Another that's TCTC. The preference here nods slightly in favor of trying to get an anchor. You are under no immediate danger of being hemmed in on the ace point but the reasons for splitting and trying to snag an anchor make sense. As is often the case in the opening, whenever your opponent makes the 4 pt. or 5 pt. it becomes more pressing for you to get those back men a truckin'. Here the split risks little for a relatively large gain. Without throwing a perfecta your opponent will either have to hit loose or follow in your footsteps and split himself. His roll may not be as useful as yours for the split, and you will have more builders in place to attack him if he does so. Making a move for the anchor while White's 8 pt. is stripped is a key in early game development. White will often have to break the 8 to try to knock you off the five and you'll have many returns at both blots.
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| Board image courtesy of GO-Figure | |
| # | Ply | Move | Equity | |
| 1 | R | 24/20 13/11 | 0.021 | |
| 1.0% 15.9% 50.7% 49.3% 15.7% 0.9% | ||||
| 95% confidence interval: - money cubeless eq.: 0.018 ±0.007. Rollout settings: Full rollout, 5184 games (equiv. 157731 games), played 3-ply (precise), random seed, with race database. | ||||
| 2 | R | 24/22 13/9 | 0.018 (-0.003) | |
| 0.8% 16.3% 50.3% 49.7% 15.5% 0.8% | ||||
| 95% confidence interval: - money cubeless eq.: 0.015 ±0.006. Rollout settings: Full rollout, 5184 games (equiv. 166710 games), played 3-ply (precise), random seed, with race database. | ||||
| 3 | R | 13/9 13/11 | 0.010 (-0.011) | |
| 1.0% 17.0% 50.0% 50.0% 15.8% 1.1% | ||||
| 95% confidence interval: - money cubeless eq.: 0.010 ±0.007. Rollout settings: Full rollout, 5184 games (equiv. 154563 games), played 3-ply (precise), random seed, with race database. | ||||