sol8037m.htm | Gammonline - Backgammon Resources

Chuck Bower: 8/3, 6/3.
Blue is outboarded which makes the loose hit a poor risk. Whiteis only 50-50 to make the 5th point in the prime, so noneed to get desperate. Of the remaining conservative plays Iprefer 11/8, 9/6, leaving the blot farther back where it's saferand better patrols the outfield. Between making the 3-point andstarting the 4-point, the former leaves fewer shots and a morepotent spread of builders, meanwhile duplicating 6-1, 6-4, and4-3 which also make White's barpoint.
It's down to two plays. I'm going with the more agressiveboard building move. The problem with the slow route is that next turn Blue will be faced with a similar problem: wantingto attack but having a worse board. Improve the homeboard now.

George Klitsas: 13/8, 9/6.
In this deceptive position (most players would think that White is much better than he actually is), Blue is exactly even in the race, and only slightly inferior in inner board strength. Possession of the cube, makes him overall almost even in equity terms. If Blue realizes this, he will see that he must not panic and hit on the guff (probably with 9/1*), neither leave too many blots strewn around, justifying White's double with a desperate equalizing move (8/3 6/3). Instead, a solid move, one that minimizes the danger of a gammon, is called for. Between the quiet moves, that reinforce the eight point and clean up a blot, the best in my opinion is 13/8 9/6 (compared to 13/8, for example, leaves only two indirect shots [64 and 46], a roll which is also duplicated, instead of four [62, 26, 53 and 35]).

Laila Leonhardt: 11/8, 6/1*.
You are running out of good vibrations here. White will be priming you, maybe pick up another checker and even get you for a gammon. If you desperately need some time, look for the hit. Putting White on the bar will achieve a few things. The bar point is unlikely to be made next roll, you may get another checker hit, but still in time for making an anchor, perhaps even on the 3 point and stay in the game with your nose at the edge of the prime and finally White may run out of luck, enabling you to blitz him or escape with your back checker turning the game around in your favor.

Mary Lee Pinkney: 13/8, 9/6.
I think it's best to put a builder on the 8 point and pick up the blot on the 9 point (13/8, 9/6), and wait to see what happens next.
I considered 9/1* to help keep White from securing his bar point next move, but decided against it since I am only down 4 pips in the race.
I also considered 8/3, 6/3 to equalize the strength of the inner boards, but didn't want to leave 4 blots to do so.

Snowie: 9/1*.
I think it is necessary to hit loose on the ace point. This preventsWhite from either escaping or making his bar point next turn with allthose builders. Not hitting sumply gives White too many goodrolls. However, it is important for me to cut down on the returnshots, since I lose a ton if I am hit back. Therefore I play9/1* rather than 113/8, 6/1* so I don't give White 5-4 and 6-3 from thebar.

Marty Storer: 8/3, 6/3.
Nothing is great. Should Blue hit loose and try to whip up anattack? Often a loose hit forestalls opposing threats, but heresuch gain of tempo isn't worth much. The problem is that evenif White misses a return, Blue remains with few rolls to improvethe position of his forlorn back checker. Meanwhile Blue'sattacking chances aren't great after a loose hit. I prefer theconcrete asset of the 3 point. Yes, after Blue makes the 3 Whitehas a substantial edge, but that's the case no matter what Blue does.

Bob Stringer: 9/1*.
Annoying not to roll one of the many possibilities that would havelet me improve the position. The hit takes away a number of hisoptions when he already has the superior board, and it allows meto not strip my midpoint and to keep the checker on the 11 pointfor maximum coverage of the outfield. If not this play, then I'dpick up a blot with 13/8, 9/6. The fact that that play results insuch a ho hum position in the face of White's possibilities forimprovement is what persuaded me to hit. 8/3, 5/3 equalizes theinner boards, but leaves too many blots in the outfield.

Casper van der Tak: 8/3, 6/3.
Blue has the worst of the priming battle, so he would like to escape his back checker but he cannot. However, Blue can start building his board, so that he has something to fight with should he need to step up after White builds the bar. In addition, making the three point leaves builders for the bar- and 4-point, so that Blue retains the option to build his prime.
Other plays either harm Blue's priming potential too much (13/8 9/6, 11/6 9/6, etc) or involve a loose hit on the ace to take away half of White's roll. The latter is more attractive than playing safe - playing safe does not have a real game plan behind it - but leaves more shots than building the three-point, harms Blue's priming potential, and is inconsistent with the relative board strengths.
A final argument for making the 3-point: some of White's hitting numbers are duplicated.

Kit Woolsey: 11/8, 6/1*.
Once again I do not dare give White his full roll to play. My playgets builders onto optimal points while putting White on the bar.Running out into a triple shot seems unecessary, and making the threepoint gives White too many good things to do on both sides of the board.

Chris Yep: 8/3, 6/3.
No move is perfectly safe in this position. 8/3 6/3 makes the 3 point and unstacks the 6 point (at the cost of the 8 point, however Blue is a favorite to remake it). While it leaves a few more shots than some of the other candidate moves, I think it's worth the risk. Also note that 4-3 (one of the numbers that allows White to hit with 24/17*) is duplicated (White already had a strong way to play it by making his bar point). Looking at the overall picture, Blue's position is getting a little "front-loaded" (moves like 13/5 make this situation even worse). 8/3 6/3 is a nice way to solve this problem.

Summary: The plurality choice was to make the third inner board point.Can Blue really afford to do this? It looks as though White hasnothing but good numbers if Blue doesn't hit loose.