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Blitzes, which gain much of their equity by virtue of the frequent gammon victories they produce, are not usually effective at DMP. A play like 11/5, 9/3*, 7/1*(2), which is completely front-loaded, can backfire in a hurry at DMP. For that reason, I favor running one or both checkers out to the 18pt. Hitting twice, 24/18 9/3* 6/1*(2), which combines blitzing and escaping, has a good feel. After the hits, making a fourth inner-board point is big. Blue leaves five blots with this play, but at DMP, they don’t matter so much. Blue can only lose a single game. The only other play that attracts me is to escape and attack without breaking the block. Hitting on the 3pt, 24/18(2) 11/5 9/3*, gives plenty of return shots, but also leaves a resiliant structure in case Blue lands on the bar. That said, over the board I would try the former. Mike | ||||||||||||
