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Math Play. Red leads 4-1 to 9. Should Red double? If doubled, should White take?
The basic guide to doubling back games is that you should have only three more points to clear in front of the back game player’s highest anchor. This position doesn’t pass the test and so, not surprisingly, this is no double/take.
If you move the Red checker on the 9-pt to the 8-pt and equalise the score to 4-4 then this is just a double and a trivial take. However, Red leads 4-1 and so must exercise some caution. He won’t want to see the cube coming back on 4 any time soon and please note that a gammon with the cube on 4 will give White the match with perfect efficiency.