Monday, 6 February 2023

Sure Thing

MY post about winning the toss in the five-board divisions of the Central London League showed, correctly I hope, the advantage gained is small.
Assuming two equally strong teams, the expected score is 2.55-2.45 in favour of the side with white on odd boards.
That is so marginal there is an argument for a captain winning the toss choosing black on odd boards.
The idea is all the players on a team would know in advance which colour they would have as opposing captains winning the toss could be relied on to pick white on odd boards.
This would make preparation easier, which might be more than enough to offset the disadvantage of having an extra black.
Just a thought ...

2 comments:

  1. I think you are probably right - assuming you have five players who put that much effort into club games. Of course, word will get around, and if the opposing side work out your strategy they can always mimic it.

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    1. When that happens, switch back to choosing white on odd boards, and if opposing captains choose black, you will be in a position where again your team's players know in advance which colours they are getting AND you have white on three out of five boards!

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