Rich Hutnik wrote:
This idea deals with the draw issues with chess, and adds another
element that would be interested to people watching chess who
normally don't play. This game will have you doubling when you
think you can win, and challenge you to go for a win, even if
challenged, because you get more points.

This doesn't work, for a number of reasons.

It works in backgammon because there is no possibility of a game being
drawn. However, draws in chess mean that doubling doesn't work.
Suppose we're in a genuinely drawn position. If you double, I can't
possibly refuse because that means resigning at the current stakes.
But then, having accepted your double, I may as well redouble because
I have no chance of losing. And so on. Thus, the game ends up with
arbitrarily high stakes and, in particular, a match of first to N
points might end up being an immediate draw as a result of the first
game.

Then we have another problem. I suspect (but am not certain) that
there's a much higher possibility for game-losing blunders in chess
than in backgammon. Thus, these very high-stakes draws make the game
extremely sensitive to such mistakes.

I imagine you'd be likely to end up with a match being played as
normal chess until the first win. Then, the player who won that game
would play very hard for a draw in all remaining games and would
double as soon as the position looked drawish.

A further problem is that you very often get to positions where one
player cannot win (assuming no serious mistakes) but can probably hold
on for the draw. The leading player would obviously double in such
circumstances


Dave.

--
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