Chuck Bower: 13/4*.
Toughest problem of the set for me because there are so many decentlooking moves. From White's viewpoint, he sure was hoping Bluewould leave his back checkers alone. Even though a PoH would havebeen much stronger, I still think the passive plays give Whitemore than he deserves. I'm going to hit one of those blots.13/4* is more thematic -- get that checker away from the edge. Itleaves 20 shots and three blots, and not that many clean covers.I won't be surprised if 13/7, 6/3* wins the vote. It has a lotof duplication (only 14 return shots, even though three blots) andleaves covers from both the 7-point and 6-point. 15/9, 6/3* startsthe back of the prime, but also leaves 20 shots. One bad thing about all the 6/3* plays is that White simply rolling a 4 from the bar is almost as good as hitting. I'm really torn between these three hitting plays. In the end I'll go with the thematic play of knocking Blue back from the edge, knowing that I could be losing a lot of ground if things go White's way.

Neil Kazaross: 13/4*.
The straightforward 13/4x seems to me to have the most bang for thebuck here, noting some duplication of 3's and 1's and that some entering 5's and 6's don't play so well. More passive alternatives don't win enough gammons and 15/9, 6/3 hits the "wrong" checker.

George Klitsas: 15/6.
The "obvious" 15/6 is my choice. The sophisticated 21/18 21/15 leaves the initiative to White without a good reason (as being ahead in the race, for example). Hitting inside looks like the wrong idea in all cases.

Snowie: 13/4*.
My four point is the point we both want the most, so let's go after it.This play may seem unnecessarily risky, but it really isn't. All ofWhite's non-hitting fives and sixes will play awfully, and even if Whtiedoes hit something he doesn't have much of a board to for me to worryabout. The potential gains from this hit outweigh the losses.

Marty Storer: 13/4*.
Pow! Blast White off the edge of the prime. Safe versus bold,yet again. Blue has an anchor, boards are equal strength andnot well developed yet, and Blue and is behind in the race.Blue's four-prime is a key feature of his position. It's verystrong, and it's worth taking some chances to try to attackand extend it.

Bob Stringer: 13/4*.
With a good anchor and a four prime against two advanced blots, my eyeis immediately drawn to a hitting play. 13/7, 6/3* leaves two manyblots, and 21/15, 6/3* looks like it could make my position a littleinflexible - not to mention the fact that it's nice to keep an anchorto fall back on while I'm attacking. That leaves 13/4,* which putsWhite in big trouble if he doesn't hit or anchor up.

Casper van der Tak: 21/18, 21/15.
This, in contrast, is very unclear to me. I can hit with 13/4*, attacking at the edge of the prime, which is a thematic thing to do. But that leaves a bunch of blots and shots. I can play 15/9 6/3* if I do not want to leave too many blots and keep the anchor, but that hits on the wrong point. I can play 21/15 6/3*, but that leaves the anchor while behind in the race, and attacks the wrong blot. And I can play 21/15 21/18, which leaves the anchor while behind in the race, does not hit at all, and makes it easy for White to attack.In the end I chose 21/15 21/18 because:
- Although Blue is behind in the race, he is not far behind, so getting hit up-front is costly;
- Making the 15 gives great control over the outfield, making it more difficult for White to escape from behind the prime to safety
- Although the play leaves many shots, most of these shots are not very comfortable for White. Apart from return hits that Blue may hit, 1s could have been used to anchor, 6s to escape, and 2s break the 9-point
- A last consideration is that 21/15 21/18 probably wins most games for Blue. Therefore, the play reduces as much as possible the value of cube-ownership to White.

Kit Woolsey: 21/18, 21/15.
I don't want to be stuck on White's four point facing the made eightand nine points. This is a great opportunity for me to firm up my outfieldcontrol so it will be very difficult for White to escape his back checkers.The blot left on White's bar point isn't in too much jeopardy, and White'smen are awkwardly placed for an attack.

Chris Yep: 13/4*.
Blue trails in the race. Blue has an advanced anchor. White has a weak 2-point board (Blue is in little danger of being trapped). Blue has a solid 4-prime. All of Blue's back men are connected, while White has a stripped midpoint. All of these factors indicate to me that Blue should play purely, hitting loose with 13/4*. Although it leaves 2 outfield blots, note that some of White's 1s and 3s (to hit from the midpoint) are duplicated (he needs them to enter). Also White's midpoint is stripped so Blue will have return shots in the outfield (Blue's back men are all connected) if White hits there.

Summary: The majority of the panel was willing to abandon the midpoint and fight forthe four point. I'm not so sure about that approach. It seems as thoughthere is a serious danger of Blue's army being divided into two if Whitehits back. Outfield control looks very important here.

Problem #6   Play          Votes   Score13/4*              6      10021/18, 21/15       2       7015/6               1       6021/15, 6/3*        0       4015/9, 6/3*         0       4013/7, 6/3*         0       40