[pbmserv-dev] bughouse time control problem

["Benjamin Good" <good7972@hotmail.com>]

below is a message i just sent out as a 'chat' for bughouse 100.  for those 
of you who didn't actually play in the game, i don't know if i explained 
this clearly enough or not, if you have any questions you can send a message 
to asdf.  and of course in the second paragraph i'm speculating on how the 
server processes forfeits, i could be wrong on that.

thanks,
ben
asdf

---
this game shows a serious problem in the system that i had not thought of 
until just recently - namely how the 30 day cap may not work properly.  the 
way the server works now, if you're in a game with a total cap, and you go 
over it, you don't actually lose until you make a move - the server does not 
check your time when you're not moving.  in a 2-player game this works ok, 
if my opponent goes over his limit, he will forfeit on time either when he 
moves again or when he goes 21 days w/o moving.

but in bughouse, more than one player can over the the time cap at the same 
time, but as long as they don't move, they don't forfeit.  so what happens 
when a friday comes and they're both over?  who loses?  does the server look 
at who used more time?  i'm guessing it doesn't.  altho i don't know how 
it's programmed, i bet it simply goes thru the players in order and checks 
to see if the player is over or not, and if he is he loses.  so in bughouse 
100, dshort probably would've lost first by virtue of being player 2.

obviously this needs to be fixed, otherwise players 3 and 4 have a major 
advantage over players 1 and 2, an advantage that is not actually supposed 
to be part of the game and does not exist in otb play.





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