2021 - Position 149

XGID=ab----EBBA--cB-A-bAcbb--A-:0:0:-1:00:0:0:0:5:10

Match Play. 0-0 to 5. Should Red double? If doubled, should White take?

Doubling from the bar is often wrong because players overestimate their winning chances.

Here the double is perfectly correct. Red has The Rack (4-, 5- and 6-pts), an anchor and a huge number of potential hits.

White has plenty has a lead in the race and plenty of play. If he can secure Red’s bar-point then he will have a sound position.

The volatility says double, and the playability says take. Not doubling is an error. Dropping is worse than a quadruple blunder.