This is an interesting position. I think few good players nowadays wouldn't hit. It gains significantly in the race, takes away half of opponent's roll, sends another checker back, and advances the backman all at the same time. The high amount of returnshots is a downside, but those returnhits aren't particulary strong and often leave many returnshots themselves.

In 1982 when this quiz was made, pure priming play and slotting were often overrated. This one is a good example. The slotting play leaves opponent a strong direct hit that could get the backcheckers moving away from the not-so-good 22pt anchor. And if missed, there are several rolls giving a good building play on the other side of the board. The slot can only be covered with sixes and if not covered, the slot may have to be lifted next turn, putting that checker in an unfavourable position.

GNUBG 4-ply suggests that not hitting is a blunder, which a 2-ply rollout confirms. Actually making the fourpoint might be better than the slotting play, but that's close. If anything, this looks like the kind of position where the bots excel: a fairly balanced midgame position with both players having ordinary assets and liabilities with nothing extreme going on. So I'm almost 100% sure that the bot is right here.

Rollout: