You Can Win This!

You can work this out, but it goes against some rules of thumb (in favour of others) so it all depends what’s looming largest in your mind. Are you thinking about the hits? Or fearing the gammons? Or bemoaning the dice that got you into this position in the first place.

Running all your checkers is obviously wrong. So how many do you leave behind? Most people would say two to give you more hitting chances, while bringing the others closer to home to minimise gammons. But in this admittedly extreme position, the right answer is leaving three blots back. The reality is that you’re odds-on to lose a gammon unless you hit, so maximising hits also serves to minimise gammons. Because White has three checkers on the barpoint, they’re very likely to leave at least two blots for you to aim at next roll. It’s a weird one, but the only correct answer here is 19/1 12/6.