Quote:
Originally Posted by sdfsgf
I think that in these "trap play" positions whether you leave the blot or not depends how many return shots you'll get. In this position if he rolls a 5 (which we want him to do) we'd prefer to not be on the bar, since if we're on the bar we can only hit back with 1s (8/7* if he has to stay on the 7 for example), and maybe sixes (8/2*), while if we're not on the bar we get a bunch of extra indirect shots. In other positions that might not matter because we get plenty of return shots either way (e.g., if we had spares on the 3/4/5/6 point we might not mind leaving the blot when we break the 7 because almost any number will let us hit his other checker that stayed back on the 2).
The other consideration is collecting the blot that has escaped. In this position white already has plenty of checkers in the rear that hit the escaping blue checker (assuming blue rolls a 5). If we modified the position by bringing the white checkers home, say with spares on the 8, 6 and 5 points and no checkers back, then I believe a 61 would be best played as 7/1 with the ace being played by one of the spares on the 5 or 6 (not sure which but I would guess 5/4 since stacking 4 checkers on the 5 point seems wrong) leaving the blot on the bar point for blue to hit as he escapes. White needs to be hit when blue escapes in order to close out two checkers. In the position given, by contrast, white does not need to be hit, and as you said being hit leads to fewer return shots, so 7/6 7/1 is the play.
