What is Material Odds?
In an odds game the stronger player gives the weaker one a head start by playing without some of their material. The wider the gap in strength, the bigger the odds: a pawn, a knight, a rook or even the queen.
Here you choose the odds and the side that gives them in the table setup. Pawn odds remove the f-pawn, knight odds the queen's knight on b1 (b8 for Black), rook odds the queen's rook on a1 (a8), and queen odds the queen. Everything else is standard chess.
White always moves first. When Black gives pawn odds, the weaker player gets both the extra pawn and the first move, the classic handicap called pawn and move.
Rule changes
| Rule | Standard Chess | Material Odds |
|---|---|---|
| Starting position | Standard ChessBoth sides have all sixteen pieces. | Material OddsThe side giving odds starts without its f-pawn, its queen's knight, its queen's rook or its queen. |
| First move | Standard ChessWhite moves first. | Material OddsWhite still moves first. Odds given by Black therefore come with the move, as in pawn and move. |
| Castling | Standard ChessAllowed once per game on either side. | Material OddsThe same, except that a side giving rook odds cannot castle queenside. |
| How to win | Standard ChessCheckmate the opponent's king. | Material OddsThe same: checkmate. Draws work as in standard chess. |
History
For most of chess history, odds were the normal way for a master to play an amateur. In the 18th and 19th centuries, professionals in the coffeehouses of London and Paris played for stakes at fixed odds, and players were often graded by the odds they needed, from pawn and move up to a rook or the queen. François-André Danican Philidor and Paul Morphy both played many odds games.
As tournaments and rating systems took over in the 20th century, odds games disappeared from serious play. They remain one of the best ways for a parent and child, a teacher and student or two friends of different strength to play a game either side can win.