On Apr 23, 10:03*am, Rich Hutnik wrote:
On Apr 22, 9:02 pm, Quadibloc wrote:

If the "detail" makes the vast majority of proposed solutions
impossible, then it settles the question of applying those solutions.

Then you have a Titanic type situation, where things are doomed and
nothing will change it? *Just keep riding it out in hopes another
Bobby Fischer comes along? *Not sure how chess will produce another
Bobby Fischer, unless there is another Cold War. *Kasparov is probably
the closest to Fischer, but how large of an impact did he have on
Chess?

The specific problem that a tie score in a match of fixed length
allows the World Champion to retain his title doesn't seem to be
fixable if we accept that the World Championship match has to be
organized in a way that is amenable to ordinary hall rentals.

I felt that this wasn't the biggest problem with Chess, so I wasn't
too concerned if we couldn't fix it completely.

Going to blitz would indeed cause the problem that then people might
not be satisfied that the victory really went to the best chess
player. One of the things people *want* from the World Championship is
examples of the finest chess that can be played, since it has the best
players in it. Going to speed chess might heighten the drama of the
event, but it would detract from another important element of its
interest.

So my inclination is to *stick* with giving "draw odds" to the old
champion, since that's actually a widespread convention, but instead
make other changes that will make draws less common. For a match, 1/3
- 1/3 and similar solutions don't work, but there are other measures
that would. Besides changing the rules of chess so that there are more
ways to win, at least partly, one could take measures like one I
mentioned - if a match is tied, eliminate the last win. (Doing that
would require giving the champion White in the first game, though, it
seemed to me, if game order is crucial.) But *before* doing that, see
if it's still tied if one gives extra points for wins with Black, I
will now add, inspired by another post.

John Savard