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BGonline.org Forums
Rules of Thumb to avoid crunching?
Posted By: Chase In Response To: Rules of Thumb to avoid crunching? (sebalotek)
Date: Thursday, 17 September 2015, at 8:35 p.m.
All your ideas are sound, depending on the position and the dice. The key is to improve your judgement about how the game is most likely to evolve and make moves that anticipate it. Constantly ask yourself, How are things going to look two or three rolls from now? (And constantly check to see if you were right, and, if not, why.) This will help you spot problems (like getting your back checkers hemmed in) while you can still do something about them.
You can start doing this from the very first move of the game. Did your opponent open with a priming-oriented move (e.g. making an offensive point, or bringing builders down from the midpoint)? If so, use your roll to work toward countering the prime you expect to emerge in a roll or two. (Split to try for an anchor, or work on building a counter prime, depending on what the dice offer you.)
When you review your games, look for conceptual errors. Notice what the top plays have in common. Did you run while all the top plays are hitting plays? Did you bury a checker when all the top plays are running off the anchor? These are clues that your judgement about where the game is likely to go is off.
I guess the overall point is that you probably have most of the tools (guidelines, rules of thumb, etc.) you need to be a much stronger player. The challenge is to develop the judgement to know which is the right tool for the job at hand. It's a tough thing, and it's something we are all constantly working at.
Post again, and let us know how you are doing.
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