The snail and the cheetah - non-random 21 vs 65

Let's pit the slowest of all rolls - 21 against the fastest non-double - 65 and see what happens.The game starts fairly normal. This time I'll be using a nice BGBlitz theme to show the positions.

1. White 21: 24/23, 13/11

2. Black 65: 24/13

 

3. White 21: 13/11 6/5

You see it coming already?

 

4. Black 65: 24/13

 

5. White 21: 11/9 6/5

 

Still no moves to write home about, but white now has made the 6 point and the 5 point, which can be annyoing if you (as black) only roll 65...

 

6. Black 65: 13/2*

 

Not many alternatives here, but now a 21 will cause serious trouble for black.

 

7. White 21: Bar/23 23/22

 

 And with this position, a 36 move dance nightmare begins for the black cheetah, sitting helplessly on the bar, while the snail moves forward...

and forward...

and forward.

(I hope you understand that I'm sparing you the boring details)

 

Until in the end...

black can come in with a 6! Yay!

In the remaining game, even the big 65 rolls are not enough to catch up. In this position, black resigns.

Now that was unexpected. I was expecting a tough fight, where white falls behind in the race, needs to keep contact, etc.

But of course, with 6 being made from the beginning and 5 being the most important point, always rolling 65 can be painful.