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Bot backgame comparison Redux

Posted By: Timothy Chow
Date: Thursday, 17 December 2009, at 2:14 a.m.

In Response To: Bot backgame comparison Redux (Michael Depreli)

Nobody else has taken a stab at this, probably because 21 questions in a single post is overwhelming. Let me give some thoughts.

Clearly White's 6-prime is the dominant feature of this position. Blue has to get the 6-prime to crack, and has several possible ways of doing it.

1. Avoid contact and hope that White is forced to rush forward.

2. Send one or more White checkers back and try to counter-prime.

3. Get hit, with the hope of regaining timing by dancing, or at least to avoid burying checkers.

The position is difficult because it's not clear which plan is best. The correct plan might be different depending on the roll.

If Blue rolls something big, then I think option 1 becomes quite unattractive. For example, with 65, I would be tempted to play 13/7 6/1 to keep contact and try for option 3. With 44, I don't like Jellyfish's play, and would try either Snowie/BGB's play of 13/9*(2) 12/8 or perhaps 13/9*/5 12/8. With 55, I might try 13/3 12/7 6/1.

Suppose Blue rolls something small like 41? Then I think option 1 becomes more feasible. I would go with BGB's play of 12/8/7. What about 11? The triple hit looks wrong to me. It gives White huge amounts of timing, and Blue is unlikely to be able to regain enough timing by getting hit and dancing. So Blue has to counter-prime, and he doesn't really have enough time for that either (unless he gets hit—but then he has less material for a prime). I would go with GNUBG/BGB's play 13/12(2) 6/4.

The medium rolls are the ones I'm least confident about. My inclination would be to hit once if possible, and then play purely to counterprime without worrying about getting hit. That is, try to keep all game plans open. So for example, with 54, I would be inclined to try 13/9*/4, which none of the bots likes. If Blue starts hitting everything in sight, I'm probably in good shape. If Blue dances, then I can try to counter-prime. I would try not to hit a second checker, though, since that would give White too much timing.

By now I'm sure I've said something wrong, and hopefully will provoke someone else to correct me!

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