What's happening ? In monthly cup go19 2003.nov.1.16 just opened, I'm given white stones being 14k. and my opponent 4k. has black stones with a handicap of six stones !? Does it make any sense ? Please, Mr. Richard, could you get this amazing situation fixed ?

Apparently, I'm not the only one to suffer this situation. The best ranked player in this group systematically has black stones against all other players with various handicaps for his benefit. Is it possible to reverse this state of fact or must we resign in each concerned game before it actually starts ?

Wow! True. In game 105454, Moore's opponent is 11 kyu, but Moore has black, and 9 stones. In game 105457, Moore's opponent is 11 kyu, but Moore has black, and 9 stones. In game 105460, Moore's opponent is 10 kyu, but Moore has black, and 9 stones. In game 105461, Moore's opponent is 14 kyu, but Moore has black, and 6 stones. The Ratings Tournament games, however, appear to be okay. Notice that the difference is what it would be if Moore were 20 kyu versus the same opponents. Also notice that Moore just registered as a new user on this system TODAY. What probably happened was that Moore entered his rating as 4 kyu upon registering, but the system starts all newcomers as 20 kyu. Thus, it appears the problem is an inconsistency between the ways in which the software handles Ratings Tournaments versus Monthly Championships: the RTs are using the rating entered by the user, but the MCs are using the system-determined rating (which, in this case, is defaulting to 20 kyu).

Yeah, I have a hard enough time! If I give a 4kyu 9 stones I might as well just start swallowing my go stones! :)