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Piece handicap

Piece handicap

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To make a fair handicap, what difference in RHP rating do you think there should be for the higher rated player to give up a...

pawn?
knight?
rook?


Using data from the 1400+ database, playing white only gives a 10 point advantage (calculated from the expected result formula).


Can someone with Fritz or Rybka tell me what they think white's advantage is at the beginning?

And what they think white's disadvantage is at the beginning when missing

the c pawn
the f pawn
the c+f pawns
the g knight
the h rook

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Anyone?

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In case you are wondering what the study showed the rating equivalent of a pawn to be, I must point out that it is a tricky question. The problem is that when one side is up in material, sometimes it's because he's just outplayed his opponent, but other times it's because the opponent has sacrificed the material for some compensation. If we make the fair but arbitrary assumption that on average the player who is behind in material has 50% compensation for it, then the rating value of a pawn (without compensation) works out to about 200 points. In other words, if you outrate your opponent by 200 points but blunder away a pawn for nothing in the middlegame, the chances should be equal.

...statistics show that in (International) master play White is worth about forty rating points; since White's advantage is a half tempo, that means a tempo is worth about 80 points in the opening position. Gambit theory suggests that at the start a pawn is worth between two and three tempi, so if we use 2½ times 80 we get the same 200 figure.

So if you ever wondered what level player would be a fair match for Kasparov at knight odds in tournament play, multiply 200 by 3½ (I use this value because with all the pawns on the board the knight is worth more than its par value) to get 700 and subtract this from his rating. Kasparov's FIDE rating is 2815, so this calculation suggests that a FIDE 2115 (USCF 2165) player would be a fair opponent. A similar calculation suggests that Kasparov could probably give pawn and move to a "weak" (FIDE 2500) grandmaster, or pawn and two moves to an average international master (FIDE 2400, like myself), and be slightly favored.

http://home.comcast.net/~danheisman/Articles/evaluation_of_material_imbalance.htm

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I've actually read that, but I wonder if it is different for us on RHP. Players on RHP only get 1/4 the advantage out of being white as the are "supposed" to.

I imagine players here would be relatively better at taking an advantage of a material edge. But could they do as well with it against other RHP players as GM's do against other GM's?

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Originally posted by Jasen777
To make a fair handicap, what difference in RHP rating do you think there should be for the higher rated player to give up a...

pawn?
knight?
rook?


Using data from the 1400+ database, playing white only gives a 10 point advantage (calculated from the expected result formula).


Can someone with Fritz or Rybka tell me what they think white's ad ...[text shortened]... the beginning when missing

the c pawn
the f pawn
the c+f pawns
the g knight
the h rook
I am very much against piece handicaps due to normal openings and tactics being faulty. For example, a game without a knight could lead to a very quick devastating attack, in which, targeting squares a knight would normally have covered.

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That's why it's called a handicap.

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It was very popular before, nearly all unofficials world champion has player handicaped game.

but I've never seen queen handicap.

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Originally posted by AThousandYoung
In case you are wondering what the study showed the rating equivalent of a pawn to be, I must point out that it is a tricky question. The problem is that when one side is up in material, sometimes it's because he's just outplayed his opponent, but other times it's because the opponent has sacrificed the material for some compensation. If we make th ...[text shortened]...

http://home.comcast.net/~danheisman/Articles/evaluation_of_material_imbalance.htm
Really? I don't think thats accurate. I imagine Kasparov, or anyone near his calibre would resign instantly after blundering a piece to player rated FIDE 2115.

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