Newsletter for 10 February 2004

Valentine's Day Edition

On Tuesday, 10 February 2004, the Backgammon Club of San Diego met, and we once again filled a 16-player bracket.

Tournament News

Nine people entered an 16-player bracket on Tuesday night. We had the following tournament results:

First place: Bruce Haight
Second place: Adrian Costa
Third place: Tom Fahland

For the first time all year, the tournament played to conclusion, as nobody split the results in the first place or third place matches. By sticking to the preset schedule of when matches must be played to five points, when they must be played to seven points, and when they must be played with the clock, the club is really able to keep the tournament moving well. Additionally, several people entered or reentered directly into the second round. An initial entry or reentry into the second round costs $20 -- and a side pool initial entry costs $20. If you reenter into the second round, you don't need to pay any additional money to be in the side pool. Once in the side pool, always in the side pool.

Current Master Points Standings

Bruce has extended his lead in the Master Point race with his win on Tuesday night. Here are the updated standings:

 1. Bruce Haight     24
 2. Adrian Costa     16
 3. Jason Lee        11
 4. Marcia Karen      9
 5. Sho Sengoku       8
 6. Osman Guner       6
 7. Cyrus Mobedshahi  6
 8. Tom Fahland       2
 9. Fred Kamgar       1
10. Sam Mehri         1

Remember that the point leader at the end of the year will be named the BCSD Player of the Year, and the top 16 in the Master Point standings will be invited to the 2004 BCSD Tournament of Champions, to be held in early 2005.

Problem of the Week

What is the correct settlement for the following bearoff position?

+-13-14-15-16-17-18-+---+-19-20-21-22-23-24-+

| |

| |

+-12-11-10--9--8--7-+---+--6--5--4--3--2--1-+

Money game. Black on roll. Cube action?
Pip counts: White 7, Black 3

Last Week's Problem of the Week

+-13-14-15-16-17-18-+---+-19-20-21-22-23-24-+

+-12-11-10--9--8--7-+---+--6--5--4--3--2--1-+

Match to 7, tied 5-5, Black on roll. Cube action? Pip counts: White 164, Black 167

This is the position that arises after White opens with a 2-1 by slotting, with the score 2-away/2-away. Should Black cube?

The simple answer is: yes, if you feel like it! Look at what GNU has to say:

Cube decision

4-ply cubeless equity -0.022 (Money: -0.019)

0.490 0.146 0.008 - 0.510 0.148 0.006

Cubeful equities:

1. No double -0.049

2. Double, pass +1.000 +1.049

3. Double, take -0.049 +0.000

Proper cube action: Optional double, take

Cube decision
4-ply cubeless equity	-0.022	(Money: -0.019)
	0.490 0.146 0.008 - 0.510 0.148 0.006
Cubeful equities:
1.	No double	-0.049
2.	Double, pass	+1.000	+1.049
3.	Double, take	-0.049	+0.000
Proper cube action:	Optional double, take

Optional? GNU seems to be saying that it doesn't matter whether or not Black doubles. What's really going on here? It's possible that more has been written about 2-away/2-away cube action than all others put together. Instead of rehashing everything, we'll go with the super quick quick version here -- it's quite difficult to make a mistake by doubling early at 2-away/2-away, and if you're at all concerned about making a mistake with the cube, perhaps your best bet is to not put yourself in a sticky situation -- ship that cube on over, and you won't make a mistake!

See you next week! Keep tossing those cubes,
J. Lee

Output generated by GNU Backgammon 0.14-devel (HTML Export version 1.123)