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BGonline.org Forums
Daily Quiz 10/2
Posted By: Timothy Chow In Response To: Daily Quiz 10/2 (Daily Quiz)
Date: Sunday, 2 October 2011, at 11:24 p.m.
No Daily Quiz 10/1 I assume.
1. This roll puts us slightly ahead in the race. The "raciest" move might be to advance all five back checkers, but this looks very wrong. We're not that far ahead in the race and it's too ambitious to give up our anchor and forgo making any home-board points. Thus 8/3(2) looks pretty clear for the first two 5's. For the last two 5's, giving up the midpoint looks too disconnected and moving two of our back checkers seems to leave us exposed for no particularly good reason. So 6/1(2) seems to fall out by default. It seems a little awkward to play so deep so soon, but White does have a blot and a somewhat stripped position so making two home-board points, in preparation for a potential fight, isn't as anti-positional as it feels at first.
2. It's fairly clear how the game will unfold from here (if it is played out); Blue will wait until he rolls something lucky to clear his midpoint, and will be happy to bury checkers if necessary. White will build her board and wait for a shot, giving up her 13pt and 15pt if necessary. Blue has five rolls that clear the midpoint immediately, after which I think White has to pass no matter what she rolls. I think Blue's only horror roll is 66. I think White can take because Blue has a limited amount of time to roll those lucky clearing numbers, and even if he does, White might still get a shot as Blue strives to clear his 9pt, 8pt, and 6pt. Still, White's gammon danger seems pretty high with such a huge racing deficit, so I'm not too sure about the take. D/T.
3. Blue must try to contain White's blot. I don't think that hitting is the right idea here. Risking getting another checker sent back while passing up the opportunity to make a strong point doesn't seem worth it. If we don't hit, we can make the 4pt, the 7pt, or the 9pt. 13/9(2) makes a great blocking point but I feel that leaving the direct shot isn't worth it. So now I'm left with the choice of using three 2's to make either the 4pt or the 7pt. The 7pt is better for blocking but there's still a lot of game left and the 4pt will be strong asset whenever we manage to hit something. I prefer the 4pt here. So 8/4 6/4 and now we have to choose between the safe 7/5 and the bold 13/11. Though I didn't like the direct shot that 13/9(2) would have left, I'm less worried about it here because our board is stronger. White could joker us with a 44 but I'll take the risk. 13/11 8/4 6/4 for me.
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