Hello!



Should White double? Should Black take?

Not sure about the double part, but I don't see Black dropping this.

How exactly do you come to this conclusion?

I agree; black’s take seems obvious. White certainly has the advantage here, but it may be fleeting. If white cannot either press the attack or anchor his stragglers black will have plenty of counter play in this position. White’s best sequence here would 43 followed by black dancing. If white waits and this happens, would black have a pass? Probably, but it is close; he still is a favorite to enter one checker against a four point board, and will be entering on a high point when he does, so he has a decent shot of running into the outfield and getting to safety. If he can then build a prime and contain white, white has no chance in a prime vs prime game since he already has his 1 and 2 points made.

That doesn’t make black a favorite in that case, obviously. But if black has decent counter play in white’s best case scenario, then white cannot have many large market losers and I would lean toward no double.

Like stremba70 mentioned, White's best scenario is pursuing a blitz and closing out Black. Sure, it could happen, but it's only one of many scenarios in which White would need to be fairly fortunate (or Black unlucky ).

In most scenarios, Black should be in decent shape.

Thanks for all these helpful thoughts.