| Money Score | 160 |
|---|---|
| |
| Blue (Jerry) to play 11 | 164 |
Position ID: 0PPgASjQc+QBMA Match ID: cInkAAAAAAAA | |
Sam: Yes, but did he get it right?
Since you asked: no. After finally playing H (Hit 24/20*), Jerry may have seen my eyebrows furrow because immediately after the match he asked me about the play. As diplomatically as I could I explained why I thought hitting is way wrong, why 6/5 is clear and how he can also get good value out of the other three aces (composing various plays), especially 24/23. Jerry rarely argues; he just nodded and absorbed and probably rolled it out later. (He's unlikely to take my word for it nor should he.) As a consequence, I doubt he made a play nearly that bad again in that type of position.
IMO, the most likely reason for a player to blunder with the checkers is that he never sees the right play. That wouldn't happen to Jerry. In his shuffles, he even stared long and hard at K (Kill 5/2*/1*), which is not in Snowie's top twenty.
Anyway, we all have lapses and what happens in one case or a few isolated cases doesn't mean anything. Even the greatest players, even when they take their time and pay attention to detail (though usually it happens when they're not) sometimes blunder.
Christian: Is JG the best player you ever played? If not, who is?
Sorry, I'm not touching that one!
I highly recommend the book, Jerry Grandell: His most important matches, by Antonio Ortega and Danny Kleinman, though I don't know if it's still in print.
Nack