On Sat, Jun 6, 2009 at 3:18 AM, Heikki Levanto<hei...@lsd.dk> wrote: > On Fri, Jun 05, 2009 at 03:49:11PM -0400, Don Dailey wrote: >> Handicap games opens a can of worms. > > Of course, any program is free to give its opponent any handicap it wants, > by passing in the opening (if the opponent didn't pass last). > > It is up to the operator of the bot to decide when and how much handicap to > give, and how to analyze the results. The handicap-giving program can play > under a different name, so that for CGOS it looks like a totally separate > entry, with its own rating.
This has a few problems: * Let's say black plays on D4 and then white passes, to give some handicap. Now black passes and wins the game by n^2 points, according to Tromp-Taylor rules. * Similarly, if black tries to give some handicap and passes on the first move, white may pass and win the game by komi. * Even if everyone agrees to not do this and continue playing until at least both players have one stone on the board, what happens when two programs that give handicap meet each other? * Then there is the minor issue that a program might place the handicap stones differently if it knows how many stones it can place before the opponent starts playing. Álvaro. _______________________________________________ computer-go mailing list computer-go@computer-go.org http://www.computer-go.org/mailman/listinfo/computer-go/
