| 121 172 |                        | White money game Blue |
Problem #8 Play Votes Score20/18, 6/5 4 1008/5 4 906/3* 3 909/7, 8/7 1 608/7, 6/4 0 40 6/5, 6/4 0 40
Steve Clark: 6/3*.
What I really want to play is 20-18, unstacking the 20 point as best I can.Unfortunately the accompanying ace play leaves White with a cornucopia ofgood rolls.
None of the other plays which leave 2 blots are attractive either. I reallydo not want to see how many of my checkers can fit on that 20 point. Thisleaves me with 6-3, hitting or 8-5. I judge them to be fairly close but Iwill hit because I feel the urge to unstack at least one of my big piles.There is always some merit in hitting when we are behind in the race and ouropponent has advanced his last checker.
Hal Heinrich: 20/18, 6/5.
Blue is well advised to play stodgy in this kind ofposition -- aggressive slotting or attacking plays leadto far more gammons than the resulting wins justify. Onthe other hand, playing 'not to lose' is an overlycautious philosophy. Here Blue has to expose somethinganyway -- and White's home board, while much better thanBlue's, is only a three point board with a hard-to-coverblot. One of Blue's best roads to success is to win thepriming battle and force White to overrun the position.At least that's the strategic rationale for this tactical overplay.
George Klitsas: 8/5.
I am between 9/7 8/7 and 8/5. It's true that 8/5 slots the better point, but in order to make it, Blue will have usually to break the eight or nine point. There doesn't seem to be any significant difference between the two plays in equity terms, one could well toss a coin. At the last moment I will listen to the saying "the five point is the five point" and vote for 8/5.
Rob Maier: 6/3*.
Awkward. We certainly want to leave only one blot. Making the bar point willbe good if we don't get hit and can make the nine point again next, but we arestill stuck with finding ways to improve. 6/3* is more flexible, and starts aninner board point. We need to improve our board so we can be effective in laterskirmishes.
Achim Mueller: 6/3*.
When in doubt, hit! I don't see any other good moves here. Leaving two blots seems not to be good (White has a 3-point board), slotting the 5-point or making the bar point doesn't look very flexible.
Snowie: 8/5.
The five point is first on my list of points to make, so why notstart it? I have to leave some shot, so let's go after the best pointif I am not hit. Holding the blocking nine point is vital, because Idon't want to give White a chance to escape with one roll.
Marty Storer: 20/18, 6/5.
My number-two play was 6/4 8/7, which gives chances to whip up amini-block in short order. But such a mini-block doesn't seemvaluable enough to justify the risk of a double shot now andprobably more shots later. I don't like 6/3*, which seems tohave little promise except to give some chances to hit on the24 point. It seems important to get the stack of back checkersmoving. Might as well put two checkers where they belong, orat least in better positions than they now occupy. 20/18 6/5gives reasonable chances to make either the 18 point or the 5point, both of which are valuable.
Bob Stringer: 20/18, 6/5.
What with White's seriously stronger board, I can't see the wild stuff-- 6/5, 6/4 and 8/7, 6/4. 8/5 starts the 5 point, but then my onlybuilders are on the 6 point. White isn't exactly locked up right now,but 9/7, 8/7 gives up the point that blocks 6's. And 6/3* loosens upmy structure too much. Since I'm way behind in the race, I don't mindtaking risks in order to make some points and improve the position,and so 20/18, 6/5 is the play.
Casper van der Tak: 20/18, 6/5.
Two long stacks, let's reduce each of them and put these spare to work. It is as simple as that. Change White's blot on the ace in a point, and something more quiet would be called for (8/5 or 6/3*), but here Blue can still afford to make pure plays, which Blue wantss, trailing this much in the race.
Kit Woolsey: 9/7, 8/7.
Something has to give. I might as well make the most solid blockade. Thiswill be more advantageous for the future.
Chris Yep: 8/5.
Since Blue is outboarded 3 to 1, it's probably not a good idea to attack (6/3*), Blue has to leave a direct shot no matter what play he makes, but White is not threatening anything and Blue doesn't particularly want to make the 3 point anyway. If White didn't have a 3 point board or if Blue had two more checkers in attack range, then 6/3* look reasonable. With only 9 checkers up front and an attack unlikely to succeed, I think Blue should play more positionally with 8/5. 8/5 keeps 6s blocked and slots the most important point on the board at the moment. If Blue is hit he at least has a return shot and if missed he has chances to make his 5 point and convert to either a priming or an attacking game. 20/18 6/5 is another possibility since it leaves Blue with a more flexible position up front, but I believe that it gives White too many hitting numbers (including 5 double-hit numbers). Furthermore if White hits the 18 point blot, Blue will have significantly fewer numbers to make his 5 point next turn (since 1s and 3s are duplicated to both enter and cover). Thus I prefer the simple 8/5.
Summary: The panel agreed that slotting the five point was theroute to take; the question was whether or not to expose another checker.I agree in retrospect that slotting the five point is quite attractive.Leaving two blots seems a bit rich. If I had to choose again, I would nowgo with 8/5.