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Match Play. Red trails 0-2 to 11. How should Red play 32?
An unusual position and some would think it won’t matter much which play you make but, as ever in backgammon, everything matters.
The key to this position is not to play bar/22, 23/21. It is too early to give up one of the three defensive anchors while you can keep all your checkers in play. There is little to choose between bar/23, 5/2 and bar/22, 5/3 with the former just getting the nod.
Bar/22, 3/1 would be a blunder because it makes the ace-point too soon and it doesn’t help to kill subsequent threes and fours. Bar/22, 23/21 is nearly a double blunder. With the right play, remarkably, Red will still win from this position about 15% of the time.
It is never over until it is over!
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