Going forward is out of the question.
Breaking one of my anchors never occurred to me and still makes me want to turn my head away from the wreckage.
If I'm not going to hit, 22/21 is definitely part of the play. If I don't hit, what will likely happen? Neil will slot the back of the prime and I will either be forced to hit on a 6 or stay back in his board...either way my timing will be in very bad shape unless I throw two 6s quickly and he somehow can't slot the 10 point.
If I am going to hit, I should hit at least two and probably three. I had had several prior opportunities to hit one or two checkers and decided not to hit. However hitting three and breaking high is a different animal from hitting one or two and breaking low. Neil will probably be forced to hit at least two checkers as he tries to get all three around the board. Will I crash with the others? Probably. Am I more likely to crash in the hit or nonhit variation? Unclear, but I think I preserve my timing better by hitting. I also get G'd more but the score kind of inclines me to go for the win.
Anyway, I had no idea, but decided to hit three checkers: 13/12*/11*/10* 5/4.
GNU vomited up a value meal and had a hernia from the expulsion convulsions after it saw my play. But, since GNU's top choice is 6/3 5/4, I'm inclined to ignore GNU. After the match, since I was curious to know how to play these and I knew GNU (& Snowie) wouldn't know, I asked Neil how he thought I played the 2-3-4 game and he said he thought I played it fine except he didn't like my 11 play. So, I wanted to see if anyone knew anything about how to play this silly game known as backgammon.
The score (after 0 games) is: neilkaz 4, MCG 0 (match to 9 points)
Move number 5: MCG to play 11
| neilkaz | 125 |
|---|---|
| |
| MCG | 224 |
Position ID: sLsNFQCwDQS4Gw Match ID: cIkkAUAAAAAA | |
• MCG moves 13/12*/11*/10* 5/4
Alert: very bad move ( -0.428)
| # | Ply | Move | Equity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 6/3 5/4 | -0.5160 | |
| 0.4247 0.0348 0.0005 - 0.5753 0.4078 0.0433 | ||||
| 2 | 2 | 22/21 6/4 6/5 | -0.5333 ( -0.0173) | |
| 0.4130 0.0407 0.0007 - 0.5870 0.4095 0.0374 | ||||
| 3 | 2 | 7/4 5/4 | -0.5424 ( -0.0264) | |
| 0.4114 0.0394 0.0006 - 0.5886 0.4037 0.0346 | ||||
| 4 | 2 | 7/4 6/5 | -0.5440 ( -0.0280) | |
| 0.4131 0.0385 0.0006 - 0.5869 0.4088 0.0383 | ||||
| • | 9 | 2 | 13/12*/11*/10* 5/4 | -0.9437 ( -0.4277) |
| 0.3312 0.0323 0.0010 - 0.6688 0.4320 0.0625 | ||||
This plan worked out as beautifully as a French supermodel as Neil was forced to hit one, I fanned with 55, Neil scampered around while avoiding the rest of the hits but eventually was forced to hit a second one, I fanned with 66, Neil rolled 55, and my timing held. I crashed down to the 4 & 3 points but was able to hold it there:
The score (after 0 games) is: neilkaz 4, MCG 0 (match to 9 points)
Move number 2: neilkaz on roll, cube decision?
| neilkaz | 74 |
|---|---|
| |
| MCG | 217 |
Position ID: 2QEA3B0P7zwAAA Match ID: MAEgAUAAAAAA | |
I escaped my men, remade my 6 point, hit a shot as Neil blotted, hit another shot, Neil fanned, and I cashed.
The score (after 0 games) is: neilkaz 4, MCG 0 (match to 9 points)
Move number 3: MCG on roll, cube decision?
| neilkaz | 96 |
|---|---|
| |
| MCG | 185 |
Position ID: P3wMAFDsDApgGw Match ID: cAkgAUAAAAAA | |
• MCG doubles
| Cube decision | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2-ply cubeless equity | +0.4923 | (Money: +0.5008) | |
| 0.6874 0.2687 0.0103 - 0.3126 0.1481 0.0049 | |||
| Cubeful equities: | |||
| 1. | Double, pass | +1.0000 | |
| 2. | Double, take | +1.1045 | +0.1045 |
| 3. | No double | +0.9181 | -0.0819 |
| Proper cube action: | Double, pass | ||
I would have redoubled much earlier if Neil had ever given me the cube, but I wasn't really unhappy with the result.
Unfortunately I didn't manage to win the match as I took an 8-5 lead but lost the Crawford game, then split on the opening roll at gammon save and got drilled by 66, 55, and 44 and Neil coasted. It wasn't all bad, as I did win the Consolation bracket.