Arimaa/Lone Elephant Attacks/Ideas for Setup

Gold has used the 99of9 setup, while Silver put all his Rabbits on the home rank. If Silver launches a Lone Elephant attack his d8 and e8 Rabbits will be vulnerable to being pulled.

An idea popularized in 2004 for Rabbit-pulling strategies is to place 4 Rabbits on the 'a' and 'h' files and to place Dogs and/or Cats in the back middle ranks. This has proven to be an effective system for defending against the Lone Elephant Attack for several reasons:

• the enemy Elephant will not be able to drag pieces from the back middle due to the lack of Rabbits and the ease with which Cats and Dogs can be protected on the middle home rank
• if the enemy Elephant attacks on the wings then it will take longer to return home if its diagonally opposite trap is attacked, or it may be vulnerable to a blockade in some circumstances
• if the enemy Elephant attempts to pull a stronger piece from the 'b' or 'g' file then the 'a' or 'h' file Rabbit can be advanced to unfreeze the stronger piece with one fewer step
• Rabbits can be advanced on the perimeter more safely than in the middle
• Rabbits advanced up the middle of the board may be used by the enemy to blockade the friendly Elephant in the 6th rank middle
• players that prefer to generate goal threats on the outside rather than the middle of the board also enjoy stacking rabbits on the 'a' and 'h' files

Deciding whether to place a Cat or Dog behind the home traps is a matter of personal preference. If the trap is attacked by a strong enemy force then it is better to have a weaker, more expendable piece behind the trap. On the other hand, if an enemy Dog is dragged to the home trap, a Dog can participate in a frame without assistance. Some players have experimented with Rabbits behind the home traps, but their vulnerability to enemy Elephants has limited the popularity of this idea.

There is no consensus as to whether Camels are more effective on the wings, behind home traps or in the middle. Players can experiment to discover the setup that suits their personal style.

Placing eight Rabbits on the home rank is not a very popular setup amongst Lone Elephant enthusiasts due to the ease with which the central pair can be pulled by an Elephant.