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Right next to the silver camel and far away from both silver dogs, the gold horses are poorly positioned. (Game) |
To create strong threats, one must use pieces efficiently. A strong piece should not be wasted on a job a weaker piece could do. At right, a silver dog holds g3 just as effectively as a horse would, freeing the eastern silver horse to go west. Another basic concern is activity: strong pieces should be kept flexible and available for duty. The b2 gold horse is passive due to being blocked in. The a3 gold horse is less blocked, but still poorly placed; Gold's position would be stronger if he had a horse in the east to fight the silver dogs.
Pieces are often passive because they are blocked in at home, but even a functional advanced piece is passive if it is not doing anything useful. In a race, a piece is passive if it doesn't have time to do something.
Having the strongest local piece is often crucial. If a trap control fight pits two gold horses against a silver camel and dog, Silver might get full control of the trap, but Gold can't unless his elephant joins that fight. The strongest local piece can also help with goal attack, goal defense, mobility fights, etc.
Alignment
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With Gold's forces restricted, the silver dogs are strong attackers. (Game) |
Alignment refers to the overall positioning of one army relative to the other. Ideally, the friendly elephant neutralizes the enemy camel, the friendly camel neutralizes at least one enemy horse, and the other pieces take advantage of the freedom this provides. Silver has a very strong alignment here, leaving Gold few options. The silver camel and c2 horse are both strongest local pieces, whereas Gold does not have a uniquely strong piece in any area.
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The silver elephant and camel ignored the gold horse. |
Alignment may seem unimportant when a forced goal is in sight. However, a poor alignment could allow the opponent to get a quick goal attack of his own. In this endgame, Silver's apparently strong goal attack left the one remaining gold horse unopposed in the east. After 38g, Silver suddenly faced a goal threat which could only be stopped via an elephant sacrifice.
Balance
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Silver needs a dog in the west. |
It is usually best to have some strength on each wing. Here, the strongest remaining pieces are the elephants, horse, and dogs. On opposite wings, the gold horse and dog may soon overload Silver, whose elephant is his only remaining piece stronger than a dog. To defend both c6 and f6, Silver must balance his own dogs; if the e7 dog moves west, it can counter the gold dog and delay any Gold takeover of c6. In the actual game, Silver left both dogs in the east, and soon got into trouble. Had Silver balanced his dogs, he would have had time to counterattack in the east.
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The silver elephant is stuck defending a horse and dog, but the gold elephant is stuck defending goal. (Game) |
Weak pieces should usually be balanced also, as a goal threat might negate an advantage elsewhere. Gold's hybrid frame–hostage–partial elephant blockade may appear strong, but it leaves Gold very weak in the west. The gold elephant is currently stuck defending goal, so the silver camel is free to disrupt the blockade. Using one's elephant to defend against rabbits is extremely inefficient.
Centralisation
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The gold camel cannot safely advance without the support of the gold elephant. (Game) |
It is quite risky for an elephant to advance into a corner, even to chase the enemy camel. Even if it doesn't get blockaded, an elephant decentralized in enemy territory is very far from one of its home traps. Here, the gold camel cannot defend f3 until the gold elephant comes east. If Gold played Me2n De1n Me3e De2n, Silver could push the gold camel to f4 (De3s ee4s Mf3n ee3e), where it would be doomed to capture in f6. This would not work for Silver if the gold elephant were in the center.
Even moving one's elephant into its own home corner requires caution, as the other wing could then be vulnerable, and the elephant could be blockaded by a swarm. In the opening, an elephant should only move into its home corner to fight an advanced enemy camel, and only move into an away corner to further a strong attack.
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Gold pieces can move through the center. (Game) |
Control of the center itself is also important, as pieces would often like to move through the center. The side with greater elephant mobility will tend to have better central control. In the diagram at left, Silver is limited by potential capture threats in c3 and f3. By contrast, Gold currently defends all four traps; the silver elephant's isolation allows the gold camel to defend c6, further strengthening Gold's control of the center.
Even when neither elephant is marginalized, shared control of an away trap may improve one's central control; if the opponent owns only one trap, pieces in the center are safer. It is sometimes even possible to blockade the center.