| |
BGonline.org Forums
61 in the endgame
Posted By: Timothy Chow In Response To: 61 in the endgame (Dmitriy Obukhov)
Date: Wednesday, 27 October 2010, at 2:43 p.m.
Not sure but I would play 9/3 6/5. In these sorts of positions (opponent anchored in otherwise closed board but with checker(s) on the bar and you're trying to bear in safely), the worst point to occupy is usually the one 6 away from the anchor. If the opponent comes in, that's the point that is most vulnerable to being hit and most difficult to clear (being within direct shot range but maximally far from safety). The best points to be on are usually the high points in your board in front of the anchor (least wastage, and give you spares to play awkward numbers with). The 7-away point is usually fine because it's not within direct-shot range. Points behind the anchor and points in the outer board that are less than 6 away are not so good; usually the further away they are from the anchor, the worse they are.
Based on these principles I think the blot on the 9 point is the biggest problem at the moment. So I think we should move it. If we play 9/3 then I think 6/5 is the least damaging 1. The alternative is 11/5 9/8 but this doesn't look better than 9/3 6/5. It makes 66 awkward for example.
The other alternative to consider is not to move the 9-point blot at all. Then 11/5 is the 6 and 6/5 is the 1 (we're not moving 9/8 by assumption, and 11/10 puts a checker on the dreaded 6-away point). This looks O.K.; transferring a checker from the pretty-good 7-away point to the good 5 point is probably about the same as transferring a checker from the pretty-bad 5-away point to the middling 3-point. 66 plays O.K. I'd guess that the choice between 11/5 6/5 and 9/3 6/5 is fairly close.
For more discussion of this type of position see this post and its followups.
| |
BGonline.org Forums is maintained by Stick with WebBBS 5.12.