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Hypergammon 14-roll puzzle

Posted By: Nack Ballard
Date: Monday, 16 July 2018, at 1:56 p.m.

In Response To: Hypergammon 14-roll puzzle (Tom Keith)

Great job, Tom. Thanks for confirming that FIVE is the maximum number of times that White can get hit. The number of times that Blue (X) can also get hit was not part of my stated conditions, but I like that you enriched it with that concept. For one thing, it reduces the number of solutions (e.g., the 7th roll must be 51 and not 21).

My solution (also 5 + 4 hits) was similar but with 24/19 instead of 18/13 on the second roll play, so that 44 instead of 66 is sufficient for the fourth roll. Perhaps minimum pips (or maximum, though less subtle) could be a criterion to further break ties.

When the last two rolls of a solution end with a whimper (as they did with ours), it suggests that a small composition improvement may be available. [For example, imagine with 3 rolls left White has bar+deep and one of Blue's is on the 12pt, so that anchor + 66 is the only end combination.] However, I doubt I'll look for one as the rest of the sequence is nuanced enough.

Nack

Messages In This Thread

• Hypergammon 14-roll puzzle
  Nack Ballard -- Sunday, 15 July 2018, at 9:11 p.m.
  • Hypergammon 14-roll puzzle
    Tom Keith -- Monday, 16 July 2018, at 12:45 p.m.
    • Hypergammon 14-roll puzzle
      Nack Ballard -- Monday, 16 July 2018, at 1:56 p.m.