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BGonline.org Forums
Othello Quiz 2019
Posted By: Timothy Chow In Response To: Othello Quiz 2019 (othello)
Date: Thursday, 16 May 2019, at 1:20 a.m.
1. I can't see any reason not to hit, and I also don't see a reason to leave a blot in my board. We're short of spares so I'll put a spare on as high a point as possible in my board. 15/14*/13 6/5(2)
2. White looks to be holding her prime for a while so I think we need to get out. 24/16 is getting-out play and duplicates White's 4's to hit and escape.
3. We could break anchor with 22/13, or hit with 4/1* (along with either 22/16 or 13/7), or slot the back of the prime without hitting, 13/7 13/10. Breaking anchor seems premature when we're not ahead in the race and don't have a solid positional advantage. I'm inclined to go for the bold 13/7 4/1* in accordance with Magriel's criteria.
4. The two candidates that jump to my eye are Pottling with 23/16 and making the 5pt with 10/5 7/5. Looking harder, I also see 10/8 10/5 as a possibility; making the 5pt is usually better than making the 8pt, but I think this is more of a priming battle than a blot-hitting contest, so making the six-away point is valuable. Plus, 10/8 10/5 leaves fewer hitting numbers than either of the other two plays. I'll try 10/8 10/5.
5. It's gammon save; does that matter? Stepping to the edge of O's five-prime is an obvious candidate, but we're behind in the pip count and I don't think we're in any hurry to jump out. And covering home-board blots is usually a good idea at gammon save. I will try 13/9 2/1.
6. The "obvious" play is to hit and step up with 13/9* 24/23, eyeing our stronger board and O's other blot. Is that too obvious for an Othello quiz? We're ahead in the race so maybe we shouldn't leave too many blots lying around. Safer is to pick up a blot with 17/13 and then 24/23 looks better to me than 2/1. Not sure. I'll go with my first instinct of 24/23 13/9*.
7. We're behind in the pip count in a priming battle and O has two blots in her board so 11/7 is my first instinct. Then 10/8 reduces builders for the bar and 8/6 breaks part of our prime, so I'm left with 11/7 4/2.
8. Playing against a six-prime is one of those things where the DMP play is often very different from the money play, so it is important to note that it's DMP. "Kamikaze" blot-leaving plays need to be seriously considered since we don't care about getting gammoned and they may offer the best chance of avoiding crunching. At the same time, if we can counterprime and force O to crack her six-prime, that is also a way to win. Here, O's checker on our 4pt is threatening to escape and give her a lot of time to hold her prime, so it's tempting to hit it, but the downside is that it will probably cause her to dance longer, which is also bad for us. In any case, our 9pt isn't part of our prime so I would start with 9/7(2). Then it doesn't seem to me that 6/4* helps us. I would try 9/7(2) 5/1. If nothing else, it gives O several rolls that immediately crack her six-prime.
9. We're way behind in the pip count and O has no board, so I think it's time to play boldly for a "two-way" game. 13/9 6/5.
10. We have a huge board advantage so it's important to look for blotty plays that we might not consider otherwise. I like 20/9 since it duplicates O's 2's to hit and cover and it puts pressure on White to move her straggler, while still keeping checkers back for contact.
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