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The 1 practically plays itself. Since White is ahead in the priming game, slotting, in order to build a prime of his own, is not the right idea for Blue. He needs to find another game plan. The big question is whether to run, moving off the 21pt, or to keep that point slotted in an attempt to make an advanced anchor. Between them, running seems weaker, because it puts a blot right in front of the big stack White needs to develop on his midpoint. Staying back, on the other hand, may force White to attack prematurely. White has only 8 checkers in the zone, and could be forced to abandon his 8pt in order to hit. If Blue can make the 21pt, he will have gone a long way towards equalizing White’s advantage. Staying back seems like the way to go, and that means Blue will play the 5 on his side of the board. Stepping up, then, is the obvious play for the 1. Moving to the 23pt threatens White’s stripped 8pt, and gives Blue many return shots in the event White hits from there. The difficult part of this problem is the 5. There very well may be some hitting next turn. White will likely attack one or both of Blue’s back checkers. In such circumstances, it is often correct not to leave an extra blot in the outfield. When Blue is distracted trying to make an anchor, his outfield blot becomes a target, rather than a builder. This position may be exception, however, because the 64 that hits outside is duplicated as a POH number in White’s home board. In unlimited games, my first instinct is to leave the blot. At DMP, where gammons don’t matter, I think that should be even better. As GS, I guess that means picking it up, and at GG, leaving it there. Of course, I can’t say those plays are all correct, but that’s how I’d play them OTB. Mike | ||||||||||
