At 12:21 PM 5/19/2009, you wrote:
rcs@xmission.com wrote:
... Question for the Go players among us: Does a handicap of 6 stones mean that the starting board has 6 stones added for the weaker player, or that 6 is added to the final score? ... The former. It comprises a much bigger advantage than adding 6 stones to the weaker player would be. The latter idea is never used so far as I know
steve is correct. the handicap is a set of stones that are placed on the board before white's move. the latter is called komi and ranges from 5.5 to 7.5 stones (points) usually given to white to adjust for moving second in even games. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_handicaps http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Komidashi these new go programs have been beating some of the pros with high handicaps for a while now. this would indicate that their rank is about 1-2-dan amateur but i'd put my money on the huaman 2-dan for now. thanks --- co-chair http://ocjug.org/