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Which one of those chess teams is better?[Subject Thread] [Add Response]
H. G. Muller wrote on Sun, Feb 15, 2015 04:40 PM UTC:
I am already doing that. Had to change Fairy-Max a little for it, because
since I had it support Spartan Chess I switched it to applying extinction
rules (with or without duple check) to the royals, rather than absolute
royalty. But now I am running again with rules where loss of the first King
is fatal. Will report when I have enough games.

After 100 games the two Kings were leading by 52-48. This is not a significant difference, so it seems the extra King is just as much as a liability as an asset. (An extra Pawn would cause something like 68-32.) It makes little sense to try to measure this more precise without improving the strategy. The King pair has an obvious winning advantage in a Pawn ending, when no piece can threaten them anymore. (Although KK vs K is a draw, so the extra K is equivalent to an extra minor.) But in the middle game you get mated more easily, and even against just two Rooks the Kings are mated very easily (by a skewer or fork). So it seems obvious that the 2-King side must strive for trading, i.e. all pieces of the 1-King side should be considered worth somewhat more than the corresponding pieces of the 1-King side, because of the extra danger they represent to the King pair. As in the late end-game there will always be 2 vs 1 King, it becomes relatively important to know that KK vs K is draw, to avoid bungling wins by needless trading of the last Pawn. (The same holds for KB vs K and KN vs K in normal Chess, but these are quite rare, so that bungling those does not impact your score too much, while the Kings always survice to the end.)