Re: The "swap rule" in chess...

"Don Woods" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Adding the swap rule to chess might be a fine idea if all you care
> about is playing a single game, and you want to make the outcome of
> that one game depend as much as possible on the skill of the players
> instead of the luck of who gets to play White.
>
> In tournament play, however, it makes a lot more sense to leave the
> game as it is.  First off, if you add the swap rule, it is likely to
> lead to more draws (as I believe you noted), which makes it harder
> to get a definitive victor in a series of games.
>
> More important, though, is that it would remove some of the variety
> from the game.  As it stands, playing White and playing Black are
> two significantly different challenges.  There are players who are
> much better at one than the other.  By forcing players to deal with
> both sides over the course of a tournament, the outcome can depend
> on their skill in both.

I think the swap rule would actually *add* variety. Forcing players to learn
to be competent in opening (and the kinds of positions that arise from those
openings) that they now avoid. Doesn't tournament checkers do something
similar, picking random opening sequences for each game?