the dorbel daily

Monday 8 August 2011

Quiz Time

Let's have a little quiz to start the week. All of these have some interest, none are easy. Don't assume that because it is a quiz that the obvious answer must be wrong! Just make the move that you would make over the board, with a little extra thought perhaps and let me know what you think. I'll post the answers on Friday.

Position 1

Position ID: w24TgwDsOcEDCA
Match ID: MAHyAAAAAAAA
It's 0-0 to 7.

Position 2

Position ID: Np7BATCwZ/ABMA
Match ID: cIn6AAAACAAA
Black leads 1-0 to 7

Position 3

Position ID: 4HPhQSDgc/ABMA
Match ID: cAn2ACAACAAA
White leads 2-1 to 7

Position 4

Position ID: cLfBCRCsPeAAIw
Match ID: cAn6ABAAGAAA
Black leads 3-1 to 7

Position 5

Position ID: WOeGAVC2bQVBQA
Match ID: QQk5AYAAMAAA
White leads 8-6 to 9
Both White and Black are on the bar and White owns the cube.

Brave enough to try these and give us your reasoning? Use that comments bit at the bottom, answers on Friday, until then enjoy the game.

2 comments:

ah_clem said...

1) Making the 5 point seems obvious. The problem is that it means less contact going forward (black is behind in the race by about 20 pips), and it leaves the blot on the 8. But what else is there? Well, we could bring two down , safety the blot and slot our 2 point 13/9(2) 8/4 6/2. This will probably lose fewer gammons. But I'm going to stick with the 5 point. 13/5(2)

2) Run. Get a guy out of there. 24/13 The other option is to slot either of the bar points, and with white's superior board I don't think it's worth the risk. And by escaping a checker it makes it more likely that we can escape the other.

3) Not sure if it's right, but I'll make a tempo hit here and slot the golden point. 24/20 6/1* . Yes, this puts the blot utg, but with a checker on the bar white can only use half her roll. If she enters and hits, we have a good chance to anchor since she has no board.

4) I think I want to keep the anchor. Running off of it would probably provoke a cube which I might have to eat, and since it has gammon sauce on it it won't be very tasty. That leaves 13/7 as the only way to play the 6, and at that point we can move on to the 3 or hit loose with 6/2*

I'm not in a hurry to hit loose and give her a double shot from the bar, but Magriel's safe vs bold is inclining me towards hitting. If it works, great, and if not we've already got three men back, a fourth is not much worse - the two point board should make it easy to enter. 13/7 6/2*

5) Make the prime or hit loose? Safe or bold? Except for the pipcount, all criteria point to bold. At three away Black could use a doubled gammon (although he doesn't get to use all of it). White has only a 2-point board, and a blot in her homeboard, while black has a healthy 5 point board.

Now, granted, if black hits he has no builders in direct range to cover, so that's a disincentive to hit. But if white shakes a 1, I'd rather be hit on the ace than let her anchor on the ace. And if she dances, I've got a shot at her homeboard blot. The bold play it is. bar/23 7/1*

Stick said...

Number 1 - Five point.

Number 2 - (64P-31P-55P-65) - D or two down from the midpoint.

Number 3 - (64S-54) - X or 24/20 6/1*

Number 4 - H or hit.

Number 5 - H or hit.


Stick