Position 375

 How should White play 21 here:

You consider going for an advanced anchor by playing 24/21:

But you will be splitting when Black has 11 checkers in the zone. Black wants to stop you from making your 5 point, so would really like to attack and put you on the bar.

As you really want to make your 5 point, you could just make it now with 7/5 6/5:

Black will hit you with any 6 as well as 51 and 42, which is a total of 15 rolls or 42% of the time.

It is okay to take a risk, but Blacks 6’s do not play that well at the moment so you are just diversifying Black’s good rolls.

Consider 8/5:

Now Black will hit you with any 4 as well as 31 and 22. That is only 14 rolls or 39% of the time. What is important here is that Black 4’s already play well.

With 41 and 43 Black can already make their 5 point, with 42 and 54 Black can already make their 4 point and with 64 Black already can make their 2 point. So, you are very effectively duplicating Black’s 4’s. Blacks 31 and 22 can already make high inner board points.

You are not giving Black additional good rolls, you are giving yourself winning rolls for very little cost.




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Position 374

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How should White play 32 here: You were being hammered, and you have just entered from the bar with 32. Because Black has a 4 point board you consider making the anchor with bar/20: The problem with this play is that you will still be behind in the race with your Black on roll. You are only 5 pips behind in the race but this move gives Black the chance to tidy up their position. This is the move that plays to lose respectfully rather than the play that tries to win. If you want to win, you could consider going for the closeout by hitting bar/23 8/5*: The idea here is for Black to miss, then you roll a 3, or 62, 44, 22, 11 or 66. Without counting the exact number of shots, Black hits you from the bar with any 5 or 41, 31 and 61 – that is 17 rolls or 47% of the time. You want to put your opponent on the bar, and cost them the most amount of pips so consider bar/23 20/17*: Now you will only be hit by Black with indirects from the bar. You will be hit with 51, 53, 31 or   11 – th...
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Position 377

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Position 372

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 How should White play 31 here: You have two choices here. The first one is to step to the edge of the prime with 23/22 11/8: You are way ahead in the race, and would like to escape your last checker and just come home safely. Stepping to the edge of Black’s prime, seems to give you a simple way to win the game – rolling 6 and bring that checker home. The problem with this play is that it diversifies Black’s numbers so that 6’s escape, while 5’s and 4’s hit you off the edge of the prime. If you do not roll a 6 immediately, you have some awkward numbers like 54, and you will be forced to play deep into your board. Then if Black rolls a 6, even if they have do not hit you, they will have control of the outfield. Contrast this to 6/3 4/3: Now you are playing a priming versus prime game. Black will need to roll three 6’s to escape all their checkers. You will need to roll a 1 and then a 6. So, you only need two numbers. You will have more timing here, meaning if you have to mov...
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