Position 436

 How should White play 21 here:

You should play 13/11* hitting, if Black escapes, you will be in serious trouble.

You consider just splitting 24/23, with the 1:

This gives you good chances of anchoring if any of your 5 blots are hit.

Chess players have a saying “don’t push wood.” It comes from the days when chess pieces were made of wood and refers to when you just don’t know what to do, you just pick up a piece and put it down when it looks okay. “Don’t push wood” encourages you to think about the move rather than being unfocused.

Here you are behind in the race even after hitting. You want to quickly build your board and/or a prime. You will need to do this quickly, and as you are behind in the race priming seems like a good game plan. When you are priming, you will often slot to extend your prime.

Consider 13/11* 6/5:

Being hit now is not so bad, as you are already 20 pips behind the race after the roll. Being hit will give you the chance to anchor.

Being missed is better because you will cover the blot on your 5 point with any 6, 5, 3 or 1.

Because you leave a blot on your 13 point, and in effect giving up your outfield control, you need to make a big play to try to win quickly.

Suppose we were even further behind in the race, by moving a checker from the 6 point back to the 13 point:

Now we are not giving up our midpoint, so we have more outfield control and do not need to make a big play. It is still remarkably close but now 24/23 13/11* is the correct play.

Note that if you are trailing in a match, then 13/11* 6/5 would become the correct play again.