Blue should preserve the prime while bringing the last back checker toward safety. Blue leads 110 to 174 pips, but White holds the 1 and 3 points and Blue’s six-point prime still does important work. Play 21/16 5/2, using a spare from the 5 point without opening any part of the prime from the 4 through 9 points. White must enter before moving another checker, giving Blue a chance to bring the exposed checker home. Hitting with 21/18* 18/13 sends another White checker back but loses 0.148 equity, a BLUNDER. White already has deep anchors, so another hit is not automatically useful. Keep the blockade intact and use the available spare rather than reward White with more time on the bar.

Blue should fight the priming battle without offering White an immediate inner board return hit. The race is close at 114 to 110 pips, and both sides have four-point primes, so preserving effective containment matters more than the small deficit. Play Bar/23* 8/7, sending White to the bar and adding a spare to the 7 point. The 9 point remains made, preventing White’s checker on Blue’s 3 point from jumping directly to safety with a 6. Breaking the 8 point is a concession, but the 7 point spare supports later inner board development. Bar/23* 6/5 loses 0.089 equity, a BLUNDER. It keeps the existing prime but leaves a blot on the 5 point that White can hit directly while entering.

Blue should maintain containment while moving the prime toward the home board. Blue leads 86 to 160 pips, but White’s anchors on the 2 and 3 points make a careless break more important than the large racing lead. Play 8/6 8/5, clearing the 8 point and placing spares on two useful home board points. The 9 point still stops a direct 6 from White’s 3 point, while the four-point prime from the 4 through 7 points remains intact. White may use the new gap, so this is managed containment rather than a permanent lock. Clearing the 7 point with 7/5 7/4 loses 0.083 equity, a BLUNDER. Keep the connected inner portion and the rear blocking point instead of opening a gap closer to White’s anchors.

Blue should keep White contained rather than weaken the prime for extra attacking material. Blue leads 114 to 139 pips, with a six-point prime from the 3 through 8 points and White’s last back checker exposed on the 2 point. Play 8/2* 2/1, hitting and keeping the five-point prime from the 3 through 7 points intact. White must enter before moving another checker, while Blue retains the 7 point at the rear of the blockade. The alternative 8/7 8/2* is almost equal, losing only 0.001 equity, so the exact choice between those two should not become a sweeping rule. By contrast, 8/2* 7/6 loses 0.082 equity, a BLUNDER. Breaking the 7 point as well gives up too much of the containing structure.

Blue should preserve the prime and collect the loose outside checkers rather than force a blitz. Blue trails 110 to 90 pips, but the five-point prime from the 3 through 7 points contains White’s checkers on the 1 and 2 points. Play 18/13 17/13, making the midpoint and bringing two scattered checkers together without disturbing the blockade. The spare checkers on the 5 and 6 points remain available for future rolls. Hitting and making the 2 point with 7/2* 6/2 is tempting, but it breaks the rear of the prime and leaves all three outside blots unresolved. That alternative loses just 0.016 equity, below an ERROR. This is a close choice between good plans, with orderly consolidation preferred to an immediate change of strategy.

Blue should strengthen the priming attack while improving the back checkers’ prospects. Blue trails 153 to 132 pips, but the four-point prime from the 5 through 8 points keeps White’s anchor on the 3 point under pressure. Play 24/23 13/8, bringing a midpoint spare into the building area while moving one back checker forward. Blue keeps every made point and gains another checker that can help extend the prime toward the 4 or 9 point. The split is not a promise of an immediate escape, since White still has several blocking points. Playing 13/7 instead loses 0.073 equity, an ERROR. That move leaves both back checkers on the 24 point and puts the new builder on the already made 7 point rather than the 8 point.

Blue should maintain the prime and bring the last outside checker into useful supporting range. Blue leads 97 to 143 pips, with White anchored on the 2 point behind Blue’s four-point prime from the 3 through 6 points. Play 14/9, keeping both the 8 and 11 points while bringing the loose checker closer to the board. The 8 point is especially useful because it prevents White from jumping directly from the anchor with a 6. The quiet alternative 14/11 5/3 is nearly equal, losing only 0.002 equity. The important mistake is 14/11 8/6, which loses 0.276 equity, a BLUNDER. That move breaks the 8 point and opens a direct escape route that the preferred play keeps closed.

Blue should preserve effective containment while bringing the outside checkers home. Blue leads 122 to 204 pips, but White’s anchors on the 2 and 3 points mean that a full prime cannot simply be carried unchanged into the bear-off. Play 18/13* 5/1, hitting the exposed checker while choosing which part of the stripped prime to release. The 5 point opens, but the four-point prime from the 6 through 9 points remains intact, keeping the higher escape routes difficult. Blue also retains the outside checkers on the 11 and 15 points for later movement. Playing 18/13* 9/5 instead loses 0.076 equity, an ERROR. That version opens the 9 point, giving White’s checkers on the 3 point a direct 6 to the rear of the blockade.

Blue should manage the prime patiently rather than rush the remaining outside checker home. Blue trails 94 to 71 pips, but White’s anchor on the 3 point is still trapped behind a six-point prime and White’s home board is concentrated on three deep points. Play 8/6 8/5, clearing the 8 point while keeping the 9 point and the four-point prime from the 4 through 7 points. The new spares help Blue handle later rolls without immediately breaking another useful point. White may enter the gap, but cannot jump directly from the anchor to the 9 point with a 6. Playing 13/8 loses 0.034 equity, an ERROR. Although that preserves the full prime for now, it uses the outside checker instead of improving the distribution for the next stage.

Blue should complete the prime before looking for another hit. Blue leads 114 to 200 pips, but White has five checkers on the 2 point, one on the 1 point, and another on the bar, so containment is the central task. Play Bar/23 15/11 10/8, entering and covering the 8 point to complete a six-point prime from the 3 through 8 points. White’s checkers on the 2 point then have no direct escape, even with a 6. The checker on the 11 point remains outside the prime as useful material for later rolls. Playing Bar/23 15/11 6/4 loses 0.114 equity, a BLUNDER. That alternative leaves the 8 point as a blot and spends the spare inside the board instead of completing the blockade.