sol3008m.htm | Gammonline - Backgammon Resources

Chuck Bower: B/21, 22/14*, 8/4*.
Blue needs to take maximum advantage of this great roll. A lot of players(myself included) have a tendency to play doublets too quickly, especially withthe euphoria accompanying GOOD doublets. Finding all the candidates is much harder for doublets than non-doublets. Fortunately in Kit's quiz we have theaid of his listing the candidates for us.
Here we are forced to play b/21. That leaves three more 4's. We'vegot to hit at least one blot, and if we hit on the 14-point we might as wellhit the other one (on the 4-point). So no matter how we play the last two 4's,I like 8/4* as the second 4.
If we now cover the 4-point (that is, we play b/21, 8/4*(2)) then we don'treally have a very good final 4. I guess it's 24/20. But by playing b/21, 8/4*, 22/14* we get full use out of every one of our four 4's. The downside isthat we may not get the homeboard point, but 2/3 of the time White doesn'treturn hit there and we have a chance to eat our cake, too! If one opponentchecker on the bar is good, isn't two there double good?

Steve Clark: B/21, 22/14*, 8/4*.
Suppose I play B/21, 22/14*, hitting. This would leave me with one more4 to go. None of the potential 4th 4's are very constructive. The onlyone really worth considering is the second hit with 8/4*. Of courseputting 2 men on the bar is always good but normally I prefer a moreconstructive play such as 8/4(2)*.
In this position the constructive plays involving 8/4(2)* are not asattractive as usual. The problem is that we are not making anadditional point; we are just shifting from the 8 to 4 point. This isnot all bad, of course, particularly if our opponent rolls a combinationof 6's and 4's, but that doesn't happen all that often. Suppose I makethe 4 point, how would I play the final 4? None of the possibilitiesattract. 8/4* gives up diversification and advances the checker toofar. The other plays just put out blots to be hit without reallyaccomplishing anything. Non of this seems very appealing.
Well what about hitting on the 14 and the 4 point. Most of his rollsmiss me and I will be very happy after any of them. This play doesleave a large number of Blue blots around but White will have two men onthe bar and doesn't have any inside points yet. Kent Goulding'sconcept, "The man with the most blots wins," doesn't work very wellwhen your opponent has a 5 point board. But it does have substantialmerit when he has made no points whatsover.

Malcolm Davis: B/21, 24/20, 22/14*.
Sure looks pretty. Don't want to break the 8-point this early in the game bymaking the 4-point. Everything else also appears to be inferior.

Ray Fogerlund: B/21, 22/14*, 8/4*.
Ha ha, 7 choices and my play is not included! Recently, in studying my matches I have noticed that Snowie likes structural plays in the outfield. I have incorporated this thinking into my game. So, my first three 4s are now, automatically, B/21 and 13/9 (2). Then I would just step up, I guess, but hitting would not be considerably worse. Alas, neither of these plays are among the choices... So, I just hang on to the 8 point, and flail away in an effort to keep White off balance as much as possible. Then she will be on the defensive for another turn, at least, and if she rolls a 6 I may be able to develop something... (like an outfield point/prime???) !!

Steve Hamilton: B/21, 24/20, 22/14*.
Keeps maximum pressure on the outfield? Keeps open the possibility ofgaining the 4 or 5 point anchor? Heck I don't really know about this one. Isuppose this move just looks right to me.

Hal Heinrich: B/21, 22/14*, 8/4*
Entering and hitting on the four point are clear. Afterthat Blue can either hit on the fourteen or make the four point and find a final four. While making the fourpoint is a big gain in the early going, here it does soat the expense of the eight point. Hitting a second mangains in the race, freezes White's checker on the barpoint, retains the eight point, and starts the four point. That's more than enough to convince me.

Ron Karr: B/21, 22/14*, 8/4*.
It would be great to have an extra 4 so I could hit on 14 AND make the 4point. In the real world, hitting both blots seems best. The 4 pointis good, but I'd have to give up the 8 point. Hitting the blot on 14is very helpful, gaining in the race and hurting White's offense.Hitting loose on the 4 point is the equivalent of making the point 2/3of the time anyway (if White misses), so it seems like the best ofworlds. If White misses, I'll be very close to a cube, and if he hitsit's still a tossup.

George Klitsas: B/21, 22/14*, 8/4*.
From the long list of conceivable moves, only two seem to me like serious candidates, namely B/21 24/20 8/4*(2), and B/21 22/14* 8/4*. The first one makes the second-best inner point, at the cost of breaking the eight point and risking to lose it by a White hit. Other plays that make the four point seem inferior to me, for they either break Blue's defensive anchor on the three-point (you never know what accidents lurk in innocent-looking positions like this [and then one thinks he is unlucky!] ), create additional blots that tend to be liabilities than assets (13/9), or, finally, are structure self-destroyers (8/4*(3)). The second play (B/21 22/14* 8/4*) has the big advantage of hitting two White checkers, keeping him off balance and forcing him to roll a four in order to survive the immediate assault. White's checker on Blue's bar point becomes vulnerable, particularly if White partially dances. I think that both plays are strong and playable, but I will go with the double-hitting play (B/21 22/14* 8/4*) as a matter of style.

Laila Leonhardt: B/21, 22/14*, 8/4*
this is early in the game, neither side has established a point yet. Puttingtwo checkers on the bar can turn the game in Blues favor if White rolls a 6next time. and else keep the pressure by the flexibility of the manybuilders.

Rob Maier: B/21, 22/14*, 8/4*.
A great time to hit two. No opposing board, and two additional blots toscoop up. Making the four point is nice, but isn't worth losing the eightpoint with such an attractive alternative.

Steve Mellen: B/21, 24/20, 8/4(2)*
I do not like hitting two with B/21, 22/14*, 8/4*.If White hits back Blue will hate having all those blots, and even if hefails Blue will have a major cleanup job to do. I would prefer to make thefour point immediately and have an asset for the rest of the game. Withboth sides having so many blots it cannot be bad to start beefing up theboard. 8/4(3)* strikes me as too stingy, however. I would rather play24/20 with the last four and aim at White's blot on the 14 point. If Blue'schecker on the 8 point gets hit Blue will have an excellent chance to make asecond anchor in White's board and give himself a solid position to playfrom.

David Montgomery: Bar/21, 8/4(3)*.
If Blue hits on the 14, the last 4 is probably 8/4*. But Blue istoo light up front to blitz. Making the 4-point and safetying theblot preserves all of Blue's offensive material to attack with nextturn.

Snowie: B/21, 22/14*, 8/4*.
A bird in the hand may be worth more than two in the bush, but two blots inthe hand with more to come is worth more than one point. Even if he hits backI'm in decent shape, and if he doesn't I will have the whole board at myfingertips.

Kit Woolsey: B/21, 24/20, 8/4(2).
It sure looks right to point on White's head on the four point. For the finalfour, coming up to the 20 point puts him under maximum pressure on allparts of the board while he is on the bar. I expect to do well in ablot-hitting contest.

Chris Yep: B/21, 22/14*, 8/4*.
With White having 4 blots and no board, I like hitting twice. Hitting twice gives Blue a racing lead, and still lets him shoot at two blots next turn. If White doesn't roll a 4 next turn, Blue can make the 4 point himself with a strong initiative. In fact if White dances with 6-6, Blue probably has an efficient double, although this has only minor importance in this position.

Summary: The panel strongly voted to hit twice and ask questions later.I don't know. Could be right, but that made four point is awfully tempting.