Bringing It Home (Part 2)

 

The following position is not from Trice but fits will with the subject of the this chapter and is a point well worth exploring.

+-24-23-22-21-20-19-+---+-18-17-16-15-14-13-+
|  '  '  ' 2X 2X 3X |   | 3X 2X  '  '  '  ' |
|                   |   |                   |
|                   | 1 |        1 2        |
| 1O 3X 2O 3O 3O 2O |   | 2O 2O  '  '  '  ' |
+--1--2--3--4--5--6-+---+--7--8--9-10-11-12-+

Pip counts: Blue 142, Red 76
Position ID: 2O4GABzZ3TYAAA Match ID: cInoAGAAMAAA

The “obvious” play with this is 8/7 8/6, clearing form the back of the prime and avoiding gaps. The problem with this play is that it creates an issue with clearing reds bar point. The big problem are 5’s, which would have to be played form the 6 point leaving a gap in the home board. If the 6 point is cleared before the bar point 5’s than have the potential to force red to leave a blot on the bar point.

While 7/5 7/6 leaves a gap on the bar point it allows much more flexibility in this position.  This problem is an example of looking for problem numbers in the bear in and playing to minimize their impact. It comes from an article by Kit Woolsey that discusses this topic with several other examples. The article may be found at http://www.bkgm.com/articles/GOL/Nov02/safe.htm.

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2 thoughts on “Bringing It Home (Part 2)

  1. Yes, while I do make a lot of blunders I don’t think even I would think that leaving blots on the 7 and 8 points in this position was obvious!

    Thanks for the correction, I have edited the post.

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