ODDS GAMES

Giving odds (giving a handicap) was popularly used in chess games of the 18th and 19th centuries, when chess was often played for money stakes, in order to induce weaker players to play for wagers.  Odds games are often used in modern times to equalize the playing field against strong computer programs.  Odds games compensate for the difference in skill between two players and thus enable a weaker player to have a chance of winning against a stronger one.

There are many kinds of such handicaps:

1. Material odds

2. Extra moves (i.e., the weaker player can play the first two or more moves at the beginning of the game)

3. Extra time for moving within the time control

4. Weighting of results (such as "draw odds," the counting of a draw as a loss for the odds-giver)

5. Physical restrictions (such as blindfold games)

6. Special conditions (such as requiring the odds-giver to achieve victory in a particular way)

Various permutations of these are also possible.

The possibility of Camelot odds games was first mentioned by WCF member Pete Maller.

Using handicap #6, the stronger player could be disallowed from winning by castling two of his pieces (that is, he could be forced to capture all of his opponent's pieces in order to win).  Or the weaker player could be allowed to win by only castling one of his pieces.  Or the stronger player could be prohibited from using a Knight's Charge.  There are many possibilities.

Handicap #1 would of course be the most common type of Camelot odds game.  Following is a table of all material odds giving choices.  It makes use of the current Knight-Man Valuation formula:

N = 1 + (X - 1) ln(P) / ln(14)

Where: The value of a Man is 1.0000, N is the value of a Knight, P is the total number of uncastled friendly pieces, and X is the user-defined value of N when P equals 14 (at the start of the game).  You can learn more about the Knight-Man Valuation formula here.

For this table, X was set at 2.2500.