Match Handicap System

    Keywords: Rules, Culture & History

In the days before komi, it was common for professional players to alternate colors in order to offset the starting advantage. This system also allows for asymmetric assignment of colors (and handicaps), which was used to compensate strength differences:

These handicaps are:

Rank difference Name Meaning
same rank tagai-sen Players alternate playing with black and white.
1 rank (pro) sen-ai-sen Weaker player takes black 2 out of every three games (BWB)
2 ranks josen Weaker player takes black in all games
3 ranks sen-ni-sen Weaker player always takes black, and takes 2 handicap one out of every three games
4 ranks ni-sen-ni? Weaker player always takes black, and takes 2 handicap two out of every three games
5 ranks jo-ni? Weaker player always takes 2 handicap
6 ranks ni-san-ni? Weaker player takes 2 handicap two out of every three games, and 3 handicap in the other game
7 ranks san-ni-san? Weaker player takes 3 handicap two out of every three games, and 2 handicap in the other game
8 ranks jo-san? Weaker player takes 3 handicap in all games

In addition to the rank difference, it was common to change the handicap in a series of games if one player reached a sufficient lead, commonly 4 games, over the other. A player who was forced to take more handicap was said to have been "beaten down", and sometimes longer matches were canceled early to save face for a player who was at risk of being beaten down.

See also

Discussion

tapir: What about modern past-komi matches? Are there any systems? (e.g. normal, with komi, white without komi, white with reverse komi, 2 handicap with komi etc.) - Seems like the jumps are bigger like this directly from even to sth similar to josen.

Herman: I think that in the current day and age, jubango matches are very rare among professionals. They take a long time, while there has been a consistent trend toward shorter time limits. The komi system does allow finer tuning of the handicaps, and for example the Ing rules specify that 2 points is an appropriate difference per grade. So under Ing komi rules:

Rank difference Amount of komi
same rank 8 komi for white
1 rank (pro) 6 komi for white
2 ranks 4 komi for white
3 ranks 2 komi for white
4 ranks no komi
5 ranks 2 komi for black
6 ranks 4 komi for black
7 ranks 6 komi for black
8 ranks 8 komi for black (or 2 stones + 8 komi for white)

tapir: With sen ai sen both players will play white/black with other systems even the only slightly stronger player will always play white. Since we use a similar system in our go club... I'm interested in alternative handicap types, increased komi or sth. similar

Herman: Well, you might look at some of the pages under Club Ladder. The Dutch class system, for example, does sort of what you describe above (even, black with no komi, two stones with komi, two stones without komi, etc). The Point Ranking Scheme At Tokyo Go clubs is more fine-grained. Both can very well be used for a match, shifting the handicap after some number of losses/wins.

tapir: Yes. Our system looks quite similar to the dutch class system in a way... however all these modern systems let you play only one colour against players of only slightly different skill. Isn't sen ai sen the better handicap?

Herman: Well, in the above system, sen-ai-sen is used for one pro rank difference, ie two players that are about 1/3 of a stone apart in strenght. From 2 ranks (2/3 of a stone) onward, the weaker player always takes black. It is of course possible to make a system where the weaker player gets white with an increased komi, but I think that beyond a certain point (say a 2 stone rank difference), that doesn't work very well anymore. But at small differences, it can work quite well. Also, I think many players enjoy playing even games against someone even if that opponent is much stronger. You might also consider dagger go, or the option for the weaker player to switch sides after a certain number of moves (say 50 or 100).


This is a copy of the living page "Match Handicap System" at Sensei's Library.
(OC) 2011 the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0.
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