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Containment concepts

Posted By: Rich Munitz
Date: Saturday, 30 May 2009, at 5:08 p.m.

In Response To: Containment concepts (Jason Lee)

I think it is foolish to dismiss bot analysis in containment positions. Bots are best at looking at the next N rolls ahead and seeing all of the variations that result. That is invaluable when it comes to containment.

Anyway, there are many containment concepts that all must be balanced - some of them are:

Outfield coverage; Prime extension; Joker protection; Strength of opposing home board; Gammon avoidance; Creation of root numbers that expose more blots; Cube opportunity

Outfield coverage goes hand in hand with prime extension which is why it is usually most effective to build outside primes. The outfield covering checkers serve a dual function as builders for the outside prime.

Joker protection is not only preventing big doubles from working, but potentially deciding when to hit loose to prevent prime leaping. Strength of opponent's home board must factor into this equation.

Gammon avoidance must not be overlooked if the opponent has many checkers off. You must balance the desire to win with the cost of getting gammoned if containment fails. If your opponent owns the cube, gammon avoidance may be your only goal as it may be a no-win position since you'll be cubed out the moment containment is completely successful. Containment strategy then is only to buy enough time to get your checkers home while mimimizing risk.

You need to pay attention to ways to pick up a second checker. Sometimes you can create bad numbers that can jar a second checker loose. Sometimes even a well placed outfield point can serve this purpose.

Finally, if the opponent has few checkers off, the goal is often not to close the opponent out and take all your checkers off, but to reach a position where you can double. The defense must not be looked at as having to be impregnable; it must be just good enough. That is the ball you need to keep your eye on.

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