You can calculate the results of your competition based on the actual score achieved in the game, or based on the scored adjusted for handicap.
You have two options to choose from:
- Pianola average score for each player
- An uploaded handicap value
Whichever of these options you choose, you can decide whether the handicap applied should be a fixed value throughout the competition or whether it should fluctuate each day of the competition.
Pianola average
Every game that you upload affects those players' average score in Pianola. This is a non-weighted average percentage of all the matchpoint games they have played.
If a player's average score is 45%, Pianola will add 5% to their score to give the adjusted result.
If a player's average score if 53%, Pianola will deduct 3% form their score to give the adjusted result.
If a player has no Pianola history (this can only happen once - on the first time they play in a game that's uploaded to Pianola), they will be given the initial handicap of 0% (ie their score will not be adjusted).
If you choose a fluctuating handicap, Pianola will apply the handicap as it was on the day that each game was played.
If you choose a fixed handicap, Pianola will always adjust each players' score by the amount of their Pianola average on the date you select.
Uploaded handicap
Some scoring programs produce a handicap data file in the HAN format. If your scoring program does this, you can upload the data on the Admin > Results > Upload handicap data screen.
If you choose a fluctuating handicap, Pianola will apply the handicap value that was assigned for each player on the date the game took place. If you do not upload fresh data, this will - in effect - be the same as a fixed handicap because the data will not have changed from game-to-game.
If you do upload new data, Pianola will refer to the value that was in force at the time of each game.
If you choose a fixed handicap, Pianola will always refer to the value of the handicap on the date you've selected.
If a player does not have a value in the HAN file, Pianola will use 0% adjustment.