XGID=-a-B-ACaC--adB---b-bbBB-b-:1:1:1:44:10:9:0:11:10
Match Play. Double Match Point. How should Red play 44?
This is not an easy problem. Over the board Red played the seemingly obvious 13/5(2).
Sadly, that move is virtually a blunder because it cuts Red’s army in two. I rarely give up my midpoint when I have multiple rear checkers and that is the case here.
The race is equal so Red has no chance of playing a back game. He must do something with the rear checkers and yet keep a communication bridge open to his forward checkers. 22/18(2), 13/9(2) is still a blunder. The best move is the simple 22/14(2). At the cost of a shot Red keeps all his checkers working and in communication.
22/18(2), 8/4(2), perhaps surprisingly, gets second place by a narrow margin.
Once you understand the principle of communication the problem becomes easier.
Comments