The heyday of odds-giving

The odds-giving in western version of chess.

According to "The Penguin Encyclopedia of Chess" edited by Harry Golombek, odds-giving reached its heyday in the 18th century and early 19th century. Philidor played most of his game at odds. In 1836 Deschapelles openly challenged English players for match games giving odds of a Pawn and two moves.

The list of odds is quite long and interesting, usually including giving away Queen and Rook, two Rooks, Queen, Rook and Knight, Bishop and Knight, Rook and Pawn, Rook, Knight, Pawn and move(s), odds of move(s), etc.

Odds-giving gradually faded out, and nowadays it is rarely seen in western chess. However in Xiangqi it is still encountered time and again. Many players have graced the odds-giving games once or twice in their lifetime.