Thats why you deleted a game where I was black.. put the money where the mouth is..!!! ironically I majored in math in college! LOL

yes holes have everything to do with it.. otherwise they would never have been put into the game. it makes the game more random. If for example White makes his first move into a place whre noo pts can be made black now has the the first move technically. ---- since there is no threat. so in this instance perfect play has everything to do with it. Tempo is the key. if you do not know what tempo means here it is, as basic as i can keep it. tempo means you have the intitiative, you can gain this away from white if one of these things happen the hole selection is not favorable to white and if black sarifices small 3pt moves to set up one 10 pt move. which is quite easy. hole placement is everything if it were an open game with no holes i'd agree white will always WIN or at least not ever lose. If black plays to mimic then balck cant win either.

i disagree due to the random placement of holes...this changes the game. allowing of a 3 connect you can ignore the 3 to ititiate somewhere else. in five line and connet 4 first move wins with first move and perfect play. not here.

but on the other hand there is a definite advantage to white early on b/c no tricks have yet to be discovered so basically white is at an advantage, and many people will have slightly over rated ratings.. b/c they will only play white and not black. here is my suggestion ....i wish there was a way to not accept players into a ratings standing until they have played an equal amount with each color! lets say 13w/white and 12w/black..this will keep things honest.

i dont think white has as much advantage as you might think.. Its all about tempo. i can gain tempo by allowing my oppnent to get 3 straight.