The fifth day of The Jamzu Daily Double on Touch Arcade featured two challenging positions whose best moves had a similar theme – blocking Blue in an open lane.

POSITION ONE Red to move with a six.

POSITION TWO Red to move with a one.

This time up, CzarCastic struck hard just a couple of minutes into round one, with the correct guess on position one, I4-E6. Several players, including previous winners haffertee and Khamous, went for the more obvious, but incorrect, H3-B5 with their first guesses.

No one, however, saw the best move G1-H2 for position two in the first round. After I PM’d the first round players with their results, I opened the second round.

With the move I4-E6 out of the bag, I had a feeling the win would happen quickly. Sure enough, haffertee and Khamous were like lightning with correct guesses in the second round. Khamous managed to barely edge out haf on the clock, taking his third victory in the Daily Double series! Khamous proved his Jamzu Move Champion 2010 title was well-earned.

The first series of the Jamzu Daily Double was a total blast, and we want to send out a huge “thank you!” to everyone who participated in these challenging contests.

Everyone is looking forward to series 2 of The Jamzu Daily Double, set to start on March 24!

A $15 iTunes Gift Card will be given away to each day’s winner! New players can join at any time.

Cheers,
~Doug

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Analysis of Friday’s best moves:

Posistion One

Best Move: I4-E6
- Unblocks Red and blocks Blue.
- Opens lane 4 for a potential good run or move off.
- Blocks Blue, in the most effective way possible, in lane 6, where he is threatening to make a long run.
- The E6 block will be very hard for Blue to flip back against Red.

Other Moves:

H3-B5
- Does unblock Red and blocks Blue.
- But does not open any lanes for Red.
- Easy for Blue to flip this block back to Red with B5-D3. Blue couldn’t do this as long as you controlled lane 3, but there is no need to force yourself to do that right now.
- Better to pass on H3-B5 right now. Instead, do I4-E6 first to stop Blue in lane 6 as much as possible, and if you get the chance later, then do H3-B5.

E3-C5

- This opens Blue in lane 3 too much and too early.
- Blue’s lane 5 runner is already blocked, not much gained with this.
- No open lane for Red.
- Leaves lane 6 wide open for Blue.
- Blue can move ahead in lane 3, and even block behind his lane 3 runner with the D5 and C7 jammers if he has the chance.

Position Two

Best Move: G1-H2 or G1-F2
- Blocks Blue from making a run for it in lane 2.
- G1-H2 blocks Blue the tightest, but also bottles up the I3 jammer a bit for Red.
- G1-F2 blocks Blue partially, but does allow the possible follow-up of I3-H2 if Blue doesn’t get past I2 in lane 2.
- Overall, these two moves are equally good.

Other Moves:

B7-A6
- This does open lane 7 for Red.
- Better to wait for something that would allow you to block Blue in lanes 2, 3 or 5 with this jammer.

Really, only G1-H2 or G1-F2 is a good move for Red in this position.

The fourth day of The Jamzu Daily Double on Touch Arcade was a another wild day! The position I thought would be harder turned out to be guessed pretty quickly by a couple of the players, and the one I thought would be easier actually turned out to be quite tricky!

POSITION ONE Red to move with a five.

POSITION TWO Red to move with a three.

This time cathy and Khamous both guessed the twisted jammer move in position one very quickly. I didn’t think this would be quite so easy to spot, but they were right on it!

However, in position two, the intuitively more obvious move of A3 just sat there, with nobody daring to believe that could actually be the right move!

After a few minutes of tense waiting to see if anyone would make the post with both moves correct, I closed the first round. When I opened the second round, I thought for sure the winning post would come instantly, but still, for a couple of minutes, A3 was passed by in the first posts.

Haffertee, who chose to play from the sidelines this time, wondered aloud “what happened to Khamous?” There was no quick guess from Khamous when the second round opened.

The moment after hafertee posted the question, Khamous came back with the answer: The best moves for both positions! Khamous had decided to take a longer moment to reflect on his second round choices. His extra thought paid off, and he came in for the win. Congrats, Khamous!

Looking forward to the grand finale at 9pm ET tonight!

A $15 iTunes Gift Card will be given away to each day’s winner! New players can join at any time.

Cheers,
~Doug

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Analysis of Thursday’s best moves:

Posistion One

Best Move: G3-B4
- Unblocks Red and blocks Blue.
- Opens lane 3 for a potential good run.
- Really the only good move Red has here.

Other Moves:

E1-B4
- The only other decent option to block Blue with a 5.

Position Two

Best Move: A3
- Take the opportunity to get Red runner A3 advanced with a jump.
- If you don’t move A3 now, Blue could trap him with the blocks B4-C3 or F5-D3.
- Gets most vulnerable Red runner advanced at a good time, while Blue is blocked up pretty well everywhere already.

Other Moves:

H2
- Not necessary now. H2 is in no danger at all of being blocked.

F5-C4
- Does unblock Red and blocks Blue.
- But opens lane 5 for Blue, and with an easy jump! Better to wait for something like F5-D5 here.

G7-F6
- Unblocks both Red and Blue, and blocks Blue behind Red in lane 6.
- But would be better to do something like G7-E7 with this jammer.
- A3 is more important to move now, then work on keeping Blue bottled up in lanes 6 and 7.

The third day of The Jamzu Daily Double on Touch Arcade started out with some light banter, as the contestants wondered if the positions would be as tricky as Day Two, and also if they’d see a new winner besides haffertee or Khamous!

POSITION ONE Red to move with a five.

POSITION TWO Red to move with a three.

Well, the positions this day may have been a bit clearer, but we did have a repeat winner!

The lightning fast competition saw seang make the first post, finding the tricky rebound in position one instantly and coming extremely close to nailing the second one as well! Only a minute later, haffertee jumped in with both correct moves!

Both moves were seen within the first minute of the competition, just not by the same player. This time Khamous was the first player to see the right move for position two, but he missed the more tricky position one move.

This day was a contest that rewarded very quick thinking under pressure. Several players almost had it right off the bat, but haffertee came through for the win! Congrats, haffertee!

A $15 iTunes Gift Card will be given away to each day’s winner! New players can join at any time.

Cheers,
~Doug

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Analysis of Wednesday’s best moves:

Posistion One

Best Move: J3-G6
- Unblocks Red in lane 3 for a potential good move off.
- Blocks Blue up more where he is vulnerable in lane 6.

Other Moves:

G7
- No need to do this now when you’ve got the stronger move in J3-G6
- You’ll still likely have a good chance to get the jump on Blue in lane 7 later.
- Kind of a waste of the 5 roll.

Moving H2 or E2 jammers
- Moving E2 definitely too dangerous, letting Blue free too early, or even allowing him to move off immediately with a 6.
- Wait for potential better move for H2, like H2-H6, or even H2-G7 if you get G7 off soon and Blue runner 7 is still in the back rows.

Position Two

Best Move: B3-E2
- Follows the fundamental opening game principle of getting your runner lanes open, while blocking simultaneously if you can.
- Fully opens lane 3 for Red, for maximum possible advance.
- If Blue advances next in lane 3, Red could have a good shot at the jump.
- Stops Blue cold in lane 2, where he is wide open for a good advance or move off.
- Having a Blue runner blocked at F2 makes it more problematic for Blue to get his I5 jammer out of the way.

Other Moves:

H2
- Not necessary now. H2 is in almost no danger of being blocked any time soon. If Blue should try the lone block of F5-I2, not only would he be wasting a good lane opening move, but Red could easily use the I2 jammer right back at Blue.

A7
- Does advance a runner somewhat in the opening game.
- But would be better to use a 4 or 5 to advance in lane 7.
- Does not accomplish nearly as much as B3-E2.
- Does not open any lanes for a following high roll runner advance.

The second day of The Jamzu Daily Double on Touch Arcade featured a position that was a real mind-twister. The contest went into the third round, but Khamous nailed the right move for this twisted 6 position right after the third round began to take the day’s prize!

POSITION ONE Red to move with a four.

POSITION TWO Red to move with a six.

Once again, TheSporkWithin got the first correct move in the contest. Most everyone else was going for G7-C7 in the first position, but Spork got the right idea with G7-E7. After that, position one was a done deal.

But the second position was the real crazy one. Several players got very close with the moves H6-D6 and G6-A4. The best move was just enough out of sight to be overlooked. When I kicked off the third round, I dropped the big hint that the best move started with H6, and Khamous, who earlier in the contest was perplexed by the legality of H6-D6, came back with the winning twist: H6-D4.

It was a tense day’s contest in The Jamzu Daily Double series. Extremely challenging! But everyone is looking forward to the third round, Wednesday (tonight) at 9pm ET!

A $15 iTunes Gift Card will be given away to each day’s winner! New players can join at any time.

Cheers,
~Doug

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Here’s the full analysis of Tuesday’s best moves:

Position One

Best Move: G7-E7
- Unblocks Red and maintains a block on Blue’s most vulnerable runner.
- Sets up Red in lane 7 for a nice move off with a roll of 4 or more.
- Takes the potential block G7-H2 away from Blue.

Other Move:
E6-A4
- Opens Blue up in lane 6 way too early. Yes, you block the Blue runner at B4, but if Blue runner F6 got off now, you’d lose all of your lead in the race, and then possibly leave the Red A6 runner a sitting duck for future blocks, including the reversable block at A4. Better to first move Red A6 runner forward a bit, and then try to block behind him with E6, G6 or E7.

Position Two

Best Move: H6-D4
- Unblocks Red and blocks Blue.
- Is a “one way block” that cannot be flipped back to block Red lane 6 runner again (at least not any time soon). Also much harder for Blue to ever use D4 to block Red’s lane 7 runner, and pointless for Blue to use D4 to block Red in lane 2, at least while his J2 runner is sill there.
- Blocks behind Red E4 runner, allowing Red to clear the jammers at H4 and F4 more safely.

Other Moves:
H2-B2
- Way too early to open the door to Blue’s lane 2 runner. Any high roll and J2 can just take off. And if Blue gets a 6, he’s gone with a jump! Better to move Red lane 2 runner ahead then try to block closer behind possibly with H2-F2, or with either of the H4 and F4 jammers.

H6-D6
- Does something similar to to best move H6-D4, but weaker.
- Blue can easily reverse the D6 block over to Red’s most vulnerable runner A7, blocking on E7.
- Blue could also flip a D6 block right back to Red on H6 again.

G6-A4
- Even more similar to best move H6-D4, but also even weaker than move H6-D6.
- Does not block Blue in lane 4 in an effective way.
- Can still be revesed right back to Red’s most vulnerable runner, this time on D7.

The overall strategy with H6-D4 is to first get the great block on D4, then immediately start unburying A7 by attacking Blue with the B7 jammer in lanes 4, 5 or 6. As soon as A7 is unburied, you could hope to make a run for it in lane 7. After getting lane 7 a bit forward, then you could go for an all out assault on blue in lanes 2 and 4, his weak spots.

Another possible alternative could be to maintain control in lane 6 by moving G6 next, and then hoping to make a run for it in lane 6. Then start with lane 7 immediately afterward, but I think I would lean toward getting lane 7 going next.

With a roll of 3, you could first take the chance to move D2 in tight, and then follow with one of the other strategies above.

The Jamzu Daily Double on Touch Arcade started off with a bang, with the two positions below.

POSITION ONE Red to move with a one.

POSITION TWO Red to move with a six.

Several players guessed A7, incorrectly, for the first position best move. The fully open lane 7 was deceiving, and at first no one saw the better move at A2.

TheSporkWithin was the first player to get a best move correct, with B7-B3 in the second position. On the second round, though, TheSporkWithin also missed A2.

Finally, in the second round, haffertee came through with both best moves, and won the first day’s prize!

Here are my reasons for the two best moves:

(1) A2 is a must! If you happen to be unlucky enough to get another roll of 1 (or also with a 3 if you want), then you can block behind with B3-A2. A7 would not allow this option.

(2) B7-B3 is the overall best here. You need to open the lane 7 runner and take control of the lane. Getting this runner a chance to escape now is best. The G2 runner can go some other time, and is not in any danger of being blocked.

After the contest was over, Khamous PM’d me with some very persuasive logic for B3-C4 as a potential better move than A2 in the first position. The gist of his reasoning is that you get three open lanes with this move, that you can potentially move forward in lane 3 where Blue is already double-blocked, and then attack behind in this lane, and that B6-C5 is not as strong because Blue can also open in lane 6, potentially getting free.

Looking at this idea more, though, I thought if Blue was lucky and got a 6 next roll, the possibility of I4-C6 made Khamous’ suggestion too dangerous. But Khamous stuck to his guns, and backed up his reasoning even more. At this point, I agreed that that B3-C4 could be stronger, but it would take a lot more analysis to sort it out fully.

It was a great start to The Jamzu Daily Double series, and everyone is looking forward to the second round, Tuesday (tonight) at 9pm ET!

A $15 iTunes Gift Card will be given away to each day’s winner! New players can join at any time.

Cheers,
~Doug