Think about it before you decide

[Simborg]

In the position below, it is a money game and Black has to play 6-2. The question is obvious: should you hit White's checker or not?







The answer is yes. Hit it. Books written 20 years ago will tell you not to hit it. Putting another checker on the bar actually increases White's chances of getting a shot and winning the game. That is true. But there are very few more wins...in this case, about 1 percent. In this particular situation, hitting the extra checker doesn't give Black many more gammons either, because of the extra hits he gets. But the backgammons go up significantly, and that is what makes hitting so important.

If it were a match, and double-match-point, and gammons and backgammons don't matter at all, and all you care about is winning, then don't hit the extra checker in this situation. But in MOST situations, it is right to hit another checker. And keep hitting all you can if your board is close.

Below is Snowie's evalauation that provides the actual numbers.

Any questions? You can email me a psimborg@sbcglobal.net and I also give backgammon lessons on line on Play65.