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For me, the key to these decisions is my game plan. When I am looking to build a prime, I want to diversify the builders. That would mean playing 6/5 in your position. The 7pt is an important blocking point that I plan to keep. Playing 7/6, therefore, would create an unbalanced 2:0 ratio of spares. When the 7pt is expendable, however, then playing 7/6 balances the spares in the ratio 2:2. In this case, I think 6/5 is the better of the two. The more difficult question is whether to play 24/23, trying to freeze White’s 8pt, or else have more return shots when he breaks it. As things stand, however, the checker on the 24pt is a convenient place from which to play a 6, should one come up. For that reason, I like pushing the builder forward, 6/5. Mike | ||||||||
