So it's long been established that first move advantage in Atomic is huge. For example you're not allowed to create an atomic challenge that only allows you to play as white. However some players after a game with the white pieces will refuse to rematch because they know on a rematch they will be given the black pieces.
I propose that for atomic chess when agreeing to a match you should be auto agreeing to a 2 game set. If you don't want to play you will forfeit the second game to the other player. It's exhausting seeing players run away because they don't want to play as black.
that's my two cents.
I know! It has been really frustrating watching people run away as they are black. Once upon accepting a round, they should make it so that the whole match is played, one turn black and one turn white. White has a very clear advantage as head-start and therefore it would only be fair to agree that the opponent shall have a match where they get a chance to be the opposite shade.
I agree 100%. Force two rounds so each player gets a turn as white.
It sounds like the real problem is that despite penalties already in place (which slow down players who repeatedly abort), some players abort every time they get the Black pieces. I'm confused how (and how often) players could be so obsessed as to repeatedly abort and wait like that...
It's confusing to me too. When atomic first became available, I aborted the rematch, unaware of the advantage to White, and my very disgruntled opponent sent me a scathing message about how dishonorable I was to refuse playing as Black. At the time, I was too ignorant for the thought to even occur to me.
So believe me, the reason people abort as black is not always to avoid playing at a disadvantage. Maybe they just don't want to play against you.
It's not necessarily that they abort as black so much as they decline and refuse any rematches after having the white pieces.
I do see how this can be ignoble, but nobody owes anybody a rematch. *shrug*
Under normal circumstance you'r absolutely correct. However the imbalance of first move advantage in atomic is far greater than in any other variant.
I agree with this proposition very much. I noticed that it becomes an usual practice now to pick comfortable color in atomic or horde games, and avoid rematch with color reversed. I even know a guy from top 10 atomic who is playing exclusively white all the time, aborting every single black game.
But sometimes could happen, that you have only time for a 1 game. So it must be an option when creating a game.
A more general solution of this problem was proposed here, have a look:
http://en.lichess.org/forum/lichess-feedback/new-feature-proposition---seek-for-a-matchI think making 2 round Atomic as optional does not really solve the problem. Those that lack integrity will simply refuse to accept the 2 round option. To address Grufalo's concern over those who only have time for one round, I say this: Don't play if you don't have enough time for 2 rounds, or if you do play be prepared to forfeit the 2nd round. It's only a game, what's the big deal if you have to forfeit?
