–
Although my first thought was to play V = Variant up (bar/21, 24/22), spreading three blots in the back court, the more I looked at this, the more I felt a need to unstack the midpoint. Bringing a blot down from the midpoint is thematic. It attempts to continue building on the priming advantage that Blue holds. The risks are limited. White could hit a blot on the 11pt with 13 numbers (not counting 11). With a blot on the 9pt, White could hit with 15 numbers. The 9pt may be the better choice, however, because it bears on the 4pt, and also because covering the 9pt would make a valuable addition to Blue’s prime. In addition, entering on the 23pt is less provocative than entering on the 21pt, so White is more likely to forego hitting there when he cannot hit in the outer board. Mike | ||||||||||
