Talk:Arimaa/Introduction to Tactics

mattj's contribution to the page doesn't seem to fit. Should go where? Risteall (discuss • contribs) 01:55, 25 December 2016 (UTC)

Trap control
The rules of Arimaa dictate that a piece is captured if it is located on a trap square and not next to any friendly pieces. In the case of the c6 trap, the relevant squares are b6, c5, c7, and d6. As long as Gold is able to maintain at least one piece on one of those four squares, Silver will never be able to capture any of Gold's pieces in that trap. If both players are able to maintain at least one piece next to the trap, neither player will be able to make a capture.

The decision of which traps are worth fighting for and how to allocate forces is strategic, but the mechanics of fighting for control of a trap are in the realm of tactics. In particular, at any given point in time a trap is either owned by Gold, owned by Silver, or contested.

Blocking with piece in trap
From Arimaa/Introduction to Tactics:

"One counter-intuitive way to block the path of an opposing piece is to station a friendly piece on a trap square. Silver to move could push or pull the gold cat on c3, but only to a square where it defends the c3 trap long enough to protect the gold dog on c2 for at least the present turn. A disadvantage of this strategy is that the cat itself would be captured if the dog could be dislodged."

If this is a strategy, then does it belong in this chapter? I guess we're focusing on the one-turn implications, but the example itself seemed odd, with no background on how the gold cat might have ended up on c3 or why putting it there might have been preferable to alternatives, such as placing that cat on d3 or advancing the b2 horse.

The idea is continued in the next section, with the southeast corner used to illustrate why a friendly piece inside the trap might be preferable to an enemy piece there. Belteshazzar (discuss • contribs) 07:07, 18 March 2018 (UTC)


 * No, it isn't a strategy. I think it's a fairly common pattern that can arise in various ways (e.g. 3 occurrences in ), although it maybe doesn't make particular sense here (I think this position is artificial). Perhaps the point is to avoid discouraging beginners from leaving pieces on home traps. Risteall (discuss • contribs) 17:04, 18 March 2018 (UTC)


 * I edited it to remove the mention of strategy, keeping the focus on the next turn only. Belteshazzar (discuss • contribs) 20:56, 18 March 2018 (UTC)

Use of notation
Before this edit, the standard notation was avoided in the early pages of the book. Could its use be annoying for beginners? I did introduce it with the fork and fence examples, but those are maybe better on the Advanced Tactics page anyway. Risteall (discuss • contribs) 21:29, 16 December 2018 (UTC)
 * In regards to my changes to "Goal defense", Ee3nww Rh1w seemed relatively simple, so I thought that might be good for beginners. Belteshazzar (discuss • contribs) 00:44, 17 December 2018 (UTC)