Alan Alsop: 13/8.Rubbish throw for Blue. Blue could come under the gun if necessary and force White to attack. Which he will with his distribution. Just too many for my liking. I fancy moving from the midpt as Blue does not care for another one back, looking to build.
Chuck Bower: 13/8.
I don't think Blue should panic here and try to move theback checker up. 24/20 puts his head on the chopping blockand 24/23 has no decent followup 4. Getting one checker pastfour broken points is not so difficult as to justify taking a big risk here. 11/6 stacks awkwardly and 6/2 moves a valuable builder to an undesirable spot. 13/8 leaves a nice spare distribution, which can't be said for its competitors.
Nigel Buchan: 13/8.
I hate this one, the only thing going for this roll is that Blue is ahead in the race, nothing to clever just a simple 13/8 and hope for a better roll next time.
Tom Cunningham: 24/20, 11/10.
While the quiet 13-8 may be best here. I think theposition calls for 24/20 11/10. White is in good position to build his prime and I think I have to engage now and try to survive the attack, hopefully escaping before White can break off his anchor.
George Klitsas: 13/8.
Here it seems clear to add an active builder (13/8) despite the few indirect shots (one can notice that , between them, 61 is duplicated). Even if hit (say with a 34) Blue will be possibly able to attack White's blot on his four point with some 2's and 4's without breaking a point.
Laila Leonhardt: 13/8.
White is about to make a strong prime.Blue does not want to have any more checkers send back- so no direct shots.But leaving an indirect shot is almost free. While is will mostly choose tomake a point in the prime instead of hitting indirectly and Blue needs tocounter prime and try to make an escape with the lonely back checker.
Snowie: 24/20, 11/10.
I need to get my back checker moving before it gets hemmed in. My play tidiesthings up on my side of the board, which is very important -- I don't wantto have other things to worry about. If I get pointed on it isn't theend of the world, and if White can't make his five point I'm indecent shape.
Bob Stringer: 13/8.
24/20 asks to be attacked or even pointed on. 24/23 means that Ieither expose a man to a direct shot with 11/7 or dump a man outof play behind White's anchor. 11/6 is much too passive. 11/10,6/2 isn't completely awful, but it reduces my flexibility andagain takes a man out of play. 13/9, 11/10 leaves a direct shotfor little purpose. This process of elimination leaves 13/8, whichputs a valuable extra man on the 8 point.
Casper van der Tak: 24/20, 11/10.
Blue is ahead in the race, while White has the advanced anchor. This means that it will be costly for Blue to have additional checkers sent back, and that White has the better chances in a prime vs. prime game. 24/20 11/10 seeks to escape the back checker before White can build a threatening prime, while preventing an other checker from being sent back.
Kit Woolsey: 24/20, 11/10.
Coming under the gun of four builders looks dangerous, but staying backand risking being hemmed in is equally dangerous when White has thebar point. The good news about my play is that it cleans up the bloton my side of the board and puts it in a good place, so if I am attackedthe only checker in jeopardy is the back checker.
Chris Yep: 13/8.
Several good candidates but 13/8 looks to be the best of the group. Shifting a spare from the midpoint to the 8 point is an improvement, but more importantly Blue keeps a flexible position. 11/6, for example, is too inflexible. 24/23 6/2 and 11/10 6/2 dump a checker behind the anchor. 24/20 11/10 leaves a decent front position but exposes the back checker to 4 White builders. Slotting the 9 or 7 pts. looks interesting; it creates a flexible position and White will have to sacrifice his anchor if he wishes to hit. Overall though, I prefer the flexibility of 13/8.
Summary: The majority of the panel was willing to leave the back checkeralone and concentrat only on the offense. This would be correct if Whitewere stuck back on Blue's ace point, but since White has the advancedanchor it isn't clear where Blue is going with this play.
