Peachy Michy Backgammon Quiz

10 Jan 2015
by Jake Jacobs

My first match during last fall's Japan Open was against Michy Kageyama in the
Super Jackpot. That match is the source of the following problems.

Play these well and you will have the satisfaction of playing them well. Play them
poorly and you might wind up advancing to the next round, as I did.

Black is always on roll (however the player playing Black varies according to
whose play it was during the match), and each correct play scores ten points.

1: Black leads 1-0 to 11

9/3(2), 8/2(2)* Why not run? Running leaves twelve return shots as opposed to
only four, with a weaker inner board and a weaker prime. Making both points is
over 4% better.
 2: Black trails 0-1 to 11

22/12, 20/15(2) With the cube turned already, trailing in the race even after
running, and White having five outfield checkers besides the straggler, making a
five-point board is tempting. It does more than double Black's gammon wins, from
6% to nearly 14%. But the safe play wins almost 85%, while the risky play wins a
smidgen over 72%. Even at gammon go it would be a blunder to make the points.
 3: Black trails 0-1 to 11
24/18, 13/10 It looks tempting to make the 4pt, duping sixes. Of course if he hits
back your own sixes are duped. On the other hand, the correct play makes an
advanced anchor, halfway escaping your back checkers, while simultaneously
placing him behind a five-prime. The alternative, making the 18pt and then playing
10/7 is no better than making your 4pt. If White fails to anchor he may still run
with 5s and 6s. Making the 10pt reduces his running numbers and makes his 6s
awkward, while if he hits he cedes the outfield (except with 11 or 54) and leaves
return shots.
 4: Black leads 5-2 to 11
12/6, 8/4 Over the board the "safe" 12/8, 7/1 was played. Black's game plan here is
to bear in, not to block. The two numbers that hit are probably game winners, but
the alternative play is so antipositional that it proves to be a blunder.
 5: Black leads 5-3 to 11
6/2*, 2/1* Sometimes the best offense is a good offense. The second best choice,
making the 5pt, achieves point parity while leaving two blots exposed, with 5s and
3s hitting, and even numbers generally playing well. The play over the board was
about 7% worse than the double hit. In the game 24/23, 15/11 was played. This still
leaves ten shots, with most of the missing numbers leading to at least an advanced
anchor.
 6: Black trails 3-7 to 11
Bar/21, 6/4* Hitting from the 8pt leaves 22 covers (44 isn't exactly a cover),
instead 12, though no extra returns should White enter. But 2s do lift, and escaping
(or anchoring should the need arise) is much easier from the 21pt.
 7: Black tied 7-7 to 11
13/11, 8/4 Who is stripped, and who should strip? It seems natural, since you leave
a blot on the 11pt anyway, to clear the 15pt. But Black has time. Meanwhile, the
point exerts quite a bit of outfield control, and provides potential builders for
Black's outfield. Clearing is about a 9% blunder.
 8: Black tied 7-7 to 11, cube actions?
Double/Pass I just finished reading Le Morte de Arthur. Knights are always getting
into hot water: sleeping with the king's wife, killing their mother, keeping a
dungeon full of virgins, etc. Then they have to do penance by wearing shirts made
of coarse hair, hiking to Dover on their knees, or going crazy and running around
the forest like a madman for a few years. I need to do penance. Years ago positions
kept popping up where I was one-six primed, as here, and with a racing lead, to my
surprise, the bot kept telling me to take. Unfortunately, the bot was Jellyfish, and its
advice was wrong, but I got the advice stuck in my head. I won't tell you how bad
my take was, but it was "hair shirt, knees to Dover, madman in the forest bad."
Unfortunately my Thai tailor would charge extra for a bolt of hair, I am in the
wrong country for Dover, and Singapore has an ordinance prohibiting mad acts in
its forests. All I can do is publicly shame myself by including it in this quiz.
 9: Black trails 8-9 to 11
8/5, 6/5 Making the 4pt is an error. Making the anchor with 24/21, 13/11 is a blunder.

10: Black tied 9-9 to 11

Bar/21*, 6/1 This is the sort of play hardly anyone made as recently as a few years ago.
Today there is a fair amount of confidence in the bot's understanding of backgames, and an
acknowledgment that most of us know less than we'd like to admit. The bot slots here. We
gain a little bit of timing if missed, and are thrilled to be hit.
Scoring:

90-100: A peach of a player!

70-80: A few sour grapes?

40-60: You were handed lemons, and failed to make lemonade.

20-30: I'm afraid you are a melonhead.

0-10: Strictly the pits!

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