Alan Alsop: 24/20, 6/5.Hitting White has no merit at all. White will unstack his men soon, make points in his homeboard and this would probably evolve hitting. Blue has a reasonable position and is blocking White's escape. Making White's 5 pt and slotting on Blue's 4 pt is the standard play I prefer.
Chuck Bower: 24/20, 5/4.
I narrow it down to two choices: try to set up forsending a secondWhite checker back with the sloppy looking 24/23, 6/2*, orgo pure with 24/20, 5/4. My first inclination was to slashaway, but the pure play is so solid I settled for that. Idon't see how you figure something like this out OtB. Youjust have to go with your instincts. Right now I'm in apure mood.
Ilia Guzei: 24/20, 5/4.
While something can be said for attacking with the stronger board and more checkers back this position is different. Naturally, I want to anchor up and then look for the best ace. 5/4 duplicates White�s 2�s and puts a checker where I want it. The anchor protects me against bad sequences and now I can concentrate on containing White�s back runner.
Neil Kazaross: 24/20, 5/4.
I don't care for a loose hit with only 8 men in the zone when wehave constructive plays available. I like grabbing our 20 point and slotting our 4 duping 2's. If it were GG I'd go for it by making our 4 point, but don't think that's correct for money as it leaves jokers and 24-20, 5-4 looks fine.
George Klitsas: 8/4, 5/4.
Being behind in the race, Blue must try to lead the game to tactical paths, starting with making a third inner point (8/4 5/4). White needs a joker (6-2 or 6-4 or 1-1) to �punish� Blue for his arrogance.
Laila Leonhardt: 24/23, 6/2*.
Not ready to give up a good fight for a comfy advanced anchor and behind inthe race position just yet.Blue has a better home board and White is fragile. 3 towers of checkers, noflexibility and 2 blots that can get in trouble, maybe even blitzed. Bluehas time to grab an anchor later on if this plan fails.
Snowie: 24/20, 5/4.
I'm not going home without the anchor on White's five point. That is toogood to pass up. Having made the anchor, 6/5 with the ace is too ugly.I can afford to slot with 5/4. I'm not in much danger, and as a bonusWhite's twos are duplicated. Simply a matter of putting my checkers wherethey belong.
Marty Storer: 8/4, 5/4.
Snarl, Blue should pay off to 62 and 64, I think.Making the 20 takes too much pressure off given White's playagainst the stripped 8 point. Again with the safe-vs.-boldbusiness? It looks that way; the three-point board and White'sfewer checkers back plus inside blot makes you think so, eh?My second choice is 13/8, boldly increasing pressure and keepingplenty of contact, but safely and unfortunately not improving theboard yet.
Bob Stringer: 13/8.
I see two reasonable ideas -- making the 20 point or playing 13/9plus something. 20/15 is out, since it doesn't aim to improveanything -- it just runs when I'm behind in the race, and itdoesn't even duplicate numbers. 8/4, 5/4 also is out, since the 8point is blocking White's last back man. And 24/23, 6/2* is outbecause there's not enough ammo for an attack, and once I have ablot deep in my board on the 2 point I'll have to cover it,leaving me with too loose of a position, given the lack of anattack. So, do I like making the 20 point? I'm never sure in aposition like this, since it takes the pressure off White's blotin the inner board and leaves him with only one worry -- escapinghis last man. Making a solid point like the 20 still isn'tunreasonable, but I also have to do something with the 1. I don'tlike slotting and giving White a direct shot just for the sake ofamusement, which means that the 1 has to be played to the 4 point.Unless the 13/9 plays both have comparable downsides, 5/4 is tooinflexible, especially since I'd like to contain White's last manif I can. So then, is it better to play 13/9 with 24/23 or to keepgoing with 13/8? I like 13/8. It's no less flexible than 13/9,since I'm going to keep the 8 point anyway, so why move thechecker on the 24 point up an extra inch when it's fine where itis? The final decision then comes down to 13/8 versus 24/20, 5/4.I don't see anything not to like about 13/8, certainly not tocompare with playing 5/4 when I'm down in the race, and so 13/8wins fairly easily.
Casper van der Tak: 24/20, 5/4.
Lots of possibilities here. What is clear is that it would be nice to make some concrete asset. Building the 4 trades in one asset (the 8) for another (the 4), and hence does not do much to improve Blue�s position. 24/20 creates a new asset; 5/4 than utilizes White�s temporary weakness to go after the next.
The temptation is not to move up from the 24 in expectation of future shots at the blot on 4, but White is a solid favorite to cover, and Blue may not get the anchor afterwards.
Kit Woolsey: 13/8.
How vital is it to make the advanced anchor? Not particularly vital here, Idon't think. White has no board at all. Making the anchor would be fine,but the ace is ugly. Instead, I think it is better to improve ourdistribution. 13/8 gets a badly needed builder on the eight point,unstacks the heavy midpoint, keeps the rest of our builders poisedperfectly, and continues to harass White's blot on his four point. I believethese plusses make up for the missed anchor.
Chris Yep: 13/8.
20/15 looks like the wrong idea. Although it makes it harder for White to escape his back man, the 20 point is an ideal location for Blue's back man. It gives Blue the option of making the 20 point anchor in the future (or now) and completely covers White outfield. 6/2* also looks wrong since Blue is short of attack material. 8/4 5/4 breaks Blue's 8 point, a key concession since White would otherwise have bad 6s. Should Blue make the anchor with 24/20 6/5 or 24/20 5/4 (the latter is probably better because it slots the next point in line and White has few hit and cover numbers)? It's not clear to me that he should; due to White's stacked position Blue's 24-point checker is still serving a useful role. Instead I think Blue should play 13/8. It unstacks his midpoint and strengthens his 8 point, giving him some much needed outfield structure. This appears to give Blue the most options for the future: priming (with spares on the 5, 6, 8, and midpoint, Blue has a lot of point-making rolls next turn), attacking (Blue now has 9 checkers in the attack zone), and holding games are all quite playable from here.
Summary: It was close, but the majority of the panel went after the anchor. Understandablein most positions, but I'm not convinced that is the right theme here.
