13/12*/7 - If blue does hit and white anchors, white keeps his dangerous board for longer whilst waiting on the bar. Worse for blue if white hits later. Hitting outside increases the chance that White will make an anchor on the 1pt. You may have noticed that hitting inside, with pick-and-pass, comes out better in your GS eval than hitting outside. Indeed, if you give the cube to White, and play this in unlimited games, 8/3*/2, is the best play. It is also best at gammon-go. At gammon save, however, it fares worse. That’s because pick-and-pass, like 13/12*/7, increases the chance that White will anchor on the 1pt. The same logic holds at DMP. When nothing is to be gained in winning a gammon, the best strategy is to play to pass White, and win the race. If he anchors on the 3pt, so be it. And in case he does not, woe to him. Mike | ||||||||||||
