic on 15s to return a silver horse to d1, thereby preventing the gold camel from rotating out of the frame (due to the frozen c1 dog). However, that tactic on 15s also had the drawback of making it easy for the e3 gold dog to participate in the west during the following series of moves. Gold’s 17th move created a capture threat against the e7 rabbit and the gold elephant took a wary step closer to the silver camel and horse that were prepared to attack the f3 trap. The silver camel withdrew back to the d5 square on 17s where it indirectly protected the silver rabbit due to a capture threat against the gold horse. The gold horse slipped up to the 7th rank on 18g and then followed it up by aiding a gold rabbit to e7 on 19g. Magne briefly switched focus on 20g to threaten the southeast silver horse but the new position of the gold elephant also allowed a rabbit to reach f6 the 21st turn, after the silver horse escaped to safety. The game was already decided because the silver camel had to sacrifice itself to prevent immediate goal. After capturing a silver camel and rabbit, Gold should have forced goal-in-two on 24g with a cat flip to e7. That was overlooked, along with a goal-in-one move on 26g! Hudson was actually able to prepare a goal-in-one threat on 26s but Gold scored immediately before that plan could be executed. Greg Magne finishes in third place for the third consecutive year while Toby Hudson takes the fourth spot.

Spectator Predictions

Predictions for Gold	Predictions for Silver	Result	Winner
20 for Adanac in 44	4 for 99of9 in 47	Adanac g27	Simon 25

Jean Daligault (chessandgo) vs. Karl Juhnke (Fritzlein)

This game featured live commentary by Omar Syed and Eric Momsen. Both players joined the broadcast for a post-game interview.

Diagram 8: Daligault vs. Juhnke

After 12s hg4s Rh4w Mf3w ef4s Gold to move

Jean Daligault opened the game with an incredibly bold and aggressive strategy. After setting up his 2 gold horses in the east, Karl Juhnke naturally set up his silver camel on the g7 square. But quite unexpectedly, the gold horses charged ahead in the first few moves despite the presence of the enemy camel. By the 7th turn the silver camel had frozen a gold horse at the h6 square and the camel itself was in little danger of being taken hostage itself along the h-file due to the heavy congestion and the potential for a silver elephant + horse attack against the f3 trap. Moves 8s and 9s introduced a pair of attacking silver horses into the southeast quadrant and Gold defended with a 7-piece two-sided wall along the southern and eastern edges of the trap square along with a gold camel on the d3 square to create a capture threat in the c3 trap. Gold’s 10g move defended the f3 trap with a horse while leaving the camel on the d3 square, secure in the knowledge that the silver elephant couldn’t push it into danger without leaving 2 horses exposed to capture in the southeast. The removal of one silver horse from the southeast attack forced the gold camel to temporarily retreat to d2 before it sprung back into the thick of the action on 12g. Daligault placed his camel on the f3 square in hopes of obtaining either a silver horse hostage or frame, but with correct play it appeared that Silver had the stronger position. But, out of the blue, Silver’s position self-destructed beginning on turn 12. Juhnke correctly noted that after placing his elephant on the f3 trap that he needed a gold rabbit on g4 to shield his strongest piece from immediate capture. What he overlooked was that the elephant could be immediately framed on 13g thanks to that gold rabbit that had just been pulled to g4! Although Silver immediately blocked against the capture of the elephant by creating a phalanx at g4, there was a forced capture of the gold elephant by 15g with correct play by Daligault. Gold’s actual 14th move maintained this prospect and with Silver unable to find a miracle save, his clock ran out on 14s. The shocking elephant frame was reminiscent of the 4th round game between Mark Mistrella (mister) and Jan Macura (arimaa_master) in the 2008 World Championship. There will now be a deciding 6th round Championship game between these same two players a week from today.

Spectator Predictions

Predictions for Gold	Predictions for Silver	Result	Winner
14 for chessandgo in 45	10 for Fritzlein in 52	chessandgo t14	Simon 35

Round 6

For a full report see 2010 World Championship Title Game

For the fourth consecutive year Karl Juhnke and Jean Daligault will compete for 1st place in the Arimaa World Championship. Unlike the 2008 World Championship there will be no undefeated champion. Instead this is a repeat of last year's final that featured a true title match in which both players entered with one defeat, though this is the first time they have met 4 times in the same tournament cycle (Daligault has won 2 of the first 3 games). Based upon the recent exciting finales, we can expect a great battle that can go either way. Regardless of the outcome, Arimaa will crown its first three-time champion on Monday, 22 March 2010.