2023 - Position 42

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Match Play. Red trails 1-2 to 5. How should Red play 31?

Time is of the essence and Red must prevent White from attacking the blots in White’s home board.

5/4* hits away from the edge of Red’s prime but 7/4 is the wrong idea. Red must play 5/4*/1*, hopefully gaining two tempi to escape or anchor his rear checkers.

7/4*, 5/4 is a quintuple blunder while 8/4* is merely a 3.5 blunder!

Two on the bar, better by far, as we all know.