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Rollout: Trapping an anchor, again

Posted By: Fabrice Liardet
Date: Monday, 15 November 2010, at 12:33 p.m.

In Response To: Rollout: Trapping an anchor, again (Timothy Chow)

I have tried playing that kind of positions, but am still very unsure about the right way to play them. Some time ago I asked for help about it here and you were the only one to offer an answer, namely rolling the prime as usual and trapping when the opponent anchors.

GNU plays those positions pretty absurdly, but XG's strategy seems consistent and pretty interesting. It doesn't try to roll the full prime but to split its checkers between a group that makes high points in the board and a group that can hit the escaped stragglers. That is certainly the idea of clearing the 12-point here, besides being the safest way to break at 1-ply (11 only makes an anchor in front of a 5-prime).

Frankly I don't know which way is best, but since then I have tried to follow XG's path. The problem with the usual prime rolling is that it is slower than with one checker and the opponent has a lot of occasions to roll joker doubles. The XG way seems more risky at first glance but it is faster. Usually the opponent only manages to anchor on the 3 or 4 point, so that a lot of ground has been gained in one go.

Those were my two cents, but I am sure that there are more informed opinions, especially from those who have practiced a lot with massive backgames in order to outperform GNU in money play.

Messages In This Thread

• Trapping an anchor, again
  Timothy Chow -- Wednesday, 20 October 2010, at 8:43 p.m.
  • Trapping an anchor, again
    Keene -- Thursday, 21 October 2010, at 4:33 a.m.
  • Rollout: Trapping an anchor, again
    Timothy Chow -- Sunday, 14 November 2010, at 3:39 p.m.
    • Rollout: Trapping an anchor, again
      Fabrice Liardet -- Monday, 15 November 2010, at 12:33 p.m.
  • Trapping an anchor, again
    Christian Munk-Christensen -- Monday, 15 November 2010, at 2:30 p.m.