Credits
Quiz Problem 15 from part 1 of "Backgammon Masterclass" by Marc Olsen and Masayuki Mochizuki, with Alec Barr
XG skin design by Rain
Analysis
If you’re up-to-date with the latest backgammon reading - or if you spotted the rather big clue in this week’s title - you’ll recognise this problem as coming from Backgammon Masterclass by Mochy and Marc Olsen, written by our own Alec Barr.
It’s one that Mochy admits he got wrong over the board - preferring the double hit (a blunder) to the correct move of quietly playing 13/7. The position comes from the chapter on understanding priming and blitzing positions, and picking your move accordingly. Mochy’s analysis in the chapter explains how & why you should be thinking of this as a blitz vs blitz position, which normally would imply aggressive hitting moves. But for this final quiz problem in the chapter, Mochy throws us a curveball where the right answer is not to hit now, but rather to prepare for a more aggressive move next roll. No-one said backgammon was easy…