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bearing off against a 3-4 backgame

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07-24-2019 , 03:47 AM

grape5

newbie

Join Date: Dec 2017 Posts: 39

White - Pips 141 (+104), Match -7 -7

Black - Pips 37 (-104), Match -7 -7
Black to Play 4-1
Created with Diagram Builder

XG says 6/1 is slightly better than 6/2 1/off. Why is this?

Some things I noticed which might offer a clue:

- Regardless of which play Black makes, next roll the same set of rolls will leave a shot. And there are quite a few such rolls.

- If you look at the "Dice Distribution" in XG after each of the two plays, then the high doubles are among the best rolls for White after 6/2 1/off, but among the worst rolls for White after 6/1.

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07-24-2019 , 08:48 AM

Robertie

old hand

Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 1,954

You want to break the game down into two possible lines: (1) Black never gets hit, and (2) Black eventually gets hit.

(1) If Black never gets hit, it doesn't matter whether he plays 6/1 or 6/2 1/off. He'll win a gammon either way.

(2) If Black does eventually get hit, he's better off if he's played 6/1. With the ace-point made, he'll be much less likely to expose a second blot.

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