The finals of USA vs Japan are underway at the Chicago Open, and it is being streamed live with commentary by the Voice of Backgammon! You will not want to miss it!
https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCmVuT6sPcxvFfbpVVHOQydA
Run or Attack?!
Here is another interesting position from a round 2 match of the Las Vegas Open between Phil Simborg and Neil Kazaross. Phil is leading 3-1 /15, and has this 54 to play. Should he run a back checker to safety, or attack Neil’s blot on his ace point? Let us know what you think in the comments!
Video Below (starts @ 20:54)
ANSWER
22/13
Run! Neil’s stripped 6, 8, and 10 points are hardly threatening, and we are very far ahead in the race already, so we should simply take advantage of the 9 we just rolled and safety one of our back checkers. Hitting and playing 13/9 leaves 15 shots for Neil, and doesn’t take care of our only remaining issues, which are our two back checkers that are stuck in Neil’s home board.
Difficult Decision from Finals Match in Sochi
Here is an early game decision that Alexey Askurava had to face while playing Mochy in the Finals of the 2018 World Series in Sochi. Alexey is leading 6-1 /17. He has rolled a 43, and can hit Mochy’s blot, make his five point, or make a broken four prime. How would you play this 43? Let us know in the comments!
Video Below (starts @ 1:11:14)
ANSWER
24/17*
Very often when faced with a decision like this, it is right to hit when it is still relatively early in the game. Here, hitting accomplishes a lot… We gain a lot in the race, we take away black’s chance to easily reclaim his valuable eight point, and we partially escape one of our checkers. When we are not hit back, we will almost always end up with a very strong position, and many of the numbers that do hit will force black off of his anchor in our home board.
Would You Double This?
We are going to look into a cube decision from round 2 of the Las Vegas Open Jackpot. Here, Matt Cohn-Geier is leading Falafel 7-1 / 15. MCG has one checker back, and great prospects of making either his bar point or five point on the next roll. Would you double this as white? If doubled, should black take? Let us know what you think in the comments!
Video Below (position @ 59:00)
ANSWER
No Double/Take
Is it ALWAYS Right to Make the Five Point?
In this round 3 match of the Las Vegas Open, Akiko Yazawa is trailing Dmitri Obukhov 2-8 / 11. Akiko has just rolled this 42, and quickly makes Dmitri’s five point. This seems like the natural play, and most people would probably play it without hesitation. Could it possibly be wrong? Would you have made the five point? What would you play if you don’t make the five point? Let us know in the comments!
ANSWER
13/9 7/5
Although making the 20 point anchor might seem very natural and safe, it is actually incorrect here. We are far behind in the race, so we would rather stay back to put pressure on black’s position by not allowing him to play awkward numbers behind us. 13/9 8/7 will allow us to build our board quickly in preparation for any future shots from black.