Premature Burial

It’s January, so back to Boot Camp! (it’s a great book, and well worth studying). The poetic title of today’s position comes courtesy of Edgar Allan Poe, who was rightly terrified of being buried alive. Hopefully the clue is obvious enough and no-one picks 6/2 5/2 (the only safe play, at the cost of burying two checkers) or 8/1 (which buries a checker and leaves a blot).

So where best to take a risk? You’re significantly ahead in the race, so you could run with 18/11. Or you could put your blot where it will do most good if not hit (and where you’d have some return shots if you are hit) with 8/5 8/4.

But the key here is to realise that you’re barely winning this game. It’s still much too early to try and run home safely, and too soon to be surrendering your most valuable mid-game asset, which is your 4-prime. The only correct move is 8/4 7/4 - moving your 4-prime forward and strengthening your board. You won’t like it if White rolls a 5, but you’ll be favourite to enter next roll and you have the safety of the bar point anchor to reach for. And the correct play gives you so much more flexibility to play safely over the next couple of rolls, giving you time for some lucky doubles or a shot at a White blot.