| 168 96 |                         | White money game Blue |
Problem #4 Play Votes Score7/6, 7/4 7 1006/2 2 7015/11 1 608/4 0 408/7, 6/3 0 40
Chuck Bower: 15/11.
Outfield points are landing pads. Try to get home whileWhite's board is a minimal threat.
George Klitsas: 6/2.
The long term weakness caused by 6/2, is more than one thinks, still less than the immediate blots left by most alternatives (15/11 is probably the worst of them, leaving two vulnerable blots). I slightly prefer 6/2 over the more pleasing to the eye, 7/6 7/4 [which also clears a point that Blue eventually would like to clear], for it provides more landing places for Blue�s checkers on his 15 point.
Snowie: 7/6, 7/4.
I'm going to have to clear the bar point sometime, and this is a veryconvenient roll to clear it with the spares being put in good places.There is no real need to keep the bar point for blocking purposes, sinceWhite isn't going to be moving his back checkers anyway.
Marty Storer: 6/2.
Color me weenie, at least for a roll. White'sposition isn't necessarily improving, so Blue can affordto put a spare in bad position, keeping White's 33 as aroot number and hoping to hit or to clear at least onechecker from the 15 point next time.
Bob Stringer: 7/6, 7/4.
Where to start? Well, it can't be right to start dumping checkers onthe low points while I'm still worried about bringing around those twomen on the 15 point. So that rules out 6/2 and 8/7, 6/3, unless I comeup with a really good reason to hate everything else. Er. Actually, Ido hate 8/4, giving White a shot. And I hate 15/11, giving White adouble shot. And I hate 7/6, 7/4, which vacates the bar point andgives White more breathing room if the game takes a particular turn.But White has to roll next, and what's he going to do? A good portionof his rolls are going to have him running with the extra checker onmy 5 point, and if I hit it that will certainly ease the task of mybringing up the checkers on the 15 point. So in short, I have tworeasonably safe ways of moving up those stragglers - roll doubles orhit White's checker if it runs. I think I'd rather wait to see if thathappens than leave blots lying around before I have to.
Casper van der Tak: 7/6, 7/4.
White has many checkers back, and a weak structure for containing checkers. This is not likely to improve a lot soon. White�s game plan is to mobilize some checkers from the 5-point, to build his board, and to hit shots - and not necessarily in that order. Blue should like to make the execution of this plan difficult, so Blue would like to make it difficult for White to mobilize checkers, build the board, and hit shots.
15/11 �paying now� may look plausible, but in fact it gives White the chance to mobilize checkers with hits. It is difficult to get the two blots safe, so the likely result is that White makes some forward progress while hitting, which helps to mobilize the back checkers and bring in builders.
Now have a look at 7/4 7/6. Giving up a useful blocking point? Not really, since White is not going to move from the ace (unless with 66), and the checkers on the 20 point are not very well blocked to begin with. In the meantime, Blue creates some useful spares, and Blue retains control over the outfield, and hopes to hit any blot that White may dare to leave. Next roll, Blue will try to scoot for home leaving one blot.
7/4 7/6 is a wait and see approach at a moment when White�s moves are going to hurt White.
Steve Wood: 7/6, 7/4.
I'd like to play 15/11 but 75% of the time I'm hit at least once. White's timing is fragile so a checker will probably be moving from his 20-point. I hope to hit that next time and bring my back checkers home.
Kit Woolsey: 7/6, 7/4.
I don't need the bar point for blocking purposes, so this looks like a goodtime to clear it and put another spare on the six point for futureflexibility. With any luck I can bring one of the back checkers homenext roll and let White try to contain a single checker with hismoth-eaten board. The key is to have a good structure for the futurewhen White has built up his board and getting hit will be more serious.
Chris Yep: 7/6, 7/4.
Blue has an overwhelming position. How can he squeeze the most out of it? Noting that both players have stripped positions (with White's being potentially very awkward), 7/6 7/4 stands out to me. It leaves no shots and gives Blue 2 spares on high points. Also, holding the 15 point one more turn will frequently cause White problems. Though this move gives up the 7 point, it really only hurts in the sense of taking away one of Blue's landing spots. White is not anxious to leave his 24 point since he will be vulnerable to an attack with the checker he leaves behind. Furthermore the 7 point has to be cleared anyway before Blue can begin his bearoff.
Summary: The panel strongly voted to clear the bar point. This isone area where the bots have made their presence felt. I would bet thatten years ago there would have been much less support for this play.