Merry Christmas 2024 and a Happy New Year

 Hi Everyone,

I will be on holiday tomorrow, off the grid without internet access, so there will not be a Position of the Week, this week.

I hope this year has been a great one for you, and that next year will be even better.

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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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 How should White play 63 here: You are clearly the favourite here, and even if you choose the worst option of the ones I will consider, you will still wins 64% of the time with 32% Gammons. But do not be satisfied with second-best, you want to maximise your wins and gammon wins. You have 3 more inner board points then black, so you are not too worried about the blots that you leave around the board. Consider 13/4: This gives you 12 checkers in the zone, and prepares to attack Black’s rearmost blot. You will happily hit loose, even if your opponent makes another inner board point. The issue with this play is that you have very little chance of remaking your midpoint, and have therefore given up or reduced your amount of outfield control. Consider making your 18 point anchor with 24/18 13/10: You do not need to lock up an anchor here, you would rather keep your blot spread out and welcome a blot hitting contest as your board is so much stronger than Blacks. Anchors are goo...
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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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