odds GENERAL INFORMATION ------------------- Odds is a variant to regular chess. In odds games, a stronger player gives a weaker player some type of an advantage, to "even up the odds." There are several ways to do this in chess games. Two common methods for giving odds in chess games are material odds and time odds. In material odds, the player who is given the odds begins with a material advantage. The player who is giving the odds starts the game without one (or possibly more) of his chess pieces. In time odds, the player who is giving the odds starts the game with less time than his opponent. Material odds games are directly supported by FICS, via the "Odds" category. Time odds is not directly supported by FICS, but there is a way to make almost any game equivalent to a time odds game. For how to do that, see below in the "Time Odds" section. Odds games on FICS are always unrated. Odds games are nonstandard (marked as "n" in "games" and "history" listings). (One exception to this rule is that the "gstat", "hstat", and "pstat" commands do not count games from the Odds category as nonstandard games.) The Odds Category ----------------- In odds games on FICS, "Odds" is the category, and there are 10 different starting positions in this category. These starting positions are called "boards". For a list of the starting board positions in the "Odds" category, type "boards odds". In the first five odds boards, the player with the WHITE pieces starts with one less piece than normal. The missing piece can be any one of a pawn, knight, bishop, rook or queen. This is called "piece odds." In the second five odds boards, the player with the BLACK pieces starts with one less piece than normal. Again, the missing piece can be any one of a pawn, knight, bishop, rook or queen. Since the player giving the odds is playing with the black pieces, he is giving his opponent two advantages: one more piece, AND the first move. This is called "piece and move odds." For pawn odds, the King Bishop Pawn (white's f2 pawn) is removed. For knight odds, the Queen Knight (white's b1 knight) is removed. For bishop odds, the Queen Bishop (white's c1 bishop) is removed. For rook odds, the Queen Rook (white's a1 rook) is removed. For queen odds, the Queen is removed. For piece-and-move odds, the same piece is removed as in piece odds, except that it is black's piece that is removed rather than white's. When giving rook odds, the pawn in front of the missing rook's square is always advanced one square. This is standard practice for rook odds games. PLAYING ODDS GAMES ON FICS -------------------------- To start an odds game on FICS you need to use the "match" command. (You can seek for odds games, but it's a waste of time. Very few players will ever see such a seek, and no one ever accepts this type of seek.) When challenging someone to an odds game, it is VERY IMPORTANT to always include the color for YOUR pieces in the match command you issue. If you don't do this, then the server will determine who gets which color. In that case, the odds might be given to the wrong player. The general syntax for the match command to use for an odds game is: match <handle> <time> <increment> <color> odds <board> -- EXAMPLES OF MATCH COMMANDS FOR ODDS GAMES -- (In both of these examples, the time controls are 2 12, and the player being challenged is DAV.) For you to play with the white pieces, and begin with one less pawn, the command would be: match DAV 2 12 white odds pawn For you to play with the black pieces, and begin with one less rook, the command would be: match DAV 2 12 black odds rook-and-move The player you are challenging must have a formula which allows nonstandard games, or they must have no formula at all. Also, their formula must allow challenges that include the color of the pieces for the person who is issuing the challenge. Again, if they have no formula at all, that will work too. Time Odds --------- Time odds is not inherently supported by FICS. Both players must always start every game with the same amount of time on their clocks. However, there is a very easy way to make a game equivalent to a time odds game. Once the game has started, the stronger player simply uses the "moretime" command to add extra time to his opponent's clock. Games turned into time odds games in this way will still be considered as normal games by the FICS server. They will not be marked as nonstandard odds games. SEE ALSO -------- boards category clocks match moretime ratings seek AUTHORS ------- Created: January 05, 2000 afw Last modified: December 4, 2022 mattuc
