Alan Alsop: 10/4*, 6/3*.Blue could run a back man here if the alternative is not too tempting. The only real alternative is to hit. Blue does have a reasonable position but White has no flexibility apart from his advanced back men. I think these advanced men are too intimidating for Blues board. To this end I fancy the double hit, perhaps a little rash, time will tell.
Chuck Bower: 20/11.
I don't see that Blue should force things here by hitting. Bluehas a slight race lead and reasonable chances of getting one ofthe back checkers to safety. The hits inflict little pain and give White lots of shots to take the race lead. OTOH, putting achecker on the 14-point provides White comfortable hits because ofBlue's inability to retaliate. 24/15 leaves White too manydouble hit sequences. 20/11 allows the fewest return shots (10) and gets a checker around the bend, turning it inta a builder besides.
Nigel Buchan: 24/21, 20/14.
Because the race is so close I have been struggling to make my mind up whether to run or not, my initial thought was to double hit. I even wrote a solution as to why I thought this, but failed to convince myself. White having made his bar point I talked myself into running half way, there- by keeping pressure on all segments of the board.
Tom Cunningham: 24/15.
Running with 24/15 looks good as it keeps my back checkersconnected, and White cannot hit without some drawbacks.
George Klitsas: 20/11.
I think that slightly better than the other alternatives is 20/11, adding a fourth builder for crucial points (if Blue [hopefully] survives the immediate indirect shots). Other candidates look slightly inferior, like 24/15 or 24/21 20/14. Hitting two (10/4* 6/3*) is much better than one thinks, leading sometimes to an easy made three-point board to start with and very often to complex holding games or backgames. I vote for 20/11.
Laila Leonhardt: 10/4*, 6/3*.
Ahh so many choices.White is looking good, and Blue does not want to sit around peacefullyletting White slowly building a prime and board on Blue.Getting that advanced anchor is very important, and if it means that Bluehas to have a checker circulated to achieve it, then it is of no cost oncethe anchor is established.Also the aggressive double hit can lead to other scenarios.White could miss, White could roll a 6, White could roll a 6 and a miss.Count home board points. If your opponent has fewer points in theirhomeboard or no points yet, then a blot exchange might be strategy thatcould be rightfully applied.
Snowie: 20/11.
The double-hit is too rich for my blood, since I don't have any inner boardpoints. 20/11 brings a builder to a nice place, where it isn't exposed toa direct shot but it can be of use for making new points. Meanwhile, myother back checker hangs back out of harms way where White can's attack it.White has only a 3-prime, so I'm not too worried about getting hemmed in.
Bob Stringer: 20/11.
The attacking plays don't appeal to me. 13/4* prematurely stripsthe midpoint, 10/4*, 6/3* gives up the 10 point, the one assetthat I do have, and 20/14, 6/3* leaves too many shots while notbuying anything in the way of time, since White re-enters soeasily. Of those three attacking plays, the double hit may be thebest, since it mixes things up, but it's too speculative for me.
There are no additional assets to be made in this position, and inthe meanwhile White would like to attack that blot on his 5 point.I don't like leaving it there since this roll forces me to weakenmy position elsewhere. Running out to the 11 point, leaving therear-most checker on the ace point, doesn't try to do too much atonce, and it creates several ways to make my 5 or bar point nexttime, so that's my choice.
Casper van der Tak: 20/11.
Normally I'd be inclined to double hit here, but White has already some frontal development with the bar-point, so having additional checkers send back would not be great. 20/11 keeps the 10-point and escapes one checker; and the shots are only a handful of indirects.
Kit Woolsey: 24/21, 20/14.
White has his bar point, so activating the back checker seems to be thethematic thing to do. I don't have enough going for me to launch anattack yet. My offense is fine as it is. Between 24/15 and 24/21, 20/14,the latter looks better for two reasons. First, White's threes to hitare duplicated. Secondly, if White hits the outfield checker he isn't inimmediate range of the other checker. It this sort of position where thereis danger of being attacked, it is usually better to have checkers outof communication to lower the chances of a double-hit.
Chris Yep: 20/11.
The best running move (counting 20/14 13/10 as a running move), in my opinion, is 20/11, which completely escapes a back man and leaves only 9 shots (all 7s and 8s, except 5-3). Furthermore if White hits in the outfield Blue will be able to return hit with all 2s except 6-2.
Of the three moves which hit loose, 20/14 6/3* doesn't gain enough when it works since White can still anchor on the 21 point. 13/4* would be fine if it didn't strip the midpoint. Finally, a double hit in the inner board involving two (relatively) high points is usually a strong candidate in the early stages of a game. Here, however, it breaks the 10 point, so it's not as attractive. Thus, I don't think the three hit-loose moves are as strong as 20/11. Overall I prefer 20/11.
Summary: The popular choice was to run to Blue's inner board while leavingthe back checker back out of harms way. I can see the logic behind this, butI'm not convinced that the combination of the indirect shots plus risking gettinghemmed in behind White's blockade make this the right approach.
