Position 367

 How should White play 61 here:

You could just make the completely safe move here and play 13/6:

The ability of Black to escape their last checker should be your main concern here.

The problem with this play is it does nothing to stop Black escaping. Next turn Black will either run into your outfield or run into their outfield. Neither of those options should be appealing to you.

It is easy to think that the three checkers on your 24 point are your main concern and play 24/18 24/23:

The problem with this play is that a lot of small numbers now become good rolls for Black.

You are mainly concerned about having 3 checkers on your 24 point when Black has other inner board points made, which makes it harder for you to split off your 24 point. Here with Black only having the 6 point made, there is not as much urgency to get off your 24 point now. You would still like to, but you are not desperate to do it this roll.

What about hitting 6/5* and moving 24/18:

This does make it harder for Black to escape, but it does look dangerous. Magriel’s safe versus bold criteria tell you that you have the stronger board, more checkers back and are behind in the race. Those criteria point you to making a bold play, so 6/5* is the correct use of the 1. But we do not need to split 24/18.

Consider 13/7 6/5*:

This gives you more checkers to cover if you are missed, or continue fighting if you are hit.

It is also good to slot your 7 point.

The Danish players have a saying “where is the game?”. This means if the action is happening on your side of the board, bring more checkers to your side of the board. If the action were on Black’s side of the board, you would focus more on that side of the board. Although this saying his limitations, it has helped me really focus on what is important in many situations.

 





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