Author: Mike Hood
Date: 16:33:36 03/12/03
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On March 12, 2003 at 14:47:29, Christophe Drieu wrote: >On March 12, 2003 at 14:32:03, Brian Thomas wrote: > >>Is there a typo in the Fritz 8 help about Friend mode? >> >>It seems the logic is straightforward: The greater the number, the bigger the >>handicap. This continues into the negatives... >> >>However, in the Fritz help, it says, "if after about 6 games the program sets >>you handicap to below -400 (=minus four pawns) you are advised to practice >>elementary tactics..." >> >>Shouldn't that be +400? After all, it says, "Top players will indeed have a >>negative handicap." >> >>So what's the deal? >> >>-Brian > >The french help say : > >small handicap = strong player >big handicap = weak player > >The problem for me is the negative handicap (strong player). If handicap is >+200, chessbase engine wait you get 2 pawns (or equivalent) up to play at strong >level (or something like that). But how to understand negative handicap ? I agree with the original post: the English help text is wrong. If a player plays badly the Friend Mode gives him a high handicap. My handicap in friend mode varies a bit, but it's round about +250 :( Not very good, huh? As I understand it, if a player consistently wins against Fritz in Friend Mode, the handicap value will become negative. The positive handicap values are easy to understand. If the handicap is +200, Fritz doesn't play his best move, he plays a move which gives the human a 2 pawns advantage. Theoretically, a handicap of -200 would mean that Fritz doesn't make the best move, but "only" a move that gives himself a two pawns advantage. So that would mean that Fritz builds up a winning position, but then doesn't increase his advantage. In my opinion, a negative handicap makes less sense than a positive handicap, but I can't play well enough to test it in practice. I'd be interested in hearing the experiences of strong players who have used Friend Mode, but I expect that players of that strength would prefer rated games.
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