| 170 188 |                          | White money game Blue |
Problem #3 Play Votes ScoreB/22, 23/22 7 100B/24, 13/10 2 70B/21 1 60B/24, 18/15 1 60B/22, 6/5 1 60B/24, 23/20 0 40
Chuck Bower: B/24, 18/15.
Bar/22 doesn't look bad, except then there is no good ace. 6/5 gives Whiteeasy 3's to play in addition to the 4's and 6's that already hit on White'sbarpoint. Stacking up the 22-point seems too restrictive. That leads tothe bar/24 starting move. Leaving a checker on the 18-point and a highbackboard blot (20- or 21-point) usually plays into opp's hands, giving hima lot of double hits. 18/15 gives White the fewest good rolls, althoughnot putting much pressure on. I'm not at all comfortable with my choice;it just looks like the least of evils. Next turn I'm going to roll better!
Steve Clark: B/22, 23/22.
We could try to take advantage of White's multiple blots by playing B-22,23-22. This looks a little strange but it gives us a safety valve if a blothitting contest starts.
I can see no purpose to creating new blots in the outfield so the realalternative is to try for a higher anchor by playing B-21. I reject B-24,23-20 because it brings that checker into range of White's man on the 11point. Well do we play blots galore or do we make the wimpy safety play?Actually I judge this to be a close decision but I always was a wimp so I willplay B-22, 23-22.
Most backgammon players are secret samurai and end up falling on their ownswords all too often so I predict that I am the only expert(?) to make thisplay.
Ray Fogerlund: B/22, 6/5.
Once in awhile you roll something which is almosttotally useless. You can't even cover up any of your blots and there are nohits available. Rays rule #5 states: Don't worry, be lucky. Backgammon isa lucky game, and maybe White will roll a similar brick, (even though ithardly seems possible next turn). Besides, Backgames are fascinating toplay, and they might even be workable against an inexperienced opponent.So, make the best backgame anchor, (the 3 point), with the 3. Then what?Don't worry.... SLOT the 5 point. There now, that didn't hurt, did it?
George Klitsas: B/22, 23/22.
Cramped as it might seem, the position after anchoring with three checkers on White's three point (B/22 23/22), looks best to me, compared to the alternatives. Other, more positional moves, like B/22 6/5, risk losing valuable ground in a more or less equal race. Not securing the anchor, leaves White a bunch of double-hitting numbers and the possibility of an early strong double, which Blue might not be able to take without an anchor.
Hannu Lyyjynen: B/22, 23/22.
The position is a mess and leaving four blots gains little White often being able to hit two. I want to secure the anchor, clean up the blots and consolidate challenging White to do the same thing.
Snowie: B/22, 23/22.
My play may look inflexible, but that is really an illusion. I lock upan advancec anchor and have a checker ready to spring into the outfield.That is all I need to do right now, since White's board isn't verythreatening. The various other approaches are too loose -- they giveWhite potential double-hits which mean tempo for him.
Marty Storer: B/22, 23/22.
On 2/2/02 I'm playing 22(2). Alternatives seem too loose. Iwant the anchor; leaving four or five blots allows too muchpossible joker-devastation. I'm not optimistic enough to go forbar/22 6/5, so I'll opt for the weenie play of making the 22 pointtwice. White has some initiative, but not enough yet for me to gofull speed backwards.
Bob Stringer: B/24, 13/10.
Everything looks terrible. Ideally, I'd like to use the 3 to make ananchor, but then I have to give up any flexibility by piling three menon the 22 point -- 6/5 simply being a good way to have yet another mansent back without anything to compensate for it. B/21 and B/24, 23/20both look too risky -- everything's a target. And B/24, 18/15, whilekeeping the back men as far back as possible, gives White the upperhand by almost guaranteeing that he'll hit in his outer board and gainnice distribution for an efficient offense. 13/10 ordinarily would notbe very bright, since White has already split his back men, but beinghit on the 10 point really isn't that terrible in this position, sinceit requires White to use both of his dice and to leave his own blotslying around. In fact, I'd almost like him to hit on the 10.
Casper van der Tak: B/24, 13/10.
Strange roll, does not play well, whereas Blue's position looks so flexible. I'd like to come in on the 22, but then what? No decent 1 in sight. B/21 is to loose, same for B/22 6/5 and B/22 23/22 is too stiff. So B/24. Then 13/10 is the only logical play.
Kit Woolsey: B/21.
Nothing quite works here. I'd rather not leave a new blot on my sideof the board and risk falling farther behind in the race. My goal is to getas good an advanced anchor as I can, and B/21 does the trick. White willprobably be able to point on me or hit two checkers, but he can't do both,and I figure to wind up with a decent defense.
Chris Yep: B/22, 23/22.
At first b/22 23/22 looks too inflexible, but on second glance it has a lot going for it. Specifically it creates the 22 point anchor and leaves only one blot. All other plays (except b/24 18/15 which I reject because it strands the back men, unslots the bar point anchor, and gives White a lot of free shots at Blue's outfield blot) give White too many strong double hits. B/22 23/22 creates a decent anchor and still puts pressure on White's outfield blots. It does so in a safe manner without giving White powerful double-hit opportunities. I believe this is more important than flexibility concerns in this position.
Summary: Piling three checkers on the 22 point? Is it reallynecessary to be this conservative when the enemy has no new inner boardpoints? The majority of the panel thinks so, but I'm for from convinced.What is Blue afraid of?