Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 1,954
There are many shortcuts to counting pips and different people like different methods. My own is a version of what's called 'cluster counting', where you count groups of checkers all at once and then add up the groups. It requires you to know the pip count of certain commonly-occurring formations, but after that life gets easier.
For instance, 5 checkers on the midpoint = 65, 4 checkers on the midpoint = 52. A closed board missing the ace-point = 40.
Recognizing symmetry helps a lot. Imagine you have 6 checkers in your opponent's home board after a lot of hitting has happened. You have 2 on the 20, 1 on the 21, 1 on the 23, and 2 on the 24. Trying to count them checker by checker would be laborious, but if you notice that the 6 checkers are symmetrical around the 22-point, you can say 6 times 22 = 132.
One last tip: once you have counted one side, repeat the count in your head 3 or 4 times silently - 109, 109, 109, 109 - before counting the other side. This moves the count from extremely short-term memory (where you'll have forgotten it by the time you count the other side) to somewhat longer short-term memory, where you'll remember it a couple of minutes from now.
