Adjusting To Match Play Reviewed

 

Back in the twenties, the previous ones since we are again back in the twenties, there was a popular detective named Philo Vance. I read one of the novels, and the only thing I remember of it, aside from the killer being a surprise, was its improbable method of solution. In the denouement the hero listed the one hundred and three pertinent facts need to solve the crime, and said that during the previous evening he rearranged them in every possible order, and when he hit upon the right one, everything fell into place, and the mystery was solved. The number of possible orderings is 103! Perhaps I should make it “103!!” because the first exclamation mark makes it “one-oh-three factorial,” and not “one-oh-three OMFG!” Though both are appropriate. It is an enormous number, more than the atoms in the known universe, or the number of times Trump has declared bankruptcy. Still, there is something to be said for imposing order upon chaos, and that is what Nick Blasier has tried to do in Adjusting To Match Play. I speak as someone who started doing something similar more than twenty years ago. While I will probably never return to that project, which I intended to call Penetrating Match Play, never say never, so I won’t go into how my organization would differ from Nick’s. His ordering is an effective solution, and that is what matters.

 

Though he recaps the basics, if you are a beginner, it would be best to learn them elsewhere, perhaps in Kit’s book on tournament play, before diving in here. Here is the first position in the book:

 

Black leads 3 – 0 to 5 and is on roll. Assuming the reader is comfortable with XG Roller output, she will discover that despite Black being the leader, and a substantial underdog with only 36.11% winning chances, the proper cube action is double/take. He provides this simply to show the sorts of remarkable situations which can arise in match play, but does not get bogged down explaining them here. Nor will I, except to show that complete beginners might already find themselves outside of their comfort zone. If you are comfortable reading XG output, and have previously encountered concepts such as takepoints and gammon prices, you will be fine. Anyone from solid intermediate and up should have no trouble reading the book, and even experts will, I think, benefit.

 

Some situations are unique. For instance, free takes. There is little reason to seek out and find some oddball position which might be a take at 1-away, 7-away post-Crawford, but a pass at 1-away, 3-away. Better to give some examples of how deep one may take, as for instance:

 

Leading 3-away post-Crawford, White still has a bare take. She loses 55% plain games and 21% gammons, but still may take. It is unlikely any Black will wait long enough to try to diddle White out of .013, but if you find yourself here, don’t be swindled.

 

Most situations are presented as comparisons. For example:

 

 

This is a big pass for money, but how about when Black is the leader at: 2A3A, 3A4A, or 2A4A? I think most experienced players know that doubling when leading 2A is a blunder, but it might be nice to know how large. It’s a quadruple whopper at 2A3A, and a nonuple whopper at 2A4A. You cannot nibble on nonuple whoppers, no matter how nourishing they seem! How about 3A4A? That’s a tough score! It turns out that doubling is correct, but so is taking, though it is .955, so hard to swallow.

 

The book does look at some checker plays, but primarily covers match cubes, for matches of up to seven points. The sections include quizzes at the ends so that you may gauge your grasp of its concepts. At just over three hundred pages, with several hundred diagrams, there is plenty of meat, even more than on a nonuple whopper. I will leave you with one more position, to whet your appetite.

 

 

Black has 122 pips to Whites 139. What are the correct cube actions for money, or when Black trails 3A2A, 4A3A, or 4A2A? I will give you a hint: one is different from the other three.

 

Have you decided? Three of them are proper doubles, though all are fairly close, and it would be a whopper, nearly a whopper with cheese, to pass. But for one of them, it would be a whopper with cheese to take. Which? It’s a big pass at 3A2A.