Handicap tournaments provide an environment to play games against stronger or weaker opponents on a level footing. To do this the initial starting fen is changed to reflect the strength difference between the two players.

Currently handicap tournaments are only supported for Go Swiss or Arena tournaments, and are an option within the tournament setup form. The tournament must not be Rated or a Medley.

The tournament organiser (or tournament moderators) has the option to input a rating for specific users. This rating will be followed by an asterisk (*) to indicate that it has been modified. The rating is only used within that particular tournament and as the tournament must be casual it wont affect the player's or players opponent's actual rating.

Converting PlayStrategy rating (Glicko) into Go ranks

• every 100 rating points is a rank for rating >= 1700
• every 50 rating points is a rank for rating >= 1000 and < 1700
• every 33 rating points is a rank for rating < 1000

e.g. ratings of 1370 and 1900 produce 8 rank diff, ratings of 990 and 1010 produce 0 rank diff.

Go9x9

1 stone is given every 6 ranks and 1.5 komi each rank (ceiling at 9 komi)

• 0 rank diff => 0 stones and 5.5 komi
• 1 rank diff => 0 stones and 4 komi
• 2 rank diff => 0 stones and 2.5 komi
• 3 rank diff => 0 stones and 1 komi
• 4 rank diff => 2 stones and 8.5 komi
• 5 rank diff => 2 stones and 7 komi

Go13x13

1 stone is given every 2.5 ranks and 4 komi each rank (ceiling at 10 komi)

• 0 rank diff => 0 stones and 6 komi
• 1 rank diff => 0 stones and 2 komi
• 2 rank diff => 2 stones and 8 komi
• 3 rank diff => 2 stones and 4 komi
• 4 rank diff => 2 stones and 0 komi
• 5 rank diff => 3 stones and 6 komi
• 6 rank diff => 3 stones and 2 komi

Go19x19

1 stone is given every rank with constant 7.5 komi

• 0 rank diff => 0 stones and 7.5 komi
• 1 rank diff => 1 stone and 7.5 komi
• 2 rank diff => 2 stones and 7.5 komi