ODDS-GAMES

***** ODDS-GAMES *****  

The purpose of odds is to change the conditions of a match between two
players of widely differing strengths so that the weaker player has a
better chance of winning.  There are two types of odds available on the
ICC: time odds, and material odds.  In a time-odds game, the two players
have different amounts of time.  In a material-odds game, the two players
start with different sets of pieces.

A TIME-ODDS challenge is made by adding additional numbers to the match
command.  For example if you typed:

    match Darooha 1 4 2 12   

you would start with 1 minute (and have a 4 second increment), and Darooha
would start with 2 minutes (with 12 second increment).  You would only want
to do this if you were much better than Darooha!  All time odds games are
unrated.

Suggested time odds for 0 increment games, based on rating-point differences
between the two players are:

   Rating Point Spread                  Time in minutes
            0                                  5 versus 5
          200                                  4 versus 6
          400                                  3 versus 7
          600                                  2 versus 8
          800                                  1 versus 10

A MATERIAL-ODDS challenge is made by specifying a wild designator (such as
"w10") in the match command.  (This must appear in the command somewhere
after the name of the opponent.)  The color you desire may also be
specified.  For example:

   match Darooha w11 white   

issues a challenge to Darooha for a wild 11 (knight odds) game, in which you
will be white.  For all of the odds games (except w10) the stronger player
should get white.  Wild 10, 11, 12, 13, are pawn, knight, rook and
queen odds, respectively.  Wild 14 is a variation of rook odds.

See also: match, wild, wild10, wild11, wild12, wild13, wild14