2010 World Championship Title Game

• Home Page: 2010 World Championship
• Previous Round: 2010 World Championship Finals, Rounds 3+

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

This game featured live commentary by Joel Thomas, Greg Magne, Omar Syed and Eric Momsen. There was a post game interview with Jean Daligault.

Diagram 1: Juhnke vs. Daligault

After 13g de5e Ed5e df4e Hf3n Silver to move

Karl Juhnke chose a balanced but aggressive setup with four rabbits forward while Jean Daligault employed the fashionable EHH setup on his western flank and placed the camel on g7. By the 5th move it had already become obvious that both players were planning to advance pieces forward with little concern for rabbit pulling or even the potential horse flip to b5 on 5s. The gold elephant threatened the eastern silver pieces on 7g and there weren’t enough steps available for Silver to protect both dogs and the camel from an immediate push offside. So the silver elephant created counter-threats in the west against the gold horse and camel with one step used to bring a rabbit to b7 (for a potential future horse frame) and two additional steps were devoted for the return of the silver camel to the g6 square. The gold horse was dragged to b5 on 8s and the gold elephant was forced to protect it from d6 as there was no way to prevent the frame from occurring on 9s, other than an undesirable dog for horse trade. But rather than immediately frame the horse, Daligault used his 9th move to increase the pressure on the east side while the strongest gold pieces were tied down in the west. Gold’s 10th move extricated the horse from immediate danger and after Silver’s response suddenly both sides had opportunities for future horse advances in the west. The a5 gold horse could have immediately occupied b7 on 11g while the a4 silver horse had some hopes of eventually seizing the b3 square. The gold camel stepped east to d4 on 11g but that opened the door even wider for a potential silver horse advance to b3. But before that could occur, Silver placed a camel on g3 to protect the e4 dog. The silver elephant pushed the gold camel east to e4 on 12s and to protect it from being pushed into potential danger Juhnke arranged his pieces on 13g so that the camel could be pushed no further (Diagram 1). The silver elephant could have flipped a piece to d5 on 13s but with no legitimate capture threats Daligault preferred to advance pieces in the west, including the occupation of b3 by the silver horse. With strong pieces on b3 and g3 Silver had an obvious space advantage, though neither piece had any significant support as of yet. Gold needed to fight back either with counter-attacks in the north or by threatening one of the key b3 or g3 pieces before they could recruit enough allies for a powerful attack.

Diagram 2: Juhnke vs. Daligault

After 20s hc4s rc5s rb5e cb6s Gold to move

Move 14g cleverly introduced the possibility of a camel transfer to c3, which would have been a huge blow to Silver’s position. The silver elephant instead pushed the gold camel east on the f3 square. That protected the b3 horse for a long time to come but also left the silver camel strangely immobilized on g3. With the silver elephant tied down to the defence of the camel in the southeast, a gold horse rotated to e5 on 15g completely safe from capture. It could have even stood on f5 and it still could not be captured without a silver camel sacrifice. With the gold horse in the middle of the board, Juhnke advanced rabbits along the c- and d-files to put pressure on the silver position. Despite the weakness of silver’s back ranks (just a single piece remained on the 8th row after 16s) the rabbits had a difficult time breaking through the middle due to the lack of gold control over the northern traps. Move 19s was a pivotal point in the game. Daligault had to decide whether to fight directly against the encroaching gold rabbits, perhaps by bringing his camel back home, or whether to hold back the gold rabbits with silver cats & rabbits while counter-attacking in the southwest with a pair of horses and supporting rabbits. The latter option was chosen and it worked brilliantly. On 19s a rabbit advance was initiated along the c-file and then the 20s move saw a horse occupy the c3 square to further clear the path for a pair of rabbits behind it. There was also an ingenious tactical idea behind 20s: the gold dog could be captured without allowing enough time for Gold to capture the silver camel (Diagram 2). The d4 gold rabbit had to take a step east on 21g so that the gold horse could occupy c4. But the wrong 21g was played which led to the immediate capture of the gold dog. Placing the gold horse on c4 was still the best option on 22g but this time it would have occurred in a clearly inferior position for gold. Instead the silver camel was quickly taken which led to a forced goal on 23s. Though the game was brief, it packed plenty of strategy and tactics into the 23 moves! Jean Daligault becomes the first ever back-to-back Arimaa champion, claiming his record 3rd title overall. Karl Juhnke took 2nd place also for the second straight year. Congratulations to both players for providing a 4th consecutive exciting finale. Thanks to the 2010 Arimaa World Championship sponsors ZMan Games and BoardGames4us and to everyone who made the tournament such a success!

Predictions for Gold	Predictions for Silver	Result	Winner
9 for Fritzlein in 44	11 for chessandgo in 46	chessandgo in 23 g	Simon 24