return to index| 102 90 | White money game Blue |
I've seen this one before, you say to yourself. A big 19 pip lead after theroll. Should be a piece of cake. All I have to do is avoid leaving a shot. I am running out of sixes to play, but I know how to handle that. By playing the number in my inner board, I will keep a spare checker on the eight point. That way if I roll a six next turn I won't be forced to break the eightpoint and then be squeezed off the midpoint prematurely. My doubles wil lcome eventually, or my opponent may be the one who is squeezed first.
So, instead of playing the natural looking 8/1, you play 5/1, 4/1 -- reasonably smooth and it holds the spare on the eight point. Your opponent rolls 6-2, andplays 8/2, 7/5. Hmm -- he doesn't seem so concerned about saving sixes. Maybe he will pay for that by being squeezed off my bar point prematurely.That will serve him right.
You roll 6-4. You play 8/2, 5/1. Scrunch, scrunch. Ugly, but at least you didn't have to break the eight point. And another two pips for your racing lead. Shouldn't be much of a problem if you can avoid leaving a shot.
Suddenly your opponent rolls 5-5 and runs for it. Yikes! The Race just got close. You are ahead in pips, but in crossovers it is another story. This could get scary.
The race goes on. You aren't missing, but you aren't rolling doubles either. Your opponent isn't out rolling you, but he is ripping checkers off every turn.You still have the lead in pips, but that lead may turn out to be phony.
Finally you come down to:
| 14 7 | White money game Blue |
Still a 7 pip lead in the race and on roll, but that pip lead is looking meaningless. He is one checker ahead of you, and if he doesn't miss hewill win. You roll 5-1. He rolls 5-3. Uh oh! You roll 6-3. Yep, here comes that damn 4-cube. You have to take. He rolls 5-2, and wins 4 points.A disaster. One more unlucky game down the drain.
But wait. Was it just bad luck? After all you were ahead in pips all theway. That indicates that had you placed your men better for the bearoffyou might have been able to win. But what could you have done? Whenyou brought your final checkers in and started bearing off you already had those checkers on the ace and two points. It wasn't your fault thatyou rolled so well that you took checkers off the higher points in the bearoff, was it?
Fortunately you happened to have the game recorded. Let's roll thecameras back to where you played that six-saving 4-3. Hmmm. A couple ofcheckers did go to the ace point on that roll, didn't they. And on the followup 6-4 you were forced to take two more checkers deep into your innerboard. Maybe that six-saving wasn't such a good idea after all.
Now you are starting to get interested in this position. Let's suppose you had played 8/1 with the 4-3. On the next roll you would have been forcedto play 8/4, 8/2, breaking the eight point but keeping a relatively smooth position. Diligently you play through all the moves as they would have been played with the same dice rolls. This time you are ahead, not behind, in the crossover department after he rolls the double-fives. The end position comesin differently. You have taken one more checker off, and instead of losing the race by a roll you win by a roll. That play of the 4-3 did make thedifference, but not the difference you thought it would make.
Now you are getting more curious, so you go back and look at youropponent's 6-2 play right after your 4-3 roll. At the time you hadsnickered at him for taking two checkers in and not saving a six. Now you wonder -- maybe he knew something. You have him play it by saving a six with the same dice rolls, and sure enough -- he would have wound up wasting just a little bit and been a roll short in the end.
The above example may look contrived, but I have seen this type of scenario occur again and again. While saving sixes is often correct, it is oftenoverdone by most players who are familiar with the theme, including experts.The reason is that when they don't save a six and are forced to leave a shotwhich is hit, the cost is immediately apparent and they won't forget it. However when they lose a race because they saved a six, it is not so obvious what has happened. They blame the loss on bad luck in the race rather thantheir failure to prepare adequately early.
Saving sixes does have its place. The most common situation occurs in a holding game where one is way ahead in the race. Avoiding getting squeezed off the anchor has the highest priority, and you can afford some wastageif the race lead is really big. For example:
| 112 91 | White money game Blue |
Blue will be 32 pips ahead in the race after this roll. That's a lot -- somuch that even if White rolls big doubles White will maintain contact as muchas he can. Blue's goal is to make it a race. The only way Blue can clear the anchor safely is to roll doubles, and he needs as many turns as hecan take to roll those doubles before facing the evil day. If Blue plays7/2, 7/1 then his next six (except 6-1 or 6-6) squeezes him off the anchor and leaves White a double-shot. Blue can delay the evil day by saving a sixand playing 7/1, 6/1. This may give him time to roll doubles, or at leastforce White to clear the eight point before Blue is squeezed off the anchor.It is the correct play.
It should be noted that there are several features of this position which make saving the six correct. One is that Blue is very far ahead in the race, so he can afford a bit of wastage for the bearoff. As we have seen, if the race is moderately close this may not be the case. Another featureis that Blue is saving his last six. That is important. However, it is not necessary to save a bunch of sixes. I have seen this sort of position mangled quite often.
| 112 92 | White money game Blue |
This is similar to the previous position, but Blue has more checkers inthe outer board while his inner board is starting to crunch. Trying to save as many sixes as possible with 9/3, 5/2 is not the right idea. Blue should play the natural 9/3, 8/5 or 8/5, 7/1. If Blue crunches his boardin order to hoard sixes, there are several bad things which might happen.
1) Blue could find himself in trouble in the race. It is true that he isway ahead now, and that is not likely to change. But if Blue piles all ofhis inner board checkers onto the ace and two points and White suddenlystarts rolling doubles, Blue's racing lead won't be nearly as great as the pip count indicates since there will be so much wastage involved.
2) White may volunteer a shot. If Blue trashes his board, White can play much more freely. He may be willing to leave only one checker on the eight point if Blue has a mess for a board including an inner board blot or two. This would not only permit White to play with more freedom, but 6-1would now be added to the list of bad rolls for Blue.
3) In some variations, there could be an exchange of hits. If this happens,Blue will need to have his board in one piece. He won't need a perfectboard, but he will need as many inner board points as possible.
That one extra six Blue saves by playing 9/3, 5/2 just isn't worth too much.Either Blue rolls doubles in the next few rolls or he will be forced toleave the anchor pretty much regardless of how many sixes Blue saves now. Given that, Blue should concentrate on putting his checkers where they belong.
When the race is close, wastage can be very costly. Even if there is somedanger of being squeezed off an anchor prematurely, it is important to play smoothly rather than be too concerned about saving sixes. The following is a very typical type of position which comes up all the time.
| 89 95 | White money game Blue |
I have seen many players in this type of position play 11/3, thinking thatthey are doing well by saving a six. This wrong. It is true that by playing 11/3 then Blue may be able to delay the evil day he is squeezed off the anchor by a turn, and that may give Blue one more chance to escape bothcheckers with two large numbers. However, the cost is too great. Right now the race is pretty close, but once Blue starts burying checkers he will befalling farther and farther behind in the race even if he rolls the samepips as White rolls.
In addition, what happens if and when Blue finally is squeezed off the anchor? If White rolls a joker which makes the five point on Blue's head it is allover -- nothing Blue can do about that. But what if all White can do is hitloose. Will he be willing to do so? Not clear. White has a small lead inthe race, so he may not want to put it all on the line. He will be far lessinclined to hit loose if he is staring at a closed board on Blue's side.If Blue has crunched his position, White will be freer to hit loose.
Thus, Blue's correct play is the beginner's play of 11/6, 8/5. From there Blue lets the dice decide. If Blue rolls a six he gets squeezed off, butit will then be up to White to roll a perfect a or risk losing everythingwith a loose hit. If Blue doesn't roll a six he can hold the fort, breakingfrom the six point if need be, and have a compact position. This way Blue both maximizes his racing chances and his winning chances if there is some blot-hitting.
When bearing in while waiting to escape a back checker, it is important tokeep a flexible position. I have seen many players mishandle the followingtype of position.
| 111 87 | White money game Blue |
Many players will play 6/1, thinking that by moving to the ace point they are saving as many pips as possible. This is very wrong. By going to theace point they are cutting down on their flexibility for the future, which isvery costly. In addition, in this position the idea isn't to save sixes; itis to kill sixes. Once Blue brings his outfield checker Home he will nol onger have to play sixes, which will help him maintain his board longer.It is far better to play 16/11.
When you are in very bad shape, it is necessary to think optimistically rather than pessimistically. You can't be worried about bad rolls. Youhave to assume that good things will happen, and play to make the most ofthem. The following type of position is often mishandled:
| 44 83 | White money game Blue |
Blue is not going to get a shot next turn, and he may not have a chance the roll after that. I have often seen players play B/22, 6/1, in an attempt to save a six so they won't be forced to run. This is not correct. There are three important factors to consider:
1) If and when Blue gets a shot, White will have several men off. Blue willhave to be able to contain the hit checker, and if he doesn't have a closedboard his chances of containing the checker go down considerably. Blue must keep the closed board and think optimistically. His ideal scenario is thatnext roll White has to play a checker from the five point. Blue then doesn'troll a six, holds his board, White leaves a shot, and Blue hits. This is what Blue should be hoping for to win the game. If Blue rolls a six and can'tstay back, so be it. Blue isn't likely to win anyway, so he must makethe play which maximizes his winning chances when things to right.
2) A gammon is not out of the question. White would have to roll well, butit could happen. By bringing the outfield checker home, Blue cuts the already small gammon danger down even further.
3) The race. While Blue is way behind in the race, it isn't completelyhopeless. White's three point is open, and White will not be able toplug the gap. If Blue barrels out big doubles next roll and White rollsa bunch of threes, it is possible that Blue could pull the race out. Inthis scenario, the difference between bringing the outfield checker homewith B/22, 11/6 vs. burying a checker on the ace point might decide whowins the race.
If sixes can be saved without doing major damage to the board, it may becorrect to save a six. For example:
| 105 91 | White money game Blue |
Blue is well ahead in the race, so getting squeezed off the anchor prematurely is a concern. Since he can save an extra six and keep his board in onepiece with 10/1, he should do so. 10/4, 8/5 is a more flexible play, buthere it is probably better to save the extra six and see what the futurebrings.
However, this concept must not be overdone. Change the position slightlyto:
| 105 89 | White money game Blue |
Now Blue should play 10/4, 8/5. Holding the five point for future contactis more important than saving an extra six. As we have seen, it is vitalto keep one's board intact even if it may mean getting squeezed prematurely.
Saving sixes does have its place. When one of the players is likely to be forced off a key anchor to leave a shot in the next roll or two, it isworth a little bit of wastage and board destruction in order to increase the chances that it is the other guy who is squeezed first. This is particularlytrue if you are ahead in the race, so getting hit is more costly than usual.For example:
| 91 83 | White money game Blue |
In this position it is well worth saving a six and playing 6/1, 5/4 rather than holding the closed board with 7/1. Saving the six may make thedifference as to who will have to leave the first shot. Blue isn't going to be getting a shot next roll, and after that he will be forced to crunchanyway if he doesn't roll doubles. Since there he is nothing he can do about the crunching, it is correct to save the six for now.
However, it is far to easy to overdo this concept. As a contrast, consider the following position.
| 77 87 | White money game Blue |
This time, Blue should not save a six -- he should play 7/1. There are twomajor differences between this and the previous position:
1) White might leave a shot next turn. If that happens, Blue will be very happy he kept his closed board.
2) Blue is behind in the race. This makes him an underdog in the position,so it is worth taking some risks in order to catch up.
The key is that, while Blue would rather not be squeezed off the anchor and be forced to leave that first shot, it might not turn out too badly.For example suppose White rolls something like 5-2 and closes his board, and Blue rolls 6-4 and is forced to play 18/8. This is terrible for Blue if White hits the shot, of course. But suppose White misses with something likeanother 5-2. White is forced to play safe and crunch his board. Now if Blue can get away, suddenly it is a whole new ball game. White still has the lead in pips, but it is Blue who is ahead in crossovers. By forcing White to crunch while not wasting himself, Blue will have essentially turned thegame into an even race. This isn't saying that Blue wanted to be squeezed off the anchor -- he would have preferred to hang on. But when he is squeezed off first and White misses the shot, Blue is in surprisingly fine shape.
Saving sixes is an important concept which should be in every player's arsenol. But it is important not to over do it. Smoothness and flexibility usually have a higher priority, and the sixes that are saved can come back to haunt you later.