2023 - Position 197

XGID=-aBBBBBAA-A-------abbBccc-:1:1:1:44:0:1:0:5:10

Match Play. Red trails 0-1 to 5. How should Red play 44?

Any play with 5/1(2)* in it is a blunder. Any play with 21/17(2) in it is also a blunder.

Red needs to play this a prime-vs-prime position and force White to crunch his board while maintaining good outer board presence. He can do all that with 21/13, 8/4, 7/3.

That play gives White a small number of good rolls, but you can’t win all the time. 21/13, 10/6, 7/3 is a bad error. Everything else other than the correct play is a big blunder.