Position 441

 How should White play 42 here:

The first move you consider is 15/13 15/11:

In his excellent book “Backgammon Boot Camp”, Walter Trice recommends that if you are not sure what to do, simply picking up the rear most checker and moving forward is a good option. However, here it is wrong.

This move allows White to hit and cover the blot on their 2 point with 61 and 66 – 3 rolls or 8.3% of the time.

The correct move is 15/11 13/11:

This move also allows White to hit and cover their two point with 31 and 11, which is also 3 rolls.

The difference is that now you keep your 11 point and the pressure on Black’s blot on your 5 point. If you do get into a blot hitting contest, you have 4 spare checkers aimed at your 5 point, the 2 spare on your 6 point and the 2 checkers on your 11 point.

This move wins 3.5% more games and 1% more Gammons. This may not seem like much, but if you consistently make moves that win even a small percentage of the time more often, you will find yourself winning a lot of games and matches.

Sometimes the best way to notice the difference is to set up the moves and then look at the positions and compare them. I need to do this more often.