Alan Alsop: 13/7(4).Taking the double sixes through to Blue's 1pt I don't like. Blue is just to stretched. Making the bar pt with two men and bringing two men from the 17 pt.is an improvement but lacking in builders. My preference is to bring down four men to the bar pt. The spare man on the 17 pt will handle any big numbers.
Chuck Bower: 17/5(2).
The safe play that makes the most sense to me is 13/7(4).That leaves decent, but not great distribution. Bluewill likely be leaving shots in the future after that move.17/5(2) grabs the best point but leaves 15 shots. Howbad is Blue's game if those shots get hit? Not that bad.The second advantage of this play is that it gets most ofBlue's checkers to the homeside where they belong, giventhe 10 pip lead in the race. I'll take my chances with the 5-point.
Ilia Guzei: 13/7(4).
After the roll I am 14 pips ahead in the race hence I do not want to leave any blots with the opponent having the better board. I am overextended for a blitz so I will try to consolidate or attack on the next shake.
Neil Kazaross: 13/7(4).
Hmm..how did we give the cube away already !?!..anyhow 13-7(4) looksreally clear here and is safe and with blocking or even blitzing potential. If White runs out with one man, we may trap the other. I think this play is clearly better than any speculative blitzing plays which can blow up badly vs White's nice board.
George Klitsas: 13/7(4).
Blue has rolled his best roll and he must only take care not to overplay it by overextending his position (for example with 13/7(2) 8/2*(2), giving three return shots from the bar to his opponent). The simple 13/7(4) is best in my opinion, creating a 3-point prime with lots of spares, which can be extended with many rolls. Some awkward future rolls (like a 5-2) can be played in relative safety from the 17 point.
Laila Leonhardt: 17/11(2), 13/7(2).
More points often give a better flexibility. The trick to recognize whenthey it could be the better to create multiple less important points againstbuilding the golden point (5 point) is:Does it create any point in the prime?And do the points connect with other points?
It is often wrong to build many stripped points and possibly too far fromeach other, that clearing them becomes a problem in itself. Always lookahead when building points if it looks like you will be clearing against ananchor like in this position. Clearing the 13th point breaking thecommunication between points would indeed put you in a very difficult spotlater on.
Snowie: 13/7(4).
Makes a good point. Safe. Good builder distribution. Could I want more?
Marty Storer: 13/7(4).
I originally picked clear-and-volunteer, but afterlooking at the rest of the problems I decided to make this aMagrielian batch of solutions. I was Magrielian on most of theother problems, so that small-minded hobgoblin, Kong-Sis Tentsy(who was shambling around the Acadian campgrounds) came torecollection. Duh, yup yup yup. Too often I overvalue the bunched6-7-8 structure, but what the heck. Safe-vs.-bold criteria say"safe" here. Salt-of-the-earth-boy wanted, with no flies on.Paulie, I got da cappocoll'!
Bob Stringer: 13/7(4).
For a brief moment I thought this was not a terrific roll in aninflexible position, but once I settled upon a move, it lookedlike a major improvement. White's 3 point board makes it reallydangerous to leave a blot somewhere. 13/1*, 8/2(2)* is good inmany positions, but is terrible here, since if White rolls a 1 I'mhit right away while there's another blot on the 8 point.17/11(2), 13/17(2) and 17/5(2) are ungood because they both leavea direct shot with either no board or one that is weaker thanWhite's. 13/1(2)* is safe for now, but spreads the position to thewinds. 13/7(2), 8/2(2)* gets better, but it leaves an indirectshot, breaks the 8 and still spreads out the position. Dumpingeveryone on the bar point has the down side of leaving stragglerson the 17 point, but that's the worst news. I can easily live withit, now that I'm ahead in the race and threatening to do things inmy inner board.
Casper van der Tak: 13/7(4).
Blue is, after the roll, ahead in the race, and has the advantage in terms of escaped checkers. Blue should build on that advantage, by making a play that will allow to build the forward position, and to create good landing spots to come around the board. White has the better board, and would welcome to exchange hits now or in the near future. From this it follows that any play that leaves direct shots no should be rejected. Second, any semi-blitzing play, say 13/1* (2) should be rejected, since the follow-up is too likely to involve loose hits, while White has the better board.
13/7 (4) is simple and sound, builds the bar, puts builders in place, breaks one of the points that is difficult to clear, and is easy to follow up on. 24 rolls build at least one new point next turn, if I counted right, and only 10 numbers leave a shot (in most cases indirect shots only). Once Blue has made one additional point, it becomes easier and easier to make safe plays and to continue to build.
Kit Woolsey: 13/7(4).
It would be nice to clear the 17 point, but we can't do that without leavinga shot and White's board is strong enough to worry about. The simple 13/7(4)is 100% safe, builds a worthwhile point, and brings builders into positionto continue to build our board while we wait for a lucky roll to clear the 17point. The loss of the midpoint is not severe when we hold the anchor inWhite's outer board.
Chris Yep: 13/7(4).
White's offensive structure (3-point board backed up by the bar point) and Blue's stacked position make attacking plays undesirable. Instead I like 13/7(4), which leaves no shots and leaves Blue with good building potential in the next few turns. Blue has better timing due to his 17-point anchor and has a good chance to eventually clear it safely if needed. I don't think Blue should risk a direct shot with 17/11(2) or 17/5(2). If Blue had the 18-point anchor it might be a closer decision, but the 17-point anchor is significantly easier to clear for two reasons: (1) 3-3 and 6-4 completely clear while 1-1 gets Blue 1 pip closer to clearing, (2) if Blue is forced off the anchor he usually only has to give White one direct shot instead of two. Thus since the 17-point anchor is easier to clear, there is less incentive for Blue to pay now.
Summary: The panel was near unanimous on the solid 13/7(4). When I facedthis problem I did make that play, but was perplexed. Further considerationmakes it clear to me that this is by far the best play.
