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BGonline.org Forums
What is the overriding concept here?
Posted By: Timothy Chow In Response To: What is the overriding concept here? (Justin N.)
Date: Tuesday, 1 March 2011, at 1:35 a.m.
We want to clear the 6pt, and 5's and 2's can't be used to clear the 6pt. So at first sight, the stripped 2pt looks like a liability. However, we can play 2's from the 5pt, so there's no rush to put spares on the 2pt.
5/3 5/2 might look flexible, but it doesn't bear a checker, and it doesn't do anything to clear the 6pt. As just mentioned, checkers on the 5pt are just fine as far as flexibility goes, so 5/3 5/2 can't be right.
Clearly we're not going to volunteer a shot, so we're left with 5/off and 6/3 5/3. This is a kind of "double jeopardy" situation. Often, it's right to bear a checker rather than avoid double jeopardy, but that's if bearing increases gammon or backgammon chances with minimal risk. Against a well-timed backgame, the danger of leaving a shot is much greater than against a single anchor game, so the way to win a gammon or a backgammon is to avoid getting hit, not to bear aggressively. So I'd play 6/3 5/3 here. Again, the apparent inflexibility of the resulting stacked and stripped position is largely illusory. Even after you clear the 6pt, the only numbers you can't play from the 5pt are 1's and 4's, so there aren't that many numbers that force you to blot.
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