Handicap - Revision history

Mason: Add reason why board size handicap is better without swap

2025-04-10T21:02:27Z

Add reason why board size handicap is better without swap

Mason: /* Progressive board size */

2024-10-07T03:15:01Z

‎Progressive board size

Selinger: Added progressive board size

2024-10-07T00:55:29Z

Added progressive board size

Hexanna at 03:07, 5 April 2023

2023-04-05T03:07:21Z

Hexanna: add standard 0.25 handicap openings

2023-03-25T14:54:17Z

add standard 0.25 handicap openings

Selinger: Added a paragraph on "no swap" games.

2023-01-16T13:47:26Z

Added a paragraph on "no swap" games.

Selinger: Updated the paragraph that used to say that playing with handicap is uncommon.

2022-11-28T04:17:38Z

Updated the paragraph that used to say that playing with handicap is uncommon.

Selinger: /* Fixed openings */ minor wording

2022-07-27T02:08:48Z

‎Fixed openings: minor wording

Demer: /* Description of the Demer handicap system */ listed 0-move advantage from Blue's perspective too

2021-06-26T14:07:24Z

‎Description of the Demer handicap system: listed 0-move advantage from Blue's perspective too

Selinger: Added sign convention for Demer handicap

2021-06-26T01:27:52Z

Added sign convention for Demer handicap

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:02, 10 April 2025
Line 93:		Line 93:

	For beginners, it is often difficult to win against experienced players even with a large handicap. [[User:Mason\|Mason Mackaman]] suggested the following procedure to keep the game enjoyable: Play with handicap 0.5 (i.e., without swap), starting from the smallest board size (even 1x1, if it is available). Each time the beginner wins, increase the board size by 1. The players will typically move through the smallest board sizes very quickly, and then slow down somewhere near 6x6 or 7x7. This ensures that the beginner is always on the verge of winning, and can clearly measure their improvement. This method might be more fun than starting with a large handicap on a typical board size. The steps up in difficulty are also potentially more fine-grained than the half-stone decrements of the Demer system, though no testing has been done to confirm this.		For beginners, it is often difficult to win against experienced players even with a large handicap. [[User:Mason\|Mason Mackaman]] suggested the following procedure to keep the game enjoyable: Play with handicap 0.5 (i.e., without swap), starting from the smallest board size (even 1x1, if it is available). Each time the beginner wins, increase the board size by 1. The players will typically move through the smallest board sizes very quickly, and then slow down somewhere near 6x6 or 7x7. This ensures that the beginner is always on the verge of winning, and can clearly measure their improvement. This method might be more fun than starting with a large handicap on a typical board size. The steps up in difficulty are also potentially more fine-grained than the half-stone decrements of the Demer system, though no testing has been done to confirm this.
		+	=== Why not use second player advantage instead? ===
		+	Another way to do a board size handicap is by using swap and leveraging the natural second player advantage. While this certainly can be done, it is generally not as enjoyable for the following reasons:
		+
		+	1. The steps are larger - Moving from NxN to (N+1)x(N+1) is a bigger jump in difficulty using second player advantage.
		+
		+	2. Games are overly tactical - As per (1), you reach smaller handicaps on smaller boards. This leads to games that depend very heavily on calculation.
		+
		+	3. More ability for specialization - Because the games are more even on smaller sizes, it opens the door for the better player to know some very tricky moves that might even work on a player at their own level if they've not seen them before. These moves need not be illustrative of important lessons, and very well can just capitalize on the unique tactical circumstances of a small board.

	[[category:Rules and Conventions]]		[[category:Rules and Conventions]]

@@ Line 92: / Line 92: @@
 == Progressive board size ==
-For beginners, it is often difficult to win against experienced players even with a large handicap. [[User:Mason|Mason Mackaman]] suggested the following procedure to keep the game enjoyable: Play with handicap 0.5 (i.e., without swap), starting from the smallest board size (even 1x1, if it is available). Each time the beginner wins, increase the board size by 1. The players will typically move through the smallest board sizes very quickly, and then slow down somewhere near 6x6 or 7x7. This ensures that the beginner is always on the verge of winning, and can clearly measure their improvement. This method might be more fun than starting with a large handicap on 11x11.
+For beginners, it is often difficult to win against experienced players even with a large handicap. [[User:Mason|Mason Mackaman]] suggested the following procedure to keep the game enjoyable: Play with handicap 0.5 (i.e., without swap), starting from the smallest board size (even 1x1, if it is available). Each time the beginner wins, increase the board size by 1. The players will typically move through the smallest board sizes very quickly, and then slow down somewhere near 6x6 or 7x7. This ensures that the beginner is always on the verge of winning, and can clearly measure their improvement. This method might be more fun than starting with a large handicap on a typical board size. The steps up in difficulty are also potentially more fine-grained than the half-stone decrements of the Demer system, though no testing has been done to confirm this.
 [[category:Rules and Conventions]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 00:55, 7 October 2024
Line 89:		Line 89:

	(However, the specific numbers one should use for such a handicap are more complicated than that. For example, with 7 : 4 game-odds, "you win the match if you win 5 games, but I win the match if I win 3 games" both is faster and makes the match-odds closer to 1 : 1.)		(However, the specific numbers one should use for such a handicap are more complicated than that. For example, with 7 : 4 game-odds, "you win the match if you win 5 games, but I win the match if I win 3 games" both is faster and makes the match-odds closer to 1 : 1.)
		+
		+	== Progressive board size ==
		+
		+	For beginners, it is often difficult to win against experienced players even with a large handicap. [[User:Mason\|Mason Mackaman]] suggested the following procedure to keep the game enjoyable: Play with handicap 0.5 (i.e., without swap), starting from the smallest board size (even 1x1, if it is available). Each time the beginner wins, increase the board size by 1. The players will typically move through the smallest board sizes very quickly, and then slow down somewhere near 6x6 or 7x7. This ensures that the beginner is always on the verge of winning, and can clearly measure their improvement. This method might be more fun than starting with a large handicap on 11x11.

	[[category:Rules and Conventions]]		[[category:Rules and Conventions]]

@@ Line 77: / Line 77: @@
 The price is that one gets a slightly different game, so that it's possible that a player might become especially good at certain common handicap positions. But this should be of no more concern than it is in Go (and much less than in Shogi or Chess). It might be worthwhile to work out a standard ladder of handicap positions, sorted according to their bias to Red.
-As a general rule of thumb, c3 and the 2-2 obtuse corner (shown below) give Red approximately a 0.25 move advantage, at least for board sizes 13&times;13 to 19&times;19.
+Some evidence (from the win rate evaluations of AI bots) suggests that c3 and the 2-2 obtuse corner (shown below) give Red approximately a 0.25 move advantage, at least for board sizes 13&times;13 to 19&times;19.
 <hexboard size="13x13"

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:54, 25 March 2023
Line 76:		Line 76:

	The price is that one gets a slightly different game, so that it's possible that a player might become especially good at certain common handicap positions. But this should be of no more concern than it is in Go (and much less than in Shogi or Chess). It might be worthwhile to work out a standard ladder of handicap positions, sorted according to their bias to Red.		The price is that one gets a slightly different game, so that it's possible that a player might become especially good at certain common handicap positions. But this should be of no more concern than it is in Go (and much less than in Shogi or Chess). It might be worthwhile to work out a standard ladder of handicap positions, sorted according to their bias to Red.
		+
		+	As a general rule of thumb, c3 and the 2-2 obtuse corner (shown below) give Red approximately a 0.25 move advantage, at least for board sizes 13×13 to 19×19.
		+
		+	<hexboard size="13x13"
		+	coords="show"
		+	contents="E *:(c3 b12 k11 l2)"
		+	/>

	=== First to win N games ===		=== First to win N games ===

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:47, 16 January 2023
Line 50:		Line 50:

	A drawback of the Demer handicap system is that even a 0.5 move handicap gives the player a relatively large advantage, especially on [[Small boards\|smaller boards]].		A drawback of the Demer handicap system is that even a 0.5 move handicap gives the player a relatively large advantage, especially on [[Small boards\|smaller boards]].
		+
		+	=== Handicap 0.5 vs. no swap ===
		+
		+	Sometimes players choose to play without the swap rule, but without the intention to give an advantage to the weaker player. This typically happens because the players are novices and either don't know about the swap rule, or do not perceive the swap rule as making much difference at their level of play. Some game servers, such as [[PlayOK]], actually offer "no swap" as a game option, but then alternate player colors in subsequent games.
		+
		+	Although playing without the swap rule is equivalent to playing with handicap 0.5 in the Demer handicap system, such games should not be marked as handicap 0.5 in game records. Instead, the notation "no swap" or "N/S" can be used.

	== Other suggestions for handicap systems ==		== Other suggestions for handicap systems ==

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 Playing with '''handicap''' means to give one of the [[player]]s (preferably the weaker one) an advantage at the start of the game. The point of this is to make the game more even, so that it will be challenging for both players.
-In [[Hex]] there is no standard way of playing with handicap, and because of this it is not very common to do so. This ought to be changed. There are several ways a handicap could be implemented.
+There are several ways a handicap could be implemented in Hex. One of the main issues is that the advantage given to one player should be predictable and somewhat quantifiable. A system that is reasonably well-motivated and seems to be gaining popularity is the Demer handicap system, described below. Some other proposals for handicapping systems are also discussed below.
 == Demer handicap system ==

@@ Line 65: / Line 65: @@
 === Fixed openings ===
-Another possible way to give more fine-grained handicaps is to play without the swap rule, but to place Red's first piece in a pre-defined position (rather than allowing Red to place the piece freely). A piece placed in the center of the board would give Red an advantage of 0.5 moves, whereas a fairly-placed piece (i.e., a piece that Blue would be equally likely to swap or not to swap) would give 0 moves of advantage. If the initial piece is placed somewhere between these two extremes, handicaps between 0 and 0.5 moves can be achieved, although it is difficult to quantify the exact advantage conferred by any particular piece.
+Another possible way to give more fine-grained handicaps is to play without the swap rule, but to place Red's first piece in a pre-defined position (rather than allowing Red to place the piece freely). A piece placed in the center of the board would give Red an advantage of 0.5 moves, whereas a fairly-placed piece (i.e., a piece that Blue would be equally likely to swap or not to swap) would give 0 moves of advantage. If the initial piece is placed somewhere between these two extremes, handicaps between 0 and 0.5 moves can be achieved, although it is difficult to quantify the exact advantage conferred by any particular opening move.
 This method could also be adapted to give handicaps greater than 0.5. For very large handicaps, one could experiment by having a central red piece plus the first blue piece in a bad position as part of the setup (with Red to move), placing two red pieces near the edges and letting Blue go first, etc. By setting up a position beforehand and deciding who is to move, one can in principle create positions that are arbitrarily balanced towards one or the other player.

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:07, 26 June 2021
Line 30:		Line 30:

	For the integral handicaps, i.e., those where the swap rule is used, it is also possible to give the advantage to Blue. This can be done as follows:		For the integral handicaps, i.e., those where the swap rule is used, it is also possible to give the advantage to Blue. This can be done as follows:
		+
		+	* 0 move advantage for Blue (no handicap): Red starts and the swap rule is used. Symbolically: (Red, Blue swaps, Red, Blue, ...) or (Red, Blue, Red, Blue, ...)

	* 1 move advantage for Blue: Blue gets one additional move before Red's second move. Explicitly: Red plays the first piece, then Blue decides whether to swap or not. If Blue swaps, Blue gets an additional move. If Blue does not swap, Blue gets two consecutive moves. Symbolically: (Red, Blue swaps, Blue, Red, ...) or (Red, Blue, Blue, Red, ...)		* 1 move advantage for Blue: Blue gets one additional move before Red's second move. Explicitly: Red plays the first piece, then Blue decides whether to swap or not. If Blue swaps, Blue gets an additional move. If Blue does not swap, Blue gets two consecutive moves. Symbolically: (Red, Blue swaps, Blue, Red, ...) or (Red, Blue, Blue, Red, ...)

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:27, 26 June 2021
Line 36:		Line 36:

	The system can theoretically also be used for larger handicaps (2.5 moves, 3 moves, etc.), but such large handicaps probably do not make much sense on small board sizes. For example, on an 11 × 11 board, Red only needs 3 pieces to connect her edges by [[bridge]]s and [[edge template]]s.		The system can theoretically also be used for larger handicaps (2.5 moves, 3 moves, etc.), but such large handicaps probably do not make much sense on small board sizes. For example, on an 11 × 11 board, Red only needs 3 pieces to connect her edges by [[bridge]]s and [[edge template]]s.
		+
		+	=== Sign convention ===
		+
		+	By convention, a handicap that benefits Red is specified as a positive number, and a handicap that benefits Blue is specified as a negative number.

	=== Relation of handicap to player strengths ===		=== Relation of handicap to player strengths ===