Cash game, center cube.

Should White double? If he doubles, should Black take or drop?

In the last post we talked about the importance of cube benchmark positions — positions where one of the cube decisions (either doubling or taking) was perfectly marginal, while the other was completely clear. Learning typical benchmark positions gives us the ability to analyze a wide variety of related positions over the board with unusual accuracy.

This position shows us another type of useful benchmark. We’re currently just four moves into the game. The opening sequence was

White: 5-3, making the 3-point.
Black: 4-3, bringing down two builders.
White: 6-2, hitting.
Black: 6-3, dancing.

With Black on the bar and White clearly having the upper hand, White now contemplates a double. Considering Sylvester’s three criteria for offering an initial double, here’s how White stands:

Race: solid edge for White. His hit and Black’s fan leaves White up 25 pips, 151 to 176.

Threats: small edge for White. He’s threatening to hit Black’s other blot, but White’s weak board means this is really just a threat to gain a little more ground in the race.

Position: Small but solid edge for White. He has a 2-point board, while Black’s board is undeveloped. White’s extra point, however, is just the 3-point, and there’s no prime in the immediate future. White has almost escaped one of his back checkers, another plus.

To summarize, White has a sizeable edge only in the race, while his other edges are small. Rollouts show that this is a small but correct double, which of course means that the take is very clear. White’s problem is simply that a big lead in the race isn’t as significant as one might think if the inner board is weak. The most likely sequences in that case are ones in which Black easily makes a good anchor or exchanges of hits occur; either of these scenarios minimizes White’s racing lead.

If you were at all tempted to drop this position as Black, just remember that the combination of a weak board, few builders, and an anchor for Black almost always guarantees an easy take. That’s the case here.

Once you know the value of this position in a cash game, you can easily make some practical adjustments for tournament play. If White were trailing in a match, this would be an easy double. If White were the better player, it would also be an easy double, since this will be a long game and White should expect to outplay Black in the later maneuvering.