In your last diagram [see first right-hand diagram below], if you play 8/5 you don't have the 11 pt made as a butress and you also exposed to a nasty 62 joker. Slotting the 5 pt is so often strong when the 11 pt is made.
I took the builder from the 11pt because I was short of checkers to create a fluid-looking variant. My point about distribution is still salient. I'll reinforce this distributional example through a series of comparisons, and for convenience I'll use Snowie (money) evals as arbiter.
|
| ||||||||||||||||
Now compare my variant to the position below, where, with the same number of checkers on the midpoint, the 11pt is MADE and yet W is relatively weakened (vs S) by .060! Granted, the lack of a 6pt spare hurts W considerably (and rollouts might narrow the difference in margins), but in order to support the 11pt theory you have to overturn a .060 contraindication and then some. While from my experience of comparing other position pairs I can vouch for the 11pt theory, it does not become significant unless the W player is outboarded.
If you'll allow me to drive the point home, please scroll down to the comments below my bottom pair of positions.
| |
|---|---|
| Four on mid, 11pt made ... [S W47] | |
|
| ||||||||||||||||
We can see that the fourth checker on the midpoint affects the W/S margin by .034 in this pair, and it was by .026 in the previous pair. There is consistency in spite of the 11pt being blotted (instead of made) in the first right-hand position.
Nack