The mystery continues…

I think this ‘6 from the bar’ is less mysterious, but still perhaps tricky to find. After entering with the 2 your three options for the 6 are:

• 13/7 - attempting to start a prime to block White. This is a blunder. White’s prime is better than yours, so you’re picking a losing battle, and you are far too likely to be hit by White next roll.

• 8/2 - for a tempo to reduce the chance that White can make their own bar point. This is an error. It would be nice if it worked, but it costs too much in burying a checker (even if it’s not hit), and what’s your follow-up plan? You can’t blitz White because they already have an anchor, and just like 13/7 you risk getting a 4th checker sent back.

• 22/16 - congratulations if you picked this one. It might look scary to abandon the anchor, but it’s absolutely the right move. You don’t need to fear a blitz - White doesn’t have the ammunition for that - so escaping one checker past White’s prime helps you most. If you’re hit you’ll only have 3 checkers back rather than 4, and whatever happens your split back checkers increase the chance you can hit White’s barpoint blot if they fail to cover it.

  
  

bar/23 22/16 is the way to go.