Position # 55

[PersianLord]

Position information:

Pip-count:  Red 47-80 White
Match:       Money game

White to play 5-1

Note: This position was sent to my e-mail by NIHI and as of his request, I didn't set up a poll with suggested moves. Please elaborate which move you favor and why.

Regards

[blitzxz]

Spoiler

With quick though I would make banana split here. I tend to make banana splits way too often but here it seems correct (at least to me). That would maximaze chances to pick more checkers and if white rolls 1 he would need another one to get to 5-point prime's edge and also I might be able to make 6-point prime afterwards. But I would do this only because there are two blots and big chances that the blots will stay there several rolls. So my move is 19/14 2/1*.

[close]

[socksey]

Is this a 1 ptr?     If not, what is the score?    

socksey



"Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your common sense." â€" Buddha

[NIHILIST]

Money game.


Bob

[Zorba]

Spoiler

Red has two blots in his homeboard, and his ugly structure will make it hard to clean them up. So White wants to get on the bar, to hit one or both of them, greatly increasing gammon chances and even overall wins. It is unintuitive, but it must be right to make the 2/1* play here, in order to maximize chances of getting hit. Yes it breaks the full prime, which is a slight risk, but opponent is on the bar, and it's still a 5-prime, and if opponent enters, you get a double direct shot from the bar. Also important: you have builders ready to remake the full prime.

The 5 is then 19/14. Personally I find the hardest part to actually see and play this during a game, especially if you just had a string of pretty simple moves, given that such positions are not flagged as "hey, here's an interesting problem", and you might make a "standard" play before you know it.

[close]

[socksey]

Money game.  Bob

I got that.     Does that mean it's a 1 point match?     Forgive me for being so dumb.   

socksey



"Commenting on a complaint from a Mr. Arthur Purdey about a large gas bill, a spokesman for North West gas said, “We agree it was rather high for the time of year. It's possible Mr. Purdey has been charged for the gas used up during the explosion that destroyed his house.” - from an article in the UK’s The Daily Telegraph

[PersianLord]

I got that.     Does that mean it's a 1 point match?     Forgive me for being so dumb.   

socksey



"Commenting on a complaint from a Mr. Arthur Purdey about a large gas bill, a spokesman for North West gas said, “We agree it was rather high for the time of year. It's possible Mr. Purdey has been charged for the gas used up during the explosion that destroyed his house.” - from an article in the UK’s The Daily Telegraph

No, money game is not equal to 1-pt matches. In money games, players agree upon a fixed amount of money per point. For example, Bob told me in this particular match one point was valued $5. Now, if any player wins a single game he will win $5, and gammons and backgammons valued $10 and $15 respectively. And don't forget that this is the case if the cube remains on the center all the way, which was not the case for Bob's match.

So, not even gammons and backgammons value much in money games in contrary to 1-pt matches, cube handling is in play too. BTW, cube handling in money games is much easier than match play, because the doubling windows and take/pass points are fixed and don't change.

Regards

[NIHILIST]

In money play, each game stands by itself. Winning one game might be worth 1 point, winning the next might be worth 16. Unlike match play theres no fixed ending point, ie a match to 7. In money play you generally continue until one player quits, might be 1 hour, might be 10.

Bob

[Tomawaky]

Yes interesting !
Quickly I would have made 7/1*
But the banana as it is called if understand would certainly better.

[socksey]

In that case I would play 19/13.     I never take unnecessary chances with money.   

socksey



"The receptivity of the great masses is very limited, their intelligence is small, but their power of forgetting is enormous." - Adolf Hitler: Mein Kampf

[spielberg]

It's not an unnecessary chance sox - it adds value.

Spoiler

In money games I play my opponent as much as I play the game. I'd play 19-14 2-1* anyway in most matches where I was getting value for the gammon (I'd have to think about it if I was 3 away) and in a cash game with gammons active after Jacoby and the chance of provoking some steaming I'd go bananas for sure.

[close]

[NIHILIST]

This problem is interesting because the best play is completely counter-intuitive. This position occurred 25 years ago during a chouette. I was in the box, holding a 2 cube, vs 4 opponents. Things didn't look very promising at all.

In money play you always want to be alert to opportunities to gammon your opponent and double your winnings. The best gammon opportunity here is hitting the blot on the 1 point, getting hit, then picking up another blot. The question is what's the best way to extract maximum juice from the position.

In this case the best play is breaking the inner board, hitting loose on the 1 point, leaving 2 blots.
This is completely counter-intuitive, but think about it. If you WANT TO GET HIT, arent your chances better if you leave 2 blots vs 1 ?
Another nasty aspect to this play that hasn't been discussed is what happens when opponent rolls 1-3 or 2-3 from the bar. Now you have 3 blots to fire at instead of 2.

In the actual game the team captain played 7-1, hitting. I responded with 1-6, entering, exiting and hitting 2 of their blots. They fanned with 4-4. I rolled 2-2, cleaning up. They fanned with 2-2. I redoubled, they took. I rolled 5-5 hitting their other blot, they fanned with 2-2 and went on to get gammoned...........a dice sequence worthy of FIBS.

If they'd made the other play, there was no roll that allowed me to enter and exit while hitting 2 blots. What's the best roll is after the loose hit, 1-1, 2-2 or 2-6 ?

How would you play the position in a match; at DMP ? At gammon-save ? at gammon-go ?

The important lesson is to discipline yourself to see an opportunity when it presents itself. Sometimes the uglier play is the best.


Bob

[sedat]

This opportunity to win gammon is best taken by hitting the red man on the 1 point. If on the other hand the blot is not hit then there is a slight chance to lose the game because red is miles ahead in the race (if he can get out in time that is). If red rolls a 1 then I might roll 2-1 and thus become an aspirant for winning the game gammon.