Bagh-Chal strategy
Both sides are racing. The tigers need five goats; the goats need four immobilised tigers. Almost every good move serves one of those two clocks — or slows the opponent’s.
Playing the goats
Never leave a goat with an empty point behind it
This is the whole of goat safety in one sentence. A goat can only be taken if a tiger stands on one side of it and the point directly opposite, along the same line, is empty. Before placing or moving a goat, look along every line through it. If a tiger sits on one end and the far end is empty, that goat is lost.
The corollary is that goats defend each other simply by standing behind one another. Two goats in a row along a line are both safe from a jump along that line.
Build outward from the edges, not the centre
The centre point touches eight lines, which makes it the most dangerous place for a lone early goat and the most valuable place for a tiger. Strong goat players build solid blocks near the edges and only occupy the centre once it can be held by neighbours.
Spend the placement phase on structure
You get twenty free placements and then you are committed. Use them to construct a connected wall rather than to chase tigers around. Every goat lost in the placement phase costs you both a fifth of the tigers’ target and a brick out of your wall.
Squeeze mobility before you try to trap
You cannot trap four tigers at once out of nowhere. What you can do is steadily reduce the number of moves the tigers have. Watch the trapped counter and the advantage bar as you play: when tiger mobility falls into single figures, the win is usually near.
Corners are where tigers die
A corner point touches only three lines, so three goats — correctly backed up — can seal a tiger there forever. Herding a tiger toward a corner and then closing the door is the classic winning method.
Playing the tigers
Take the centre early
Tigers start in the corners, the worst points on the board. Getting a tiger to a high-degree point — the centre, or the midpoints of the sides — multiplies its options and its threats.
Create two threats at once
A single threatened goat is usually defensible. Manoeuvre so that one tiger threatens two different goats, or two tigers threaten goats the goat player cannot both save in one turn.
Do not take every goat on offer
Captures are optional for a reason. A jump that lands your tiger deep in the goat mass can be the move that traps it. Before jumping, check what moves the tiger will have from the landing point — if the answer is none, the goat was bait.
Keep your tigers apart
Two tigers on adjacent points block each other’s lines and are easier to fence in as a pair. Spread out and you cover far more of the board.
Play for the endgame count
Once three goats are gone the goat structure usually has holes in it, and the fourth and fifth captures often come quickly. Conversely, if you are still on one or two captures when the goats finish placing, you are probably worse.
Reading the advantage bar
The bar beside the board converts the engine’s evaluation into a win chance. The two things that move it most are captures and trapped tigers, but it also weighs tiger mobility, how many goats are currently jumpable, and how well connected the goat chains are. A sudden swing almost always means a goat was hung or a tiger was sealed in — the coach panel will say which.