Problem of the Week #132: January 1


(a) Money game, Black on roll, center cube.




Should Black double? If he does, should White take?


(b) Same position. Black to play 3-1 in a match at double match point.


(c) Same position, White owns a 2-cube in a money game. Black to play 3-1.


Note: All ‘cash game’ problems assume the Jacoby Rule is in effect. That is, you can’t win a gammon unless the cube has been turned.

I’ll be on vacation for a while, so the solution to this problem will appear in two weeks.

a) To much working holes. The white position is sound, nothing beyond repair. I see no market losers. No double, Take.

b) Without gammons counting, it is like real estate, where location is all: position, position, position. Nailing down the 5 point for good.

c) Cube leverage and activated gammons. Nailing down should be not a big mistake, but may be to loose. 24/23* 9/6.

1. No double/Take

2. 15/11 win slowly

3. would like to play 13/10 but have to choose 24/23* 9/6

a) Double/Take. I think the market is gone if I finish a 5-prime, and I don't see any disaster rolls to offset that, so why not turn on the gammons. My blocking structure is already better than his and I have more builders to make it even better.

b) Binking the 4th man should be awful here. Gammons don't count, and stacking with 9/6 or leaving a blotfest aren't productive compared to just making the 5-point. 8/5 6/5

c) It's a problem, so it can't be 8/5 6/5 again, but it's still what I'd play. The 3s after 24/23* are too ugly for me.

a)Double/take - activate gammons and there are some marketloosers here like 4-1, 1-1 and 5-5(fan)
b)I make the 5 point, golden cant be much wrong, its a myth after all!
c)I hit the last checker and then the only 3 is 9/6

13/9 13/10 work?

1) Double/Take - there are lots of rolls that seem to end the game instantly, but there are also a lot of rolls that don't, so it simply feels like double/take.
2) 15/11 - leave it to white to do something about the slow but gradual constriction.
3) I would say the same, 15/11.

1) Double / Take - there are 10 market losers here and see answer 3 for why to double him/her in.
2) DMP make the 5 point and duplicate 6's - losing a gammon does not count and then your 8 point is slotted
3) Hit 24/23* then 9/6. So what if he makes another anchor and plays a backgame? After the hit you will be behind 12 pips and say a 12 backgame needs 84 pips, a 13 needs 59 pips. Another reason to double is that a lot of players will aviod a backgame so double him in now.

1. Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to you all

a.: double/easy take for me
b.: dmp we need to find the safest way to win and i dont want to send another white checker back. 15/11 for me. After making the 5p white has 3s and 6s to hit - too much forward power imo. 15/11
c.: 24/23* 13/10 is too blotty imo and 24/23* 9/6 is yust too ugly for me, either 15/11 or 8/5 3/1? Im rather sure that id play 15/11 because i think hitting with 24/23* may give white a rather nice backgame-like position. Our 8point blocks whites 6s and is in a very nice position - i dont want to exchange it for the 5p at that price. After 15/11 our checker on 24 can escape with 6s and isnt that endandered? 15/11 gives us also a builder for a 5prime. 15/11
Im surely wrong because its a Quiz

(a) Race is 151-136 in favor of Black. Based on PRAT, Black has a race advantage. Position-wise, White has a better board, but Black has a nice developing priming structure. Black also threatens to send a 4th man back. With White's barpoint open, I think Black has a close double. Based on that, White would have a fairly trivial take.

Double / Take


(b) I'd go with the awkward 24/23* 9/6 and try to keep a good lead in the race.

24/23* 9/6


(c) Now, gammons are a factor. 15/11 is tempting, but the same play as in (b) might also be the safest. I'd go for that one again.

24/23* 9/6

Part (a) Black is on roll. Cube action? (Unlimited, Jacoby, center cube)
Over the board, I would be cautious about cubing this. When it is posed as a problem, however, I can take the time to review all of Black’s rolls. The following lists my not-too-deeply considered choices.

11 – 24/23*/22, 6/5(2) [market loser]
12 – 24/23*, 15/13 [possible market loser]
13 – 24/23*, 9/6 (see below)
14 – 24/23*, 15/11 (or else make the 5pt) [possible market loser]
15 – 24/23*, 15/10 (otherwise, 24/23*/18) [possible market loser]
16 – 24/23*, 15/9 [likely market loser]
22 – 6/2*(2) [likely market loser]
23 – 15/10
24 – 15/9
25 – 15/10, 9/6
26 – 24/22, 15/9
33 – 8/5(2), 6/3(2) [likely market loser]
34 – 15/8
35 – 15/7
36 – 24/15
44 – 15/7, 6/2*(2) (otherwise, 7/2(2), 6/2*(2)) [likely market loser]
45 – 7/2*, 6/2
46 – 8/2*, 6/2
55 – 8/3(2), 7/2*(2) [likely market loser]
56 – 24/13
66 – 24/18, 15/9, 8/2*(2) [likely market loser]

A good decision tree for determining cube action begins with the take. Can White take here?

• If he cannot, then it’s either too good, or an easy double.
• Is the take close? If it is, then Woolsey’s Law tells us to double.
• Is it in between? If so, double.

Only when the take is easy, must you consider the double. Strong doubles, of course, are doubles. When the decision to double is close, however, in a game involving contact, then you should start counting market losers. John O’Hagen suggests (with many exceptions) that when at least 25% of your rolls are market losers, you should cube.

In this problem, the take seems trivial. White has the better board, an anchor, and is not primed. Conversely, the double seems small, if one exists at all. In this case, I have generously granted market-losing status to as many rolls as possible above. There may be just enough of them to eke out a small double.

My solution: Double, Take

Parts (b) and (c) Black to Play 3-1
As they say, “The five point is the five point.” In part, because of the QF (quiz factor), I am tempted to make the 5pt, and be done. It’s the DMP play, and may well be best for money.

Over the board, however, I would start by looking at the hit. But it is not automatic. After moving 24/23*, good 3s are hard to find. Fearful that breaking the midpoint leaves too many returns, I would probably decide 9/6 was the best of a bad lot. At least it duplicates 3 and 4, White’s two escape numbers. Slotting into a triple shot, 6/3, is hardly an option.

What about the quiet play, 13/9? It makes a broken 5-point prime, certainly a plus, but does so at the expense of sacrificing the initiative. Unhindererd, White would have 1s, 3s and 5s to hit, 3s and 4s to escape, and 4s and 6s to cover. Because White has both an anchor and a blot in Black’s inner board, the broken 5-prime is less efficient than usual. That is because White has two escape numbers on every throw, rather than one.

A much better passive play is simply to safety the checker in White’s outer board, playing 15/11. The resulting position gives White 7, 8, 9 and 10 as hitting numbers, but only a small number of throws hit. Specifically, the hitting rolls are 16, 34, 44, 36 and 46, giving 9 shots in all. Of course, if he misses, White may attack the blot on the other side when he rolls a combination totaling 1, 5, 7 or 12. So, any 1 or 5 (22 shots), plus 34, 66, 44, and 33 could be used to hit on Black’s 24pt. In practice, White won’t hit on the 24pt when he rolls 33, 34, and 44, but there are still a load of 1s and 5s where he will.

No alternative is outstanding. I’ll make the 5pt at DMP, and hit when gammons matter.

My solution in Part (b): 8/5, 6/5 — at DMP
My solution in Part (c): 24/23*, 9/6 — when gammons matter

For the Record
I am so often wrong that I like to post my record in these messages. It's kind of a truth-in-advertising thing. Grunch: I have been answering these problems without the use of a bot, and before checking the excellent solutions of others, since Problem 28. My record at this writing is 51%.

I don't double here, too much work to do.

Because this is a problem I'm probably wrong but my play is 15-11 in both scenarios.