The last event of The Jamzu Daily Double 2 series on Touch Arcade was the open round of the Thursday Triple Twist. Several players had entered moves via PM in the first round, but no one had gotten all three positions correct. The Triple Twist turned out to be an epic battle between the two top players from the JDD 2 series, TheSporkWithin and Khamous. Each had won two contests in the JDD 2.

POSITION ONE Red to move with a six.

POSITION TWO Red to move with a six.

POSITION THREE Red to move with a five.

After PM’ing the players with their results from round one, I started the open round. Both players now knew they had the correct answers for positions one and two. The final contest would be over position three, the toughest position of the Triple Twist.

Spork and Khamous both came back lightning fast with identical guesses for their next shots, with Spork’s PM coming just seconds ahead of Khamous! But both made the same wrong guess for position three, trying H4-G3.

I PM’d the results again. This time, Khamous came back first with the next shot. He *almost* had the correct move, guessing H4-E7. About 20 seconds later, Spork landed his killer blow, taking the longest possible move with the H4 jammer, and nailing H4-C7!

TheSporkWithin took First Place in the Triple Twist, in what couldn’t have been a closer or more hard fought battle with Khamous. Super congrats, Spork!

Spork won a $25 iTunes Gift Card for his First Place finish.

From all the initial entries in the first round of the Triple Twist, only Kevd had actually spotted the correct H4-C7 for position three, along with his other correct guess for position one.

For the Second Place prize, the entries were selected from the remaining players who had submitted at least two out of three moves correct in the first round: Kevd, haffertee, and cathy. Cathy won the drawing, and took the Second Place prize of a $15 iTunes Gift Card. Congrats, cathy!

Thanks to everyone who participated in the incredibly exciting Jamzu Daily Double 2 series! We’re looking forward to running the JDD 3, probably starting around May 22! Stay tuned for more details.

Cheers,
~Doug

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Analysis of the Thursday Triple Twist best moves:

Position One

Best Move: E6-A6
- Unblocks Red and blocks Blue. (total block switch)
- Fully opens lane 6 for Red for a maximum long move.
- Stops Blue in lane 6 from scoring.

Other Move:

C3-E5
- Partial block switch.
- Unblocks runner that’s furthest behind.
- But doesn’t open any lanes for Red.
- Can do this kind of move against Blue in lane 5 later easily.

Position Two

Best Move: G2-C6
- Total block switch.
- Starts unblocking Red’s most vulnerable runner.
- Red can continue, in next moves while he controls lane 2, to attack Blue with the E2 and B2 jammers.
- Stops blue from scoring in lane 6.

Other Move:

B5-H5
- Opens Red for a max run in lane 5.
- Blocks Blue in more tightly on the starting position in lane 5.
- But leaves open Blue for a score in lane 6.
- Also does not help Blue’s most vulnerable runner at A2, which is quickly becoming trapped. If Blue further attacks Red in lane 2 with the I3 and I5 jammers, Red could be in very serious early trouble here. B5-H5 is a strong move, but G2-C6 is overall better right now.

Position Three

Best Move: H4-C7
- Total block switch.
- Opens Red in lane 4 for the longest possible run and even a score.
- Red’s runner in lane 4 is also most vulnerable to a counterattack by Blue from the D7 jammer, so giving him a chance to escape now is best.
- Clears the H4 jammer as far away from Red’s runners as possible. Blue can’t easily flip the jammer back again to attack Red.

Other Moves:

H4-G3
- Total block switch, also opens lane 4.
- But leaves jammer on G3 in place to harass Red on lanes 2, 4, 6 or 7.
- Makes it harder to clear H2 jammer out of the way in lane 2. Red could use H2 to attack Blue in lanes 3 or 7, but only if G3 is clear.

H4-C3
- Very similar to, and probably equal to H4-C7. Possibly slightly better.

H2-G3
- Total block switch.
- But doesn’t open runner in lane 4 for escape and max possible run.
- Jammer on G3 can be used against Red again in lanes 4, 6 or 7.
- Better to do H4-C7 or H4-C3 first, and then this if you have the chance.

H2-C3
- Total block switch.
- Probably even better than H2-G3 in that is gets the jammer further away from harassing Red.
- But doesn’t open runner in lane 4 for escape and max possible run.

The fifth and final day of The Jamzu Daily Double 2 series on Touch Arcade brought a rare Daily Double where not a single player got even one move correct in the first round. This is the first time that’s happened in the JDD competitions!

POSITION ONE Red to move with a three.

POSITION TWO Red to move with a six.

The tricky element with these two positions was the fact they both had moves that were good, and very close, to the best. After sending out PMs that all said the same thing (”none correct”), I wondered if we’d have a contest that would go all the way to the third round. Only a couple of minutes after I gave the GO! for round two, Khamous put that idea instantly to rest, with the correct answers for both positions! Congrats, Khamous on a second win in the JDD 2 series!

With two wins apiece for TheSporkWithin and Khamous, we now had the open round of the Triple Twist coming in just half an hour. Would there be a tie-breaker win between these two players for the final victory of the JDD 2 series? I had no idea what an insanely close battle was about to commence!

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

Cheers,
~Doug

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Analysis of Sunday’s best moves:

Position One

Best Move: B3-E2
- Unblocks Red and Blue, blocks Blue (partial block switch)
- Stops Blue from scoring in wide open lane 2.
- Opens lane 3 for Red, while also giving Red a shot at the jump in lane 3 if Blue does not score on his next turn.
- Allows the Red runner in lane 3 a chance to escape before Blue starts trapping him with moves like I4-H3, I5-G3, etc.
- Yes, this move does allow the Blue runner in lane 3 to score. But if you don’t block lane 2, you’re allowing that runner to score anyways. Allowing Blue off in lane 3 now is fine, as this lane is only going to become a liability for Red if he leaves the runner on A3. Use the roll of 3 to both stop Blue in another lane, open your runner’s lane, and prevent longer-term damage where Blue would otherwise try to trap you.

Other Moves:

B5-E6
- Similar to B3-E2, with partial block switch, and opens lane 5 for Red (but not fully!)
- Does not stop a potential attack on A3 by Blue.

B3-E6
- Similar to B3-E2, with partial block switch, and benefit of allowing Red to move his A3 runner before it gets trapped.
- But doesn’t have the benefits of stopping Blue in lane 2.

B7-E6
- Unblocks Red and Blue, blocks Blue (partial block switch)
- Opens Red for a long run in lane 7.
- But doesn’t have any of the other benefits of B3-E2.

Position Two

Best Move: D6-B6
- Opens Red runner while keeping the block on Blue in the same lane.
- Takes control of lane 6 for Red, preventing any damage from the jammers at C3 or E3.
- By keeping the block on Blue in lane 6, you don’t open Blue for his longest possible run in lane 6, which could include a jump!

Other Moves:

D6-B4
- Does block Blue’s C4 runner from scoring, and does take control of lane 6 for Red.
- But does allow Blue both a shot at long run, with a score and a jump, in lane 6. This would allow Blue a chance to get way ahead in the race, which right now is very even.