Othello Position 6

Hi,

today we will take a look at Positons 6 from the Othello Quiz.

                White 118                                 Black 97
Score White 2    Black 4  5 Point Match , Crawford Game

Source : http://spbg.sakura.ne.jp/fes2009quiz.html
Forum: http://spbg.sakura.ne.jp/cgi-bin/yybbs.cgi

Overview
First of all we are in a Crawford Game, so White in this case cant use the Cube. Black only needs to win this Game to win the whole Match, hence Black dont need to risk anything for Gammons or Backgammons. Black has the stronger Board, and a Racelead, but is on the Bar. White is 3-away, so in case there is the possibilty for White to play for Backgammon, he has to take the risks to win 3 Points.
Black has the stronger Board, 4 Point-Board agianst White´s 3 Point-Board.
Blacks Gameplan is quite easy bringing the last runner home and winning the Race. White Gameplan is to contain Black´s last runner, and maybe get some other Blots from Black to play on for the Backgammon.

Bar/24* 4/2

Hitting at the first sight looks quite good, it gives Black a tempo Gain, as you can see White has a lot of Builder for making the 5 Point, Bar Point, additionaly ,when White fans 1 or 2 rolls, Black has the opportunity to run home his Runner. But with this hit there are some negative Points. First, Black has a Blot on the 2 Point, so he needs to make the 2 Point. It doesnt helps Black if he runs out of White´s Homeboard, and then gets hit on his 2 Point. Second Point is, Black needs 4 and 6 to cover the Blot on the 2 Point, but also 6 and 4 are also good running Rolls for Black to free his last runner. Last but not least, is the 2 Point realy the Point Black wants to make, NO, Black prefers to make the 5 Point, which gives him long time security for bear in and bear off. And finally Black has only 6 and 4 to run, 5´s are very weak rolls for Black now, he cant run, he cant make the 2 Point. We can close out this Move because of the weak distributation of Rolls and the Blot on the 2 Point, and it doesnt help much Black to free his last runner.

Bar/24* 8/6

This play looks better it leaves only 6 reshoots, but it doesnt improve the possibilty to run Black´s last runner home, if White can make the defense 5 Pt Anchor, Black will be in a lot of trouble. So we can dismiss this one quite fast.

 
Bar/24* 6/4

We can close out this one very fast, first of all it doesnt improve the possibilty for Black to bring his last runner home. Second the Stack on the 4 Point is very inflexible, Black will be in a lot of trouble if White can make the defense 5 Point Anchor. At least it doesnt leaves any extra Blots, but with this move Black is not takeing advantage of his Tempo Gain,  cause White is on the Bar.

Bar/24* 9/7

 

 

This play looks much better. It prepares to make the 5 Point and Attacking the Blot from White. But it doesnt improve the possibilty for Black to run his last runner, and it leaves 3 Blots around. As we said at the Overview, Black´s first priority is to bring his last runner home. Black is trying to make to many thinks at the same time, he cannot make an Attack and at the same time bringing around his last runner. Imagine Black Rolls a 4, he would love to advance at least to the 20 Point as long White is on the Bar, but after this move he is forced to attack instead of running.
Black also will have a lot of trouble, if White can make the defense 5 Point Anchor. Next danger for Black is, if White Rolls one of his Hitting Rolls, Black will be on the Bar with 2 more Blots around, this is exactly what White wants.
Finally we can close out this move, because its too dangerous with 3 Blots around and it doesnt helps Black to free his last runner.

Bar/23 6/5*

First of all this play improves the possibilty for Black to run, he got now 6, 5 to run, he has 4 and 3 to make his own 5 Point. Additionaly he puts a lot of pressure on White, White needs to roll a 5 or 2-3 in his next roll or Black is threadening to make a 5 Pt-Board or hitting a second Blot from White. Also very important is that Black makes it very difficult now for White to make the defens 5 Pt-Anchor. The negative Point of this move are the 13 rehits from White. But the Risk – Reward here is very high for Black. This play is the best Move, cause it improves the possibilty for Black to bring home his last Runner, it doesnt let White make the defense 5 Point-Anchor and it takes the advantage of the fact, that White is on the Bar, additionaly it makes a lot of pressure on White.

Rollouts

1. Rollout¹  Bar/23 6/5*              eq:+0.382
      Player  : 69.61% (G:46.24% B:2.92%)
      Opponent: 30.39% (G:8.82% B:0.46%)
      Confidence: ± 0.006 (+0.376<E<+0.388)
      Duration: 9 minutes 53 seconds

    2. Rollout¹  Bar/24* 9/7          eq:+0.284 (-0.098)
      Player  : 64.76% (G:46.24% B:2.34%)
      Opponent: 35.24% (G:6.81% B:0.55%)
      Confidence: ± 0.006 (+0.278<E<+0.290)
      Duration: 14 minutes 13 seconds

    3. Rollout¹  Bar/24* 6/4          eq:+0.259 (-0.123)
      Player  : 63.39% (G:40.09% B:1.99%)
      Opponent: 36.61% (G:6.54% B:0.39%)
      Confidence: ± 0.007 (+0.252<E<+0.266)
      Duration: 14 minutes 31 seconds

    4. Rollout¹  Bar/24* 8/6          eq:+0.259 (-0.124)
      Player  : 63.28% (G:42.47% B:2.65%)
      Opponent: 36.72% (G:5.79% B:0.31%)
      Confidence: ± 0.007 (+0.252<E<+0.266)
      Duration: 15 minutes 01 second

    5. Rollout¹  Bar/24* 4/2          eq:+0.230 (-0.153)
      Player  : 61.91% (G:42.85% B:2.24%)
      Opponent: 38.09% (G:8.44% B:0.49%)
      Confidence: ± 0.006 (+0.224<E<+0.236)
      Duration: 13 minutes 46 seconds

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