Credits
Position taken from match 12 of the 2023 UBC Final Mochy vs Sander
XG skin design by Rain
Analysis
This position came at 3-away 2-away in the final match of the series, but the move is correct irrespective of match score or money play.
The choice is between hitting a second checker back, or making our 5pt and biding our time - if not to hit the second checker later, then at least to better prevent the last checker escaping. For most of us, hitting a second checker back is our default play - we know how much our winning chances go up with two checkers back. But in this case we have no board, making it all too simple for white to secure an advanced anchor and wait us out or roll boxes.
If we make our 5pt we make it that much harder for white to escape. And there are still 17 rolls where they fail to safety their second checker. Mochy looked at both these options before deciding to hit. It was a match-losing blunder. 9/5 6/5 is absolutely the right move.