X	O
4.	...	62: 13/7 23/21
Play 5a	+-------------+---+-------------+ | O O X X | | X X O | | X X | | X X O | | X | | X O | | | | | 157 | | | | | | | | +---+ | 1 2 3 4 5 6 |BAR| 7 8 9 0 1 2 | | | | | | | +---+ | | | | | O | | | 147 | O | | O | | O | | O O X | | X O X X O | | O O X | +-------------+---+-------------+			X to play 21 Candidate Plays Equities 24/22* 21/20 +0.376 6/4*/3* +0.370 24/22* 22/21 +0.341 24/22* 8/7 +0.307 24/22* 6/5 +0.291

BS:

24/22* 21/20 just feels right to me, and I am a bit surprised that 6/4*/3* is so close. The blitz play does have a chance to be successful and end the match. However, with three checkers back, I would prefer making an advanced anchor and sending a third checker back. And, as Kit Woolsey says, a play that does two things is usually better than a play that does only one. (If you are not able to play Kit at our club or on FIBS, you should at least read his books. His lastest, New Ideas in Backgammon, written with Hal Heinrich, is the best book I have ever read on backgammon. Kit and Hal show how JellyFish is helping to change the way in which modern backgammon is played.)

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