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Alan Alsop: B/23, 17/16(2).
Blue is in real danger, four men back and behind an effective 5 pt prime. Although Blue does have a reasonable forward game. The timing alas is not brilliant for Blue. The main question is whether to hit or not. If Blue hits, is there sufficient time on our side to extricate our back men and maintain our forward game without wasting builders, very doubtful. Blue does have a reasonable positional game. I think this is the area that he must pursue. Bring the man off the bar to the 23 pt ready to leap over the prime. At the moment Blue can't move up the last man, as this would leave the last move to hit. I won't move up to the bar pt, it is better off where it is extending the prime. This only leaves moving from the 17 pt for manoeuvring, no problem with that.

Chuck Bower: B/23, 8/7(2).
Starting out with a toughie this month. Even in the late 70'sit was known that the 1-2 backgame requires voluminous timing.That's not present here. Bar/23 therefore looks like a goodstart. After that three plays are tempting.
24/23, 5/4 "puts the checkers where they belong". The downsideis the blot vulnerable to 16 returns. 8/7(2) trades points witha slight loss, since the longer prime is almost always moreeffective. 5/4*/3 creates some awkward rolls for White -- forexample: 3-2. But with six checkers back Blue wants to keepall his homeside checkers in good positions.
8/7(2) is my compromise choice. It doesn't do much positive, but minimizes the downsides. White could roll an awkward number (like 3-1), and next turn Blue could roll what he really needs --a 6.

Neil Kazaross: B/24, 17/16(2), 5/4*.
Hmm..this is by far the hardest in this problem set and Kit nevermentioned a very viable play here, considering that this position basically is a backgame. I know I'd play the kamikaze bar to 24, 54-x,3-2x,8-7 if it were DMP or likely here, if we had the enemy bar point rather than the 8 point and could escape after entry with less problems. However, here, we just may get a few more checkers sent back and then they enter and then we get squeezed of the 17 point and drift into a busted backgame with considerably greater BG chances with all those men back. Thus we likely want to look for something non-kamikaze.
What about bar-23 8-7(2) trying to play more positionally ? My worryabout that play is that it doesn't gain much when it works and if we don't get a quick 6 we lose our board and/or the 17 point and can be semi-blitzed to a deuce-point game that will be G'd frequently.
So I am going to play bar-24 and find 3 more aces. 5-4x looks like my2nd ace and now it's a choice between 8-7(2) and 17-16(2).Strange as it may seem I'll play 17-16(2) to force 44 to bust up the enemy prime. We are grasping at straws here and sometimes 44 will bust a roll or two later as well. Also after 17-16(2) our own 55 doesn't trash us.

George Klitsas: B/23, 8/7(2).
Blue has virtually no chance in a 1-2 backgame, so all plays involving stopping on the 24 point must be rejected immediately. It would be nice to have all of his back checkers on the 23 point, but the only reasonable play is B/23 24/23 5/4*, to be rejected as well, since, even if White dances, Blue will need an instant joker, like a 6-4, to justify this play. Obviously, B/23 5/4*(2) is even worse along with the unthinkable B/23 5/4*/3. Blue needs his 17 point as a link for his back checkers, therefore B/23 17/16(2) is definitely much worse than the winner, which is, in my opinion, the only candidate left, namely B/23 8/7(2).

Laila Leonhardt: B/24, 8/7(2), 5/4*.
Blue is having a timing problem, but still in a position where he does nothave to throw in the towel and put blots all over to try to rescue sometiming.
There are still some strategic priming values left. Blue might still be ableto get White stuck behind a prime and to have to break. Blue should holdonto the 24 and 23 point until White's prime breaks, so he can always fallback on a solid 1-2 backgame should other approach fail

Snowie: B/24, 17/16(2), 5/4*.
I may have to play a backgame, so I want to keep that option open. However,if I can win frontowards by forcing White to break up his prime, I wouldprefer to do that. What is White's biggest problem numberin back? Fours --both of his back checkers are blocked on fours. So let's make his foursreally bad by making the 16 point along with the mandatory loose hit onour four point. If White should happen to roll 4-4, it is juicy. Note thatthis root number of 4-4 isn't only for this coming roll -- it will be staringWhite in the face for quite some time. Yes, the 16 point is more effectivethan the 17 point in this position.

Marty Storer: B/24, 17/16(2), 5/4*.
This is not a happy position no matter what Blue does. Hischances to make forward progress don't seem good enough tojustify giving up the 24 point. Maintaining both anchorsgives some claw equity. Switching to the 16 point givesgives White a bad 44; hitting not only threatens to makethe 4 point but gives White a bad 26. Blue may still be ableto salvage something even if he can't make his 4 point. Hemay maintain timing somehow, by breaking his 23, staying onthe bar a turn or three, or getting a spare out of White'sboard via the 23 point.

Bob Stringer: B/23, 17/16(2).
The timing for a back game just doesn't look like it's there. Itherefore don't want 2 checkers trapped on the 24 point, whichmeans B/23 uses up two of the 1's. I also don't need to increasethe risk of a gammon, so no hitting with 5/4.* That leaves threepossibilities to shift points: 17/16(2), 8/7(2) and 3/2(2).* 3/2 *exchanges the 3 for the 2 point, which is no improvement, andputting White on the bar doesn't gain time for anything, since heshould re-enter right away and his spare on the 19 means that hisre-entry won't be awkward. I like the 8 point better than the 7,since it blocks White's checker on the 2 point, and so everythingelse being equal, I'd like it to stay. I don't see a downside to17/16, so that makes it by default.

Casper van der Tak: B/24, 17/16(2), 5/4*.
A key feature in this position is that Blue has too little timing right now to make a backgame playable.
Therefore, Blue would like to either improve the timing, or to go forward. In order to go forward, Blue should make is 4-point and hope that White will crack over the next turns. So B/24 and 5/4* are part of the answer. Hitting loose also has the advantage that it gives some chances to rectify Blue's timing.
For the last 2 ones I like 17/16(2) better than 8/7(2), even thought the 17-point seems to work as a bridge for the back checkers. Why? After 8/7(2), dance, and covering the 4, White does not have breaking numbers, but he has breaking number (41, 42) after 17/16(2). A similar effect after entering (but not hitting) followed by 44, depending on how the entering number is played.
Sometimes the best way to play these position is by stacking on the 23, and playing from there, but Blue might get a fifth checker send back, so he wants to have two anchors.

Kit Woolsey: B/24, 8/7(2), 5/4*.
I can still win this frontwards if things go well -- otherwise we need toprepare for the back game as best I can. Hitting loose on the four pointis a must in all variations. Holding the 17 point looks right, since I mayneed a place for our back checkers to spring to. Making the bar pointconsolidates my position up front. I'm not willing to abandon the 24 pointand give up on the back game just yet.

Chris Yep: B/24, 8/7(2), 5/4*.
Concentrating only on White's inner board, both b/24 (secures the second anchor) and b/23 (puts a spare on 23, allowing Blue to keep the point if he should leap with a 6) look close in value. Thus I believe Blue should play b/24 (using up only one of the aces) if he has a constructive play of an ace in another area of the board. It looks like this is the case. I like b/24 8/7(2) 5/4*. This move tries to go forward while still preserving Blue's backgame options. After hitting 5/4*, Blue should leave the point slotted. Continuing with 4/2* is too loose as Blue doesn't have the ammunition for a blitz. With only 9 checkers in the zone, it looks better to put the checker where it belongs (on the 4 point). Another possibility is 17/16(2), but this breaks the link between the outfield point and the back checkers. Furthermore 8/7(2) gives Blue a more compact (stronger) prime. My preference is b/24 8/7(2) 5/4*.

Summary: The majority of the panel went for keeping the backgame prospectsintact by holding onto the 24 point and hitting loose inside. The conceptof advancing to the 16 point in order to to give White problems with 4-4is rather neat. I wish I had thought of it.