Duplicate

entolla.com - Playing Duplicate.

What is Duplicate ?

It is more than one table, starting their games with the same 2 or 3 pieces of each color as each other.
See the example below.

Games are best played simultaneously, but informally, they can be played at different times.

Normally, Duplicate games are played unrated, because of the unusual starts, but with a manual start, players are free to choose Rated or Unrated. Duplicate mode tables are automatically set to Unrated.

About the starts

You can decide on your own starting position, or use this page or the game server itself to choose one for you.

Most, if not all, of the starts do not allow for an immediate blue-red connection, which brings more variety to the game than the overused, standard starts do. Some have been taken from actual games (often of the Freestyle variety), many are simply made up.

Want to submit a starting position or suggest changes to the ones here?
Create the position using DEMO mode and send a screen shot to info@pentolla.com.

Automatic Starts

The game server has available all the same starts as this page, and it can make the first three moves for you. Then play as you like from there.

There are two ways to arrive at a start:

Daily Challenge

Twice each day, at 6h and 18h GMT, the game server selects one of the starts at random. Choose the mode "Daily Duplicate" when creating a table, and the start for the current 12-hour period will be used.

Random Starts

For even more variety, choose "Random Duplicate" mode, in which case one of the pre-set starts is chosen at random each time a table is created. That start stays with that table during its lifetime (as does the Daily start, even across the changeover hour).

How to play Duplicate:

Gather the 4, 6, or more players and pair off.
Choose a start by entering a 4-digit number on this page.
All players enter the same number so they all see the same start.
The page will deliver the image of a starting position.
All tables then start their games using the indicated pieces.
After the games, compare results, perhaps with screen shots.

On a given day, the same number will produce the same position, but on different days, that same number will produce a different position. Be careful around midnight, GMT, when the day changes.

Competition Formats

Two players

Play a normal set ... two games with the colors reversed for the second game, but use the same start. Then compare results from the two games.

Four players

Make it a team competition. Each team has two players, one at each table, playing opposite colors. The team score is the blue score from one table plus the yellow score from the other. Higher total score wins.

Six or more players

If you have more than four players, then it is a multi-table competition: all the blue players are competing against each other and the yellow players are competing against each other. Most wins, or highest total score wins the separate blue and yellow competitions.

Example:

Even with the same start, games diverge very quickly.

Here are two games after the first blue and yellow moves:
The blue players chose different pieces, and while both yellow players chose the Y, they played them differently.